How to type Vietnamese on iPhone with VNI
Telex is the typing style iOS turns on by default for its Vietnamese keyboard, but it is not the only one built in. VNI swaps Telex’s doubled letters for numbers — the same system used with Unikey on Windows and on older numeric keypads — and iOS keeps it one screen away, inside the very same keyboard entry, once you know where to look.
Most guides to the iPhone’s Vietnamese keyboard show Telex, because that is what iOS switches on the moment you add the keyboard. It is not the only typing style living inside that one keyboard entry, though, and if you learned Vietnamese typing somewhere that used numbers instead — Unikey set to VNI on a Windows PC, or an older phone with a numeric keypad — Telex’s doubled letters can feel like relearning something your hands already know. VNI sits in the very same keyboard. The only trick is knowing which screen to open to reach it, because iOS never surfaces it on its own.
VNI in one sentence
Where Telex spells a vowel modifier or a tone mark with a second letter typed right where the accent belongs — ee for ê, s for the rising tone — VNI spells the exact same mark with a digit instead. The five tones and three vowel modifiers are identical to Telex’s; only the keys that trigger them change, from letters that could pass for ordinary spelling to numbers that never appear on their own in a Vietnamese word.
Turning on Vietnamese and switching its style to VNI
- Settings → General → Keyboard → Keyboards → Add New Keyboard…
- Choose Vietnamese from the list. It joins your keyboards immediately, set to Telex by default.
- Go back into Settings → General → Keyboard → Keyboards and tap directly on “Vietnamese” in the list — not Edit, just the row itself. That opens its own typing-style screen, separate from the list of installed keyboards.
- Select VNI from the styles offered, then tap Done. The one Vietnamese entry already in your keyboard list now types VNI instead of Telex — there is no second keyboard to add and no separate globe-key slot to hunt for.
Typing the marks with VNI
Every Vietnamese syllable can carry one of three vowel modifiers, one of five tones, or the stroke through d — and VNI gives each of those eight marks its own digit, plus one more to undo a mistake:
- 6 → the circumflex — turns a into â, e into ê, o into ô
- 7 → the horn — turns o into ơ, u into ư
- 8 → the breve — turns a into ă
- 9 → the stroke — turns d into đ
- 1 → sắc, the rising tone (´) — a becomes á
- 2 → huyền, the falling tone (`) — a becomes à
- 3 → hỏi, the dipping hook (ˀ) — a becomes ả
- 4 → ngã, the broken-rising tone (~) — a becomes ã
- 5 → nặng, the dot underneath (˙) — a becomes ạ
- 0 → strips a mark back off, if the wrong digit landed
Unlike Telex’s doubled letters, which have to land exactly where the accented letter belongs because ordinary Vietnamese spelling already uses those same letters, a digit never shows up in Vietnamese text on its own — so VNI lets you type the whole syllable first and tack its digits on at the end, and the keyboard works out which vowel they belong to. Việt Nam becomes Viet65 Nam: the 6 puts a circumflex on the e, the 5 adds nặng underneath it, and both land correctly even though the e they modify is two letters back by the time you type them. Cà phê becomes ca2 phe6 the same way, though with only one vowel in each syllable there, the digit could just as well sit right after it — there is nowhere else for it to go.
Where Kibo fits
Vietnamese is one of the 30 typing languages built into Kibo, sitting in the same globe-key list as every other language rather than needing a separate app. Whichever theme, key sound and lighting effect you already have chosen carries straight through when you switch into it, because it is one keyboard with many languages rather than a different keyboard per language. None of this touches Full Access, which Kibo reads only for the Copy word, Copy line and Paste buttons on its own toolbar. It is free to download.
Frequently asked questions
Does the iPhone’s Vietnamese keyboard support VNI?
Yes. It ships set to Telex, but tapping directly on “Vietnamese” in Settings → General → Keyboard → Keyboards opens a typing-style screen where VNI is one of the options.
What is the actual difference between Telex and VNI?
Both build the same tones and vowel marks from ordinary keys typed right after each other. Telex uses letters — doubling a vowel or adding a w or a d — while VNI uses the digits 1 through 9, plus 0 to undo one. Neither is more “correct”; it comes down to which one your hands already know.
Do I need to add a second keyboard to use VNI?
No. Telex and VNI are two typing styles inside the same Vietnamese keyboard entry, not two separate keyboards. Changing the style on its settings screen changes how the one Vietnamese keyboard in your list behaves; nothing else about your keyboard list changes.
Can the digits go anywhere in the syllable, or do they need to sit right at the vowel?
Anywhere in the syllable works, because a digit never doubles as ordinary Vietnamese spelling the way Telex’s letters do. Most people type the whole syllable first and add its digits at the end, which is why “Viet65” is the more natural way to type Việt rather than spelling the modifiers in mid-word.
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.