One of those features is the ability to theme every aspect of the keyboard. You can use different backgrounds in Gboard on Android with colors or a custom image. You can take iOS up a notch and set individual themes for keys, keystrokes, borders, gesture tracks, and more. This level of granular detail for theming lets you make your keyboard look the way you want.

Here's how you can customize and theme Gboard on your iPhone to its full potential.

How Gboard Customization is Different on iPhone vs Android

On Android, Gboard lets you choose a background color for your keyboard. With recent updates, you can also let it choose a color based on your wallpaper thanks to Material You. A custom image from your gallery can also be set as the background.

While the same options are available on Gboard for iPhone, you can take things a step further by using the little edit icon under each theme. You can set separate colors for background, keys, text in keys, border, popup, etc. If you like customizations, you will love this feature!

How to Change Theme and Background on Gboard

As mentioned earlier, there are several aspects of Gboard that you can customize on iOS devices. This is the most basic option of all.

Step 1: Open the Gboard app on your iPhone.

Step 2: Tap Themes to access customization features.

Step 3: Scroll through the different theme options from Default, Landscapes, Light Gradient and Dark Gradient.

Step 4: Choose the one you want to use for your keyboard. If you don't like any of the themes, scroll up and tap the "+" tile under the Custom option.

Step 5: Browse your pictures in the Photos app and choose the one you want to use as a background.

Step 6: Adjust your image to use as a background. When done, press Select.

This will be set as a theme on Gboard. However, this is just the base theme without any customization. Here's how you can change and edit other aspects of the keyboard.

How to Change the Colors of Keys, Text, Borders, Popups, and Swipe Tracks on Gboard

Now that you've selected the base theme for your keyboard, it's time to do some more detailed customization.

Step 1: Choose the base theme you want to pursue by following the steps above.

Step 2: Once you have selected the theme, tap on the small Edit icon in the lower right part of the tile.

Step 3: This is where you will see all of your customization options. A preview of the keyboard is displayed in the lower half of the screen so you can see your changes in real time.

Change background colors

Tap a color of your choice under the Background Color option and see the effect appear on the keyboard below. You can try tapping on all the options until you choose the right one for you.

Change the colors of keys, text and borders

Scroll down to the Keys section. Here you can choose to disable the background for the keys entirely by turning off the toggle next to "Enable background on keys". You can also disable "Enable background on non-text keys" for a more uniform look.

If you want to leave the background enabled, you can change the background color by choosing from an array of colors.

Choosing a light background color would mean that you would need a dark text color. You can also choose this under the Text color option.

At this point, you can also choose to enable an additional border around each key by enabling the “Enable borders around keys” option. Next, choose a relevant color for the border.

If you enabled the background for non-text keys, you can change the color now. These keys include backspace, shift, enter, etc.

You can also turn on the toggle next to "Enable borders around non-text keys" to add borders to additional keys for a more uniform look. Select a color under Border Color to apply it.

Change context key colors

Scroll down to the Key pop-ups section. Here you can select the background color for key popups. Select a color, then try pressing a key on the keyboard to get an idea of ​​what it looks like.

You can also change the text color in the pop-up window. Again, press a key to test how it looks.

Change swipe trail colors for dragging input

When you type using swipe gestures on your keyboard, Swipe Trail is what you get. You can customize its appearance using the color palette under the Swipe trail color.

Select a color you like, then swipe across the keyboard to see it in action.

You can also use the slider to increase or decrease the thickness of the sweep trail.

Enabling the last toggle at the end labeled Swipe trail sparkles will add multiple Google logos flying from all sides on the keyboard while typing.

Registering the custom keyboard

Once you have selected and changed all the required settings, tap the DONE button in the top right corner of the Gboard app. This will save the keyboard layout.

Enjoy your newly personalized keyboard

With a plethora of themes and customization options, pick the ones you like and personalize your keyboard. These options remain consistent across all apps on your phone. You can even create multiple themes and switch between them for a new look from time to time.