Can you use two third-party keyboards on iPhone at once?
Yes — iOS does not cap you at one custom keyboard. What actually happens when you add a second, why they never run at the same time, and why Full Access on one does not carry over to the other.
Yes. There is nothing in iOS that limits a phone to one third-party keyboard, and adding a second one does not remove, replace, or interfere with the first. The confusion usually comes from a different question — whether two keyboards can be active at the same time — and the answer to that one is no, for a reason worth understanding.
What adding a second keyboard actually does
Settings → General → Keyboard → Keyboards → Add New Keyboard… is the same screen every time. The first time, it adds your first custom keyboard to the list. The second time, it adds a second row underneath it, under “Third-Party Keyboards”. Neither keyboard app needs to know the other exists, and installing or removing one has no effect on the other’s settings, themes, or saved data.
They take turns, not run together
Only one keyboard is ever the active one on screen, and you move between them with the globe key 🌐 at the bottom-left: a single tap advances to the next keyboard in your list, and a press-and-hold opens a picker of everything you have added, custom keyboards and Apple’s own language keyboards together.
The reason two keyboards cannot run at once is architectural, not a rule someone chose. A keyboard extension exists as a running process only while its keyboard is actually on screen. The moment you switch to a different keyboard, iOS tears down the one you left — it is not paused in the background, it stops existing. So a second custom keyboard cannot listen to what you type on the first, cannot run its own effects while another keyboard is showing, and does not add to the first one’s memory use. They alternate cleanly.
Full Access is granted per keyboard, not once
Each keyboard has its own Full Access switch, set separately at Settings → General → Keyboard → Keyboards → [that keyboard]. Turning it on for one custom keyboard has no effect on any other keyboard on the phone — there is no shared or inherited permission. If you use two custom keyboards and only one of them has a genuine reason to need Full Access, you can leave the other one’s switch off without losing anything on the first.
Real reasons people do this
- A keyboard picked for its sound and theme, kept alongside a plainer one used only for languages it does not support.
- A translation or productivity keyboard used occasionally, without giving up the everyday keyboard the rest of the time.
- Trying a new keyboard without committing — both stay installed and you decide which one earns the top spot in the list.
Where it still gets in the way
The globe key cycles through everything you have added, not just the two you actually reach for. Two custom keyboards plus a couple of language keyboards can make a single tap land somewhere unhelpful three times running. The fix is the same one that helps with a single keyboard: Settings → General → Keyboard → Keyboards → Edit, then drag the ones you use most to the top, so the keyboard you want is never more than one tap or one hold away.
A secure text field — a password box, a payment sheet — forces Apple’s own keyboard regardless of how many custom keyboards you have installed. That restriction is not about which keyboard is “in charge”; it applies the same way with one custom keyboard or five.
Where Kibo fits
Kibo carries 30 typing languages, a range of fancy text styles and its own emoji and kaomoji panel inside one keyboard, so several of the usual reasons for reaching for a second app — a language the first keyboard does not cover, a different look, a saved-phrase panel — are already handled without adding one. Nothing about that stops it sitting in your keyboard list next to another custom keyboard, though: it follows the same Add New Keyboard step as any other, and Full Access stays off by default, needed only for the Copy word, Copy line and Paste buttons on its toolbar.
Frequently asked questions
Do two custom keyboards run at the same time and share memory?
No. Only the keyboard currently on screen exists as a running process — iOS tears down the previous one the moment you switch away, so they take turns rather than running in parallel.
If I grant Full Access to one keyboard, does my other keyboard get it too?
No. Full Access is a separate switch per keyboard in Settings → General → Keyboard → Keyboards → [keyboard name]. Turning it on for one has no effect on any other keyboard you have added.
Does adding a second keyboard remove or replace the first one?
No. Add New Keyboard only adds a row to your list. Removing a keyboard is a separate, deliberate step — Edit, then the red minus, then Delete — on that same screen.
Try it on your own keyboard
Kibo is a free custom keyboard for iPhone with real mechanical key sounds, a wardrobe of themes and RGB backlight effects. No account, no ads, and it works with Full Access left off.