Comparison

Unicode Pad Pro with keyboards vs IPA Phonetic Keyboard

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

Unicode Pad Pro with keyboards

Access and use over 155,000 Unicode characters with this comprehensive character map app. It features customizable keyboards for any iOS app, bundled and importable fonts, and detailed character information. Seamlessly copy, search, and organize characters for diverse writing needs.

Highlights
  • Access 155,000+ Unicode characters
  • Customizable keyboards for any iOS app
  • Install and import custom fonts
  • Detailed character information and search
  • Copy characters to clipboard
  • Notepad for frequently used characters
  • Drag and drop support
Features
Read full description

Unicode Pad Pro is the ultimate Unicode character map app for the iPad. Offering an extensive database of over 155,000 characters, it supports the latest Unicode 16 standard. This powerful tool features customizable keyboards, which can be used across any iOS app, bundled fonts, and the ability to import custom fonts. Users can easily browse, search, and copy characters, access detailed character information, and enjoy seamless multitasking with other apps. Perfect for everything from scientific notation to creative writing, Features: • Custom keyboards can be used in any other iOS app • Install bundled fonts for use in other apps • Import and use any custom font into the app • Support for Unicode 15.1 standard, which has many new symbols. • Huge selection of symbols (thousands), in fact all that are available on your device. Database itself actually contains data for all characters (over 140000!). • Copy characters to clipboard for use in other apps, like web, mail, chat, notes... any iOS app! • Detailed information on each Unicode character, including encodings, extra info, similar characters and availability in fonts • Extensive gesture support for smooth workflow! • Drag and drop support for text, PNG and PDF graphics! • Notepad with customizable keyboards, for your often-used characters and for copying several characters at once. Great for casual writing, too! • HTML entity names for relevant characters • UNIHAN english definitions for CJK ideograms for many characters • Egyptian hieroglyph definitions • Ideographic Description Sequences (IDS) for CJK ideograms • Share your custom keyboards with your friends! • Search for characters by name, hexadecimal codepoint or glyph! Find similar and related characters instantly! • Great support for iPad multitasking - works great together with other apps • Streamlined design, specifically optimized for each device. Support for all device orientations and Retina display.  • Support for dark mode. • Fully tested on latest iOS • Support for Backspace, New line, Shift and Alternate special keys on custom keyboards. • Custom keyboard sizes up to 6x16=96 keys. • Flick left and right for next and previous characters in detail view • View extended character descriptions on Wikipedia, unicode.org charts or Emojipedia right from inside the app! • Copy glyphs as PDF graphics or PNG images • Sections of favourite and recently copied characters • 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! • Quick access to many groups of commonly used symbols! • Great for scientific, mathematical and physics notation, handles many superscripts, subscripts and other symbols! • Excellent for phonetic notation! • Developers: see which characters are available on your iOS device and in which fonts. • Perfect for writing Unicode poetry! • Awesome for making interesting app names!

About

IPA Phonetic Keyboard

This free keyboard provides easy access to all IPA and extended IPA symbols. Its intuitive layout mirrors the IPA chart, making symbol input fluid and efficient for linguists, language learners, and enthusiasts.

Highlights
  • Full IPA chart (2020) symbols
  • ExtIPA chart (2016) symbols
  • Organized symbol sections
  • Intuitive symbol layout
  • Convenient input for common characters
  • Completely free, no ads
Read full description

Behold the first completely FREE IPA keyboard on the App Store designed for linguists, language learners, and hobbyists. It is designed to be lightweight and fluid, matching up to the user experience of the system emoji keyboard. =FEATURES= - Includes ALL symbols on the newest standard IPA chart (2020 ver.) - Includes most symbols (the ones available in Unicode) on the newest standard extIPA chart (2016 ver.) - Symbols are divided into sections just like the IPA chart(-duh!): consonants, non-pulmonic, other symbols, vowels, suprasegmentals, tones and word accents, and diacritics - Symbols are arranged naturally, with a layout designed for you to find the symbols you want more quickly (especially the vowels, it's cleverly designed to match the layout on the IPA chart) - Convenient input for "[]", "//", "~", "◌", space, and return on the top of the keyboard - Completely free, NO ADS =EXTERNAL LINKS= For more information on IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet), refer to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Phonetic_Alphabet The developer, Vince14Genius's GitHub: https://www.github.com/Vince14Genius/

