BigKeys Support

A keyboard with much bigger keys, for people who cannot comfortably see the one iPhone came with.

Turning BigKeys on

Open the BigKeys app. It walks you through this one step at a time, in large print, and tells you when the keyboard is working. If you would rather do it yourself:

• Open Settings on your iPhone.
• Tap General, then Keyboard, then Keyboards.
• Tap Add New Keyboard and choose BigKeys.
• Now open any app where you type. Press and hold the globe key at the bottom of the keyboard, and choose BigKeys.

The keys are still small

You are probably still on Apple's keyboard. Press and hold the globe key and choose BigKeys. The keys should become much larger straight away.

If BigKeys is not in that list, it has not been added yet — go back to Settings → General → Keyboard → Keyboards → Add New Keyboard.

Making it bigger, or easier to read

Open the BigKeys app and tap Settings. You can change:

• Key size — three sizes, up to about three times the standard key.
• Layout — split rows makes every key about twice as wide. Classic is the familiar arrangement.
• Colours — including yellow on black, which many people with low vision find easiest, and white on black if bright screens are uncomfortable.
• Letters — the shape and thickness of the letters.
• Speaking — BigKeys can say each key aloud as your finger passes over it, before it is typed.

A live keyboard at the bottom of that screen changes as you change the settings, so you can see the effect before you leave.

Typing: hold, look, then let go

Nothing is typed when you first touch a key. Hold your finger down and the letter appears above it, very large. If it is the wrong one, slide your finger to the right one. The letter is typed when you lift your finger.

It will not appear for passwords

iOS never allows any keyboard other than Apple's into a password field. This applies to every keyboard app on the App Store and cannot be changed by us. Apple's own keyboard appears instead, and BigKeys returns as soon as you leave that field.

Other languages

BigKeys types English, Hebrew, Spanish, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Dutch, Russian and Arabic, including right-to-left. Add BigKeys once and switch between your languages from the keyboard itself — there is no need to add it again for each one.

The languages BigKeys offers are the ones you already have keyboards for. To add another, add that language's keyboard in Settings → General → Keyboard → Keyboards, and it will appear in BigKeys too.

Privacy

BigKeys collects nothing and never asks for “Allow Full Access”. Full details are in the privacy policy.