Can a third-party keyboard see what you type?

Yes, in ordinary text fields. A keyboard has to receive each character to do its job, so the keyboard you type with can see that text. What matters is whether the text can leave the phone. On an iPhone that depends on one switch, Allow Full Access, which is set for each keyboard separately. With the switch off, a third-party keyboard has no route to a server. With it on, Apple warns that the developer may collect and transmit what you type.

A keyboard sees your text, and Full Access decides whether it can send it away

A third-party keyboard is an input method you choose in Settings. It runs in the same place where you type, so it sees the characters you enter. The part you control is the network. Apple says users must explicitly turn on the Allow Full Access switch for a keyboard in Settings before the keyboard can have open access ¹. Until then the keyboard runs in a sandbox, and Apple's developer documentation says that sandbox's default configuration disallows network access ².

Without Full Access, a keyboard cannot transmit network data

Citizen Lab, an independent research lab, describes the same boundary. Its 2024 report says that without this permission, third-party keyboards on iOS cannot transmit network data ³. This matters for dictation. A keyboard that sends your speech to a cloud recognizer, or downloads a speech model, needs a network connection, so it needs the switch to do that. A keyboard that works fully on the phone may not need the switch at all.

Full Access permits the developer to collect what you type

The switch is not neutral. Apple's warning on third-party keyboards says that if you enable Full Access, developers are permitted to access, collect and transmit the data you type ⁴. The wording describes permission, not behavior. A keyboard with the switch on does not have to collect your text, but it is allowed to. Whether it does is a question for that developer's privacy policy and its track record.

Password fields never reach a third-party keyboard

Some text is kept away from third-party keyboards altogether. Apple's archived guide to custom keyboards says that when a user taps a secure text input object, the system temporarily replaces the custom keyboard with the system keyboard ⁵. Secure fields are the ones that show typed characters as dots, such as password boxes. The custom keyboard returns when you tap an ordinary field. The guide is archived, so check that the behavior on your iOS version matches it.

Flaws in a keyboard can expose text even when its maker is honest

Permission is only one risk. Citizen Lab tested keyboard apps from nine vendors in 2024 and found critical vulnerabilities in the apps of eight of them ⁶. The flaws let someone who can watch network traffic reveal keystrokes while they travel. Most of the vulnerable apps could be exploited by what Citizen Lab calls an entirely passive network eavesdropper ⁷. That is a different threat from the maker reading your text. Citizen Lab recommends that at-risk users switch from a cloud-based keyboard app to one that operates entirely on-device ⁸.

It depends on the keyboard, the field and the network

The answer changes with three things: whether the switch is on, whether the keyboard needs the network, and which field you are typing in.

The table covers iPhone and iPad. Macs and Windows PCs use other permissions, which are covered in our question on why a dictation app needs Accessibility access on a Mac.

What to do

1. In Settings, open each third-party keyboard you use and check its Allow Full Access switch. Turn it off unless that keyboard needs the network.
2. If a keyboard needs Full Access for cloud features, read its privacy policy for what it stores and shares. Turn the switch on only for that keyboard.
3. For sensitive speech, use a keyboard that works entirely on the phone, as Citizen Lab recommends for at-risk users.
4. Delete keyboards you no longer use. Each one is a separate place where your typing could go.

For the wider picture of app permissions, read our guide to dictation app permissions and our overview of voice privacy. The related questions cover whether apps can read your clipboard and how to tell if an app is using your microphone. For the terms, see Allow Full Access.