Get Jelly Bean Keyboard on any Android 1.6+ phone or device

How many of you are still using old Froyo or Gingerbread on your Android phone depending on the version of the Stock Android on your device? Do you feel a little jealous when you see a friend using an Android device running the new Ice Cream Sandwich 4.0 or Jelly Bean 4.1. Don’t fret because you are not alone. However you can get a taste of Ice Cream sandwich (ICS) or Jelly Bean (JB) exclusive apps like the Keyboard even on your old Android device running android version 1.6 or above. No I am not joking, an Android developer has actually backported the Jelly Bean Keyboard to run on older android phones and is available as a free app on Google Playstore by the name of “Jelly Bean Keyboard”.

It features a user dictionary which gets updated with the words you type. You can also add new words from the settings. One useful feature of this keyboard is the option to enable arrow keys, so that you don’t have to keep tapping near that typo in your text message till you get it right. :)

Themes

There are a few built-in themes inside the app to play with if you are bored with the default look and you can easily change the look or theme of the keyboard by selecting a different theme from the setting.

Auto-correct and other Features

I typed “This is a test message” deliberately with typos but it managed to correct it almost perfectly, except it chose text in place of test :) Understandable since we use the word text more than test.

You can adjust the Height of the Keyboard according to your liking, and even choose from different layouts for Portrait and Landscape modes. There is even a layout for Android Tablets.

40 Language Supported

This Jelly Bean Keyboard currently supports over 40 languages, but of course you need to download language packs (Dictionaries) separately because the Keyboard comes with the English Dictionary only.

Drawback- Ad Supported

One drawback though with this app is that it displays ads in the settings menu which is a bit unusual for a keyboard. I think its the first keyboard app to do that, but then again the developer deserves some reward for his hard work, AKA the Pro version. They offer a paid version which doesn’t have ads or internet permission, and you also get to use 3rd party themes with the keyboard, custom backgrounds plus a few additional tweaks.