Redraw is an Android keyboard for those that enjoy emoji as well as all kinds of customization options. For those features, Redraw features a massive 1,000+ emoji as well as an insane number of different themes, with hundreds of them on offer. With its added wallpaper pack that goes beyond customizing the keyboard and lets users choose a background for their phones as well, Redraw Keyboard aims to be Android users’ one-stop shop for tailor-made customization. All of this customization is nice and all, but Redraw is not just style without substance as it offers there and then access to Google Translate, making it nice and easy to talk to friends and family, as well as colleagues, in different languages. Redraw also offers great features such as access to your Google Docs right from the keyboard, as well as the option to create your ideal keyboard, with different themes, key shapes, fonts and even different sounds. Designed to be one of the most complete keyboards on Android, Redraw is the keyboard app you might have been looking for, so let’s take a closer look.
Similarly, to other keyboards on Android, users will need to download Redraw Keyboard from the Play Store. Once they have done, a very professional and easy-to-follow tutorial takes users through what they need to know and how to get the keyboard set up.
This is a quality tutorial, as well as the inclusion of a nice reassurance that the app won’t be stealing any of your information, as Android always gives this warning by default every time, so it’s nice to see some keyboard developers taking this on proactively.
There is a myriad of different themes on offer for users in Redraw keyboard, numbering a few hundred, give or take, and as many wallpapers for your phone to boot. All of these themes offer something a little bit different, and there’s definitely going to be something for everyone here.
These themes cost around 200 coins each, and it appears as though this is one way that the developers make some money with Redraw, in that if you want to try out more than five themes with the keyboard, you’ll have to start paying for more coins in order to download more of them. Of course, with 1,000 coins given to users as they get started with the app, it’s unlikely users will need to spend too much money right away.
When you find a theme that you like, you just need to click on it in order to see more about it, as well as download it. This seems trivial, but there are a number of keyboard apps on Android that host their themes in the Play Store. Being able to download them within the same app is really quite a lot nicer, and not to mention a hell of a lot easier, too.
Whenever you apply something to your keyboard, Redraw allows you to quickly and easily test your keyboard, something that I think should be in a lot more keyboard apps, as it really makes it nice and easy to see just how you like the keyboard, without feeling like you might send a message to someone or anything like that by mistake.
I went with a nice vintage theme for my keyboard, I really wish there were a typewriter-themed keyboard, but we can’t have everything, can we? Of course, those looking to create exactly what they want – including fonts and sounds as well as using their own image of choice – can do so, as Redraw gives users the option of customizing and creating their own perfect keyboard.
I’m a big fan of light, pastel blues and so I went about creating a subtle, yet unique looking keyboard for my device, and Redraw was only too happy to help. This was a feature that I really enjoyed, as few other keyboard apps make it quite as simple as this one does.
Of course, Redraw is not just a keyboard that looks nice, as there are also some excellent features involved, like the Google Translate option. This would, for instance, allow someone to type what they wanted to say, and have the Redraw Keyboard automatically provide a translation for users to send to the person who doesn’t speak their language.
All users need to do is choose the languages that they want their message to translate to, and then they’ll go ahead and type a word which will prompt the translation to pop up. It even works with languages that use a completely different alphabet to your own.
Functionality is taken a lot further here as well, as Redraw Keyboard offers people a great way to tweak practically whatever they want about their keyboard, and then to test it right away and then make more changes to fix whatever they didn’t like the first time around. This all works brilliantly, and it can’t be overstated how useful being able to tweak all of these settings in a quick and easy manner can be.
Something that users will perhaps be on the fence about is the included achievements. These tie in to your Google Play Games account, and while it seems great to be able to get achievements for using a keyboard, each time you change a setting and get a notification for another achievement, it can become pretty annoying over time.
For a lot of people though, getting the prizes that the keyboard offers out will be a nice reward. These prizes will no doubt help users get access to some more themes as well as some more stickers, of which Redraw already comes with a lot of.
There are a lot of different keyboard apps out there, some of which have very loyal followings on Android, and while some keyboard apps offer different gimmicks than others, it can be rare to find one that does all of that without losing track of what it means to have a good, solid keyboard. Redraw Keyboard is thankfully not one of those all-fluff-no-substance keyboards, and while it comes will all kinds of features such as the hundreds of themes, the thousands of different emojis and stickers, the keyboard still retains a quality and professional look and feel. Nothing feels gimmicky here, the tutorial is great and if users don’t like the themes, they can go ahead and create their own using their own photos as well as tweak pretty much everything else about their own personal keyboard. On top of all this, Redraw Keyboard is a genuinely helpful and useful app, as it offers great Google Translation from within the keyboard itself, as well as other neat features that are thoughtfully worked in to the end product, and not presented as gimmicks or anything like that.
Ratings
- Speed (4/5) – It’s quick and easy to get set up and the overall performance of the keyboard is good, making this one of the quicker ways to type on Android.
- Theme (5/5) – With a vast array of different themes on offer, as well as the ability to create your own look and feel down to the exact detail, there’s no way you could ever say this is not a good-looking keyboard app.
- Features (4.5/5) – Redraw Keyboard has pretty much everything you could need in a keyboard, and it does all of this for free, without asking for any extra money for the extra features that it has on show. It translates things right from your fingers, offers users a way of getting their documents from the keyboard and it’s packed full of stickers as well as emoji, too.
- Overall (4.5/5) – Everything in Redraw keyboard runs well and does so without getting in the way of what’s most important here; the typing experience. All of the emoji and stickers, the different themes and the customization options are great, but none of this gets in the way of a quality, usable app that makes typing not only pleasurable, but a lot more useful, too.
Pros
- Doesn’t take long at all to get started, with a pretty top-notch tutorial included for good measure.
- Works great on smartphones as well as tablets, and doesn’t get in the way of the overall typing experience, which is great here.
- Has a wide, wide range of emoji as well as stickers on offer for all those that like to express themselves while messaging, and they all look great, too.
- Allows discerning users to customize absolutely everything about their keyboard, including using their own photos, choosing their own colors, adjusting the size and even the fonts, too.
Cons
- Some of the pre-defined themes might feel a little similar to some users.
- Appears to be a free app, but doesn’t offer everything without ending up to get users to pay for more themes or stickers.
While Redraw Keyboard might appear as yet another keyboard that offers gimmicky features to a public that seems clamoring for them, there’s a hell of a lot more to it than that. It’s a good-looking app with some excellent themes, fonts and sounds and it also has some excellent functionality rolled into one as well. The Google Translate feature is excellent, and it’s a very, very good keyboard regardless of all the extras. A Keyboard app that ticks pretty much all of the right boxes, Redraw Keyboard is definitely one of the good ones.