Screenshots

Unicode Pad Pro with keyboards4 screens
IPA Phonetic Keyboard4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: IPA Phonetic Keyboard at Free against Unicode Pad Pro with keyboards's $6.99. IPA Phonetic Keyboard also leads on review sentiment (92% vs 81%). Unicode Pad Pro with keyboards's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 3). On rating, ratings volume, update cadence and ads 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

IPA Phonetic Keyboard is free to download; Unicode Pad Pro with keyboards costs $6.99 up front. IPA Phonetic Keyboard sells 3 one-off in-app purchases. Unicode Pad Pro with keyboards asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.5 for Unicode Pad Pro with keyboards against 4.5 for IPA Phonetic Keyboard. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 200 and 193 respectively. Written reviews are what separate them: 81% of Unicode Pad Pro with keyboards's written reviews are positive against 92% of IPA Phonetic Keyboard's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly every 4 months. The most recent releases landed on November 6, 2026 and November 2, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
Unicode Pad Pro with keyboards versus IPA Phonetic Keyboard: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterUnicode Pad Pro with keyboardsIPA Phonetic Keyboard
Price$6.99Free — better
Rating4.5 (200 ratings)4.5 (193 ratings) — better
Positive reviews81.0% of reviews92.1% of reviews — better
Number of ratings200 — better193
Update frequencyEvery 4 monthsEvery 4 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationPaidFree — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS13 — better14.0
Further details — not scored
Size259 MB2 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperZiga KranjecVincent Cai

Customer experience

Unicode Pad Pro with keyboards

All ratings198 ratings
Positive88.4%
Neutral3.0%
Negative8.6%
Written reviews84 reviews
Positive81.0%
Neutral8.3%
Negative10.7%

IPA Phonetic Keyboard

All ratings172 ratings
Positive89.5%
Neutral2.3%
Negative8.1%
Written reviews126 reviews
Positive92.1%
Neutral3.2%
Negative4.8%

Bugs and requests

Unicode Pad Pro with keyboards

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

IPA Phonetic Keyboard

Reported bugs

2 issues
  • Vowel [ʁ] displays incorrectly
  • Keyboard disappears after switching, requiring settings access to re-enable

Requested features

4 requests
  • Add angle brackets and parentheses for orthographic notation
  • Implement a 'frequently used' section for common symbols
  • Allow users to rearrange the keyboard layout
  • Add support for laryngeal notation in Proto-Indo-European

In-app purchases

None

Unicode Pad Pro with keyboards

No in-app purchases

3 purchases

IPA Phonetic Keyboard

One-time3
  • Donation: Buy me a drink$2.99
  • Obsolete/Non-Standard Symbols$5.99
  • Donation: Buy me a meal$9.99

Questions

Is Unicode Pad Pro with keyboards free?
Unicode Pad Pro with keyboards costs $6.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is IPA Phonetic Keyboard free?
IPA Phonetic Keyboard is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Unicode Pad Pro with keyboards or IPA Phonetic Keyboard?
IPA Phonetic Keyboard is rated higher. Unicode Pad Pro with keyboards averages 4.5 out of 5 from 200 ratings, while IPA Phonetic Keyboard averages 4.5 from 193 ratings.
Do Unicode Pad Pro with keyboards or IPA Phonetic Keyboard have ads?
Neither Unicode Pad Pro with keyboards nor IPA Phonetic Keyboard shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Unicode Pad Pro with keyboards or IPA Phonetic Keyboard?
Unicode Pad Pro with keyboards ships an update every 4 months, and IPA Phonetic Keyboard every 4 months. Most recently, Unicode Pad Pro with keyboards was updated on November 6, 2026 and IPA Phonetic Keyboard on November 2, 2026.

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