Overview
While you can use any native Color you like in your custom keyboards, having access to keyboard-specific colors simplifies creating custom keyboards that look more native.
KeyboardKit provides some keyboard-specific Color extensions, like standard colors for buttons, backgrounds, etc. Some of these colors have built-in logic to work around system limitations.
Color extensions
KeyboardKit has static colors that aim to match the iOS system colors, such as .keyboardBackground, .keyboardButtonBackground, .keyboardButtonForeground, etc.
KeyboardKit also has contextual colors take a KeyboardContext and vary the result based on it, like keyboardBackground(for:) and keyboardButtonBackground(for:).
Using the contextual colors means that you don’t have to check for light or dark mode, which device that is currently used, etc. It’s recommended to use these instead of the raw values.
Important about keyboards and colors
If you take a closer look at some of these colors, you will notice that some are semi-transparent. The reason for this is to work around a system limitation (bug?) in iOS.
Keyboard extensions get invalid color scheme information when used with a dark appearance text field. iOS will say that is uses a dark color scheme, even if the system color scheme is light.
Since dark appearance keyboards in light mode look different from keyboards in dark mode, this incorrect information makes it difficult to style keyboards correctly.
To work around this, some colors use a semi-transparent color with an opacity that aims to look good in both light and dark mode. This has been reported to Apple, but is not yet fixed.
Documentation
The information on this page has been shortened to be easier to overview. For more information about this feature, code samples, etc. please see the online documentation.
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Essentials
KeyboardKit provides essential features, utilities & views.
Actions
KeyboardKit makes it easy to trigger keyboard-related actions
Autocomplete
KeyboardKit can perform autocomplete.
Callouts
KeyboardKit can show input & secondary action callouts.
Colors
KeyboardKit defines keyboard-specific colors.
Device Utilities
KeyboardKit has device-specific utilities.
Emojis
KeyboardKit defines emojis, categories, skin tones, etc.
Feedback
KeyboardKit can trigger audio & haptic feedback.
Gestures
KeyboardKit has a customizable keyboard gesture engine.
Images
KeyboardKit defines keyboard-specific images.
Layout
KeyboardKit has customizable input sets & keyboard layouts.
Localization
KeyboardKit supports 60+ locales and languages.
Navigation
KeyboardKit lets you open urls and apps from the keyboard.
Previews
KeyboardKit has rich SwiftUI preview support.
Proxy Utilities
KeyboardKit makes your text document proxy do a LOT more.
Settings
KeyboardKit has tools for in-app settings & System Settings.
Status
KeyboardKit detects if a keyboard is enabled, has full access, etc.
Styling
KeyboardKit lets you style your keyboards to great extent.
Text Routing
KeyboardKit kan route text to other places.
Pro Features
Essentials
KeyboardKit Pro unlocks system keyboard and theme previews.
Actions
KeyboardKit Pro auto-registers the most recently used emojis.
AI Support
KeyboardKit Pro unlocks features that are needed for AI.
App
KeyboardKit Pro unlocks app-specific screens & views.
Autocomplete
KeyboardKit Pro unlocks on-device & remote autocomplete.
Callouts
KeyboardKit Pro unlocks localized callouts for all locales.
Dictation
KeyboardKit Pro can perform dictation from the keyboard.
Emojis
KeyboardKit Pro unlocks an emoji keyboard with skintone support.
External Keyboards
KeyboardKit Pro can detect if an external keyboard is connected.
Feedback
KeyboardKit Pro unlocks tools for toogling feedback on & off.
Layout
KeyboardKit Pro unlocks localized layouts for all locales.
Localization
KeyboardKit Pro unlocks support for 60+ locales.
Previews
KeyboardKit Pro unlocks system keyboard and theme previews.
Proxy Utilities
KeyboardKit Pro makes the proxy able to read the full document.
Text Input
KeyboardKit Pro unlocks tools to let you type within the keyboard
Themes
KeyboardKit Pro unlocks a theme engine & many standard themes.