Unicode Pad vs xKeyboard
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Unicode Pad
Access and copy thousands of Unicode characters to use in any app. Create custom keyboards for frequently used symbols and share them with friends. Search characters by name, codepoint, or glyph, and view detailed descriptions.
- Copy characters to clipboard
- Customizable keyboards
- Share custom keyboards
- Search characters by name/codepoint/glyph
- View extended character descriptions
- Thousands of symbols available
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Note: This app supports only in-app custom keyboards! For a fancier version which also supports iOS 8 and later custom keyboards, check out the Unicode Pad Pro app! • Tested on latest iOS 11 • Support for Unicode 11 standard • Copy characters to clipboard for use in other apps, like web, mail, chat, notes… practically any iOS app! • Notepad with customizable keyboards, for your often-used characters and for copying several characters at once. Great for casual writing, too! • Share your custom keyboards with your friends! • Send mail and tweets right from within the app! • Huge selection of symbols (thousands), in fact all that are available on your device. Database itself actually contains data for all Unicode characters (over 100,000), but only glyphs available in iOS system font are actually visible. • Quick acces to many groups of commonly used symbols! • Search for characters by name, hexadecimal codepoint or glyph! Find similar and related characters instantly! • Streamlined design, specifically optimized for each device. Support for all device orientations and Retina display. • Support for Backspace, New line, Shift and Alternate special keys on custom keyboards. • Custom keyboard sizes up to 6x16=96 keys. • View extended character descriptions on Wikipedia, right inside the app! This works particularly great for emoticons! • One universal application works on iPhone, iPod and iPad! • Reference booklet of characters available on modern computers! Paper Unicode maps are over 1000 pages long! • Developers: see which characters are available on your iOS device! • Great for scientific, mathematical and physics notation, handles many superscripts, subscripts and other symbols! • Excellent for phonetic notation! • Perfect for writing Unicode poetry! • Awesome for making interesting app names! • HTML entity names for relevant characters • UNIHAN english definitions for CJK ideograms for many characters • Flick left and right for next and previous characters in detail view • Affordable price!
xKeyboard
Design your own keyboard with custom layouts, keys, symbols, and Unicode characters. This app allows you to create specialized keyboards for various needs, from mathematical equations to phonetic alphabets, and use them across different text editing applications.
- Custom keyboard layouts
- Symbol and Unicode integration
- Specialized keyboards (Math, IPA, Chemistry)
- Template-based creation
- Use in text editing apps
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Using xKeyboard, you can create a custom keyboard that includes layout, keys, symbols, and Unicode. The created custom keyboard can be used in text editing software on iPhone and iPad, such as Word, PPT, Excel, notes, and can also be used in text editing boxes. Built-in Keyboards - Unicode Keyboard - ABC Keyboard - ASCII Keyboard - Digits Keyboard : Binary, Integer, Decimal, Octonary, Hexadecimal - Collection Keyboard : Symbols, Words, Sentences - IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) Keyboard : IPA English ( DJ, K.K. ) - Subjects: Math, Chemistry, Music Language - Word Keyboards: English, French, German, Spanish ... - Code-Word Keyboards: Chinese Simplified, Chinese Traditional ... Culture - Astrology Keyboard: 12 zodiac signs, 10 celestial bodies, full set of aspects, elements, moon phases and auxiliary symbols - I Ching Keyboard - Chess Keyboard: Chess notation keyboard, chess symbols - Chinese Chess Keyboard: Chinese chess notation keyboard - Dice Keyboard - Mahjong Keyboard - Playing Cards Keyboard ---------- Custom - Layout: Custom layouts are better suited for specialized input scenarios. - Environment: Different environments have different rules - Certain keyboards can serve as templates, allowing you to build custom keyboards faster and more easily. ---------- Privacy : We DO NOT COLLECT ANY INFORMATION THAT YOU TYPE using this app. xKeyboard does not require network access, and Allow Full Access is not necessary. If users Allow Full Access, the following functions will be enabled: - Copy, Paste, Cut : these functions will call UIPasteboard APIs. ---------- Tips: 1. If the xKeyboard is not visible in Settings > Keyboards, then reboot the device and reinstall 2. If you could not find xKeyboard when tap globe key : Remove xKeyboard in the system settings, re-add it. ---------- Charging method: Most of the features of this software are paid for, but before purchasing, we hope that users can know if the software has the desired features and if it is possible to customize a keyboard that the user wants. Therefore, the software can be downloaded for free and allows users to try creating a keyboard before paying. Terms of Use : https://www.jianshu.com/p/b2a855c32ffe Privacy Policy : https://www.jianshu.com/p/46e225ffbc59
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: xKeyboard at Free against Unicode Pad's $2.99. xKeyboard also leads on ratings volume (178 vs 8) and update cadence (every 6 weeks vs every 3 months). Unicode Pad's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 3) and review sentiment (74% vs 39%). On ads and device support there is nothing between them.
Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS
xKeyboard is free to download; Unicode Pad costs $2.99 up front. xKeyboard sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $0.29 per month. Unicode Pad asks for nothing beyond the download.
Unicode Pad holds the better App Store score, 3.5 against 3.2. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: xKeyboard has 178 ratings behind it against 8, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 74% of Unicode Pad's written reviews are positive against 39% of xKeyboard's.
Unicode Pad ships an update every 3 months, xKeyboard every 6 weeks. The most recent releases landed on September 29, 2026 and September 24, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Unicode Pad | xKeyboard |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $2.99 | Free — better |
| Rating | 3.5 (8 ratings) — better | 3.2 (178 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 73.7% of reviews — better | 39.2% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 8 | 178 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 3 months | Every 6 weeks — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No — better | Yes |
| Monetization | Paid | Free with in-app purchases — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 11.0 — better | 18.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 140 MB | 99 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Ziga Kranjec | 煦 张 |
Customer experience
Unicode Pad
xKeyboard
User reviews
Unicode Pad
From 8 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 👍 Comprehensive symbol catalog
- 💡 Customizable keyboards
- 🚀 Easy to use interface
- 🔍 Powerful search functionality
- 🌟 Useful for nicknames and special characters
Room to improve
- 🐛 Occasional crashes
- 📦 Some characters display as boxes
- 🐌 Laggy scrolling and slow loading
- 🖱️ Manual copy-pasting required
- ⌨️ Limited keyboard space for custom keyboards
xKeyboard
From 178 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🚀 Highly customizable
- 👍 Versatile for various use cases
- 🚀 Powerful keyboard creation capabilities
- 👍 Useful for conlangs and rare scripts
- 👍 Allows creating custom characters
Room to improve
- 🔒 Paywall for core functionality
- 🐛 Crashes when deleting/editing keys
- 👎 Confusing and unintuitive interface
- 👎 Lacks documentation and tutorials
- 👎 Missing basic features like autocorrect
Bugs and requests
Unicode Pad
Reported bugs
17 issues- App crashes when selecting notepad
- App crashes on startup
- Scrolling is laggy
- Custom keyboards take time to load
- Characters not appearing on keyboard after adding
Show 12 moreShow fewer
- Some symbols don't copy properly (show as boxes)
- App won't update
- App becomes very slow after updates
- Custom keyboards are hard to see after update
- Buttons disappear
- Detail window cannot be closed
- Glyph description length exceeds screen
- App freezes and requires device reset
- Favorites/copy buttons sometimes go invisible
- Cannot get to clipboard to post to other apps
- App doesn't work with Facebook
- Characters not displayed (show as squares)
Requested features
15 requests- Ability to add keyboards to other apps
- More space for custom keyboards
- Integration with iOS keyboard
- Add backspace/delete/return keys to custom keyboards
- Ability to rearrange keys on custom keyboards
Show 10 moreShow fewer
- Ability to remove custom keys while on the keyboard
- Sort Unicode blocks numerically
- Save/swap out keyboards from within the app
- Option to hide iOS incompatible characters
- Add space bar to custom keyboard layouts
- Copy as HTML option
- Precise selection and editing features
- Macros for multiple keystrokes
- Dark mode option
- Advanced analytics dashboard
xKeyboard
Reported bugs
3 issues- Crashes when trying to delete/edit keys
- Installed keyboards don't show custom layouts
- App crashes on certain script/language changes
Requested features
5 requests- Add ability to export/share custom keyboards
- Improve keyboard customization workflow
- Implement swipe typing and autocorrect
- Add more language/script support
- Allow creating custom characters/symbols
In-app purchases
Unicode Pad
No in-app purchases
xKeyboard
- VIP - 1 Month$0.291 Month
- VIP - 1 Year$2.991 Year
- VIP - Lifetime$8.99
Questions
Is Unicode Pad free?
Is xKeyboard free?
Which has better reviews, Unicode Pad or xKeyboard?
Do Unicode Pad or xKeyboard have ads?
Which is updated more often, Unicode Pad or xKeyboard?
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