Samsung is giving all of Android a nasty rep with its horrible keyboard

There are two apps on any smartphone that you just work together with and use always: the launcher and the keyboard. We at all times are inclined to neglect how essential a keyboard is; it’s not the sexiest app, and many individuals could not even think about it an “app” because it’s simply… there. It’s a device to get a job accomplished.

However give it some thought. You utilize your keyboard to ship messages or emails, to publish on social media, so as to add calendar occasions, to browse, to speak to AI brokers, and to seek for something in any app. Till voice typing is as dependable and as extensively used, keyboards are probably the most basic method we work together with our telephones. They will elevate your expertise, similar to they will break it. Working example: Samsung’s poor excuse for a keyboard.

Samsung’s keyboard is the worst a part of any Galaxy telephone

In 2016, the primary app I put in on my Galaxy S7 Edge was Gboard as a result of I couldn’t fathom how horrible Samsung’s keyboard expertise was. In 2024, after I obtained a Galaxy S24 Extremely, I made a decision to provide Samsung the good thing about the doubt… and I lasted all of 10 minutes earlier than I rushed to the Play Retailer and downloaded Gboard.

I’m removed from alone. My colleague Joe hated his Galaxy S25 Extremely till he changed the keyboard. He was pissed off at how usually Samsung’s keyboard inserts letters and areas out of the blue and doesn’t right apparent typos. My different colleague Zac, a staunch Samsung fan, stated that “Samsung’s keyboard is trash” and Gboard is among the first apps he installs on any Galaxy telephone. Each single one in every of my Android Authority crew members who has used a Galaxy telephone within the final decade stated the keyboard is the very first thing they modify. And it’s not simply us geeks.

I nonetheless keep in mind what occurred after I purchased two Galaxy Tab A9 Plus tablets for my mother and father and my aunt. I set them up however forgot to change the keyboard. The very first thing they instructed me the following day, after I requested in the event that they appreciated the tablets, is, “I don’t like typing on it. It’s bizarre.” That they had no thought what Gboard is, or that there are completely different keyboards on Android, however they immediately felt one thing was off. I immediately switched them to Gboard, the keyboard they’re used to on their Pixel telephones, they usually stopped complaining.

Past anecdotal proof from my household, we requested you final yr what you considered Samsung’s keyboard. Over greater than 1700 Android Authority readers replied, and solely 18% stated they use it and find it irresistible, whereas 22% stated it’s fantastic, and a whopping 60% stated, “No method, I take advantage of one other keyboard.” If that isn’t a damning quantity, I don’t know what’s. Our readers are tech-savvy; they know the right way to change keyboards on their Android telephones, and 6 out of 10 of them are ditching Samsung’s keyboard willingly to search out one thing higher. Right here’s a small pattern of the feedback we acquired:

It’s unbelievable that one thing as essential as this to your complete smartphone expertise might be so unhealthy on a Galaxy telephone. Much more unbelievable that Samsung hasn’t accomplished something to repair it for over a decade now. It sucked in 2016; it nonetheless does in 2026. Joe is at present testing the brand new Galaxy S26 Extremely, and his first remark was about how poor the keyboard is. Does nobody at Samsung use this factor? Do they by no means sort? Do they not discover the way it’s probably the most absurdly unhealthy a part of One UI?

Personally, I’ve way back given up on Samsung’s keyboard. I hate that it’s so delicate that it confuses a few of my touch-typing with swipes, so it begins inserting random areas in the course of phrases. The primary prediction being offset to the left, as an alternative of within the middle, irks me to no finish since I’m used to choosing it up with my proper thumb. I don’t even perceive how half the predictions work. And after I swipe, I really feel prefer it usually picks up probably the most random possibility amongst all potential choices.

I used to assume that I ought to give Samsung’s keyboard extra time; perhaps I’ll get used to it and study its idiosyncrasies, or perhaps it’ll study my typing habits. However why ought to I waste my time and attempt to adapt when there are vastly superior keyboard experiences on Android on the market? Why ought to it take time for the keyboard to get higher when Gboard and different keyboards are fantastic on day one? Why ought to I take the time or sacrifice when it ought to’ve been Samsung’s job to repair this a few years in the past? As an alternative, we get pointless AI-powered composing and enhancing tips to bandage all of the horrible bits, when Samsung ought to’ve made the underlying typing higher as a begin.

You and I, studying and writing for Android Authority, know that switching keyboards is simple. 60% of you’ve gotten already accomplished so. However what irks me right here is that there are hundreds of thousands of customers around the globe who don’t know this. They get a Samsung telephone, begin utilizing it, see how unhealthy typing on it’s, and it leaves a nasty style of their mouth. For Samsung, and for Android on the whole.

That is the model that has bought and nonetheless sells probably the most Android telephones internationally. It’s presupposed to be the halo of Android, particularly across the US and Europe, with little or no competitors from others. And but, some of the basic components of utilizing a Galaxy telephone is a souring expertise, day in and time out. Samsung may’ve made the keyboard a landmark of its battle towards Apple and the foolish American iPhone superiority mindset. Apple’s keyboard is horrible — a lot worse than Samsung’s in my view — and Samsung may’ve proven iPhone customers a vastly superior expertise on Android, nevertheless it didn’t. As an alternative of capturing at the moment’s texting-addicted generations by saying, “Hey, look how improbable typing is on a Galaxy,” it’s perpetuating a nasty stereotype of Android telephones being gradual, unhealthy, buggy, and unpredictable.

I used to be curious how many individuals discovered Samsung’s keyboard horrible in comparison with Apple’s, so I checked out Google Search’s traits over the past 5 years. The outcomes have been telling. After each new telephone launch from the 2 corporations, in addition to round Black Friday/Christmas, when numerous individuals get new telephones, there’s a spike in searches round “change keyboard” or “finest keyboard.” Much more telling, although, is that on common, there are as many individuals seeking to change their Samsung/Galaxy keyboard as there are for the iPhone. And as many individuals are in search of the perfect keyboard for Samsung/Galaxy as there are for the iPhone.

If you happen to search for these Google Search traits for another Android model, the outcomes don’t come wherever close to Samsung’s. Xiaomi, which sells greater than half the variety of telephones that Samsung sells (11% Xiaomi worldwide market share vs 18% for Samsung within the final quarter), has disproportionately fewer individuals seeking to change their keyboard (a scale of two to 24). The identical is true for vivo, HONOR, and plenty of others.

Samsung’s keyboard shouldn’t be this mediocre. It shouldn’t be as unhealthy as Apple’s in individuals’s minds. Gboard, SwiftKey, and different keyboards are proof that typing on Android doesn’t need to be this horrible. But, right here we’re, with the largest Android model on the planet giving all of Android a nasty rep by messing up probably the most basic a part of utilizing a smartphone — typing. Do higher, Samsung.