Installing the keyboard

Prerequisite

Install the vmux Keyboard host app from the App Store and open it once. iOS hides custom keyboards from the Add New Keyboard picker until their host app has launched at least once on the device. Tap the icon, wait for the host screen to appear, and you are done with this step.

The host app itself is a thin landing screen. It shows the setup steps, a sample text field where you can test the keyboard immediately after installation, and a single toggle for Enable Swipe Typing. There is nothing else to configure on the host side.

Add the keyboard in iOS Settings

After the host app has launched once, add the keyboard to the system list:

Settings -> General -> Keyboard -> Keyboards -> Add New Keyboard...

Scroll until you find vmux Keyboard under THIRD-PARTY KEYBOARDS (the list groups by app, so it appears under the host app's name). Tap it.

vmux Keyboard now appears in your KEYBOARDS list above the picker. The order in this list is the order iOS uses when you long-press the globe key — drag it to the top of the list if you want it as your default.

Switch to the keyboard

Open any text field — a web form, the Notes app, a chat, vmuxPhone's terminal, anywhere a keyboard comes up. Then either:

• Single tap the globe key on the system keyboard's bottom row to cycle to the next keyboard. Repeat until vmux is active.
• Long-press the globe key to open a picker, then tap vmux Keyboard.

You will know the vmux keyboard is active because the layout changes — you see the function row with Esc and F1–F12 across the top, and the bottom row has Ctrl, Alt, and Cmd keys instead of the usual emoji and dictation buttons.

The next time you bring up a keyboard, iOS remembers your most recent pick per app. So if you switched to vmux Keyboard inside Notes, the next time you tap a Notes field it stays on vmux Keyboard.

Switching away

Tap the globe key on the vmux keyboard (it sits at the start of the bottom row, alongside Fn and Ctrl). One tap cycles to the next keyboard in your list. Long-press to pick.

About Allow Full Access

After you add the keyboard, iOS shows it in Settings -> General -> Keyboard -> Keyboards. Tap vmux Keyboard in that list and you will see one toggle: Allow Full Access.

Leave this off. The current release does not need it. iOS makes you grant Full Access to a third-party keyboard in order to:

• Read or write the system clipboard from inside the keyboard.
• Make network calls (none of the major keyboards on the App Store should be doing this — vmux Keyboard never does).
• Receive haptic feedback events from the keyboard's own UI (the system already routes the host app's haptic generator without Full Access, so the keypress vibration on vmuxPhone works regardless).

If a future release adds a feature that requires Full Access — for example, a "paste recent shell command" suggestion that has to read the clipboard from the extension — the host app will say so explicitly and link back here.

The other thing to know about Full Access: turning it on prompts iOS to display a system warning that custom keyboards with Full Access can theoretically read everything you type and send it to a server. We do not. The extension makes zero network calls. The wordlist used for swipe typing is bundled into the app, not fetched at runtime.

Verify the install

Open the host app and tap into the sample text field at the bottom of the home screen. Switch to vmux Keyboard with the globe key. You should see:

• A function row with esc followed by F1 through F12.
• A number row with backtick, 1–0, hyphen, equals, and the backspace key.
• Three letter rows ending in [ ] \, then ; ' and Return, then Z X C V B N M , . / with the up arrow and a right Shift.
• A bottom row with the globe key, Fn, Ctrl, Option, Cmd, a wide spacebar, Cmd, Option, then Left / Down / Right arrows.

Type a few characters. Tap Esc. Tap an arrow key. The text field shows the right characters and the arrows move the cursor. Tap and hold the spacebar to enter trackpad mode — see Swipe gestures.

If anything is missing or laid out wrong, see Troubleshooting.

Reorder or remove

To make vmux Keyboard the system default, go back to Settings -> General -> Keyboard -> Keyboards, tap Edit, and drag vmux Keyboard to the top of the list. iOS picks the topmost keyboard whenever you open a fresh app for the first time.

To remove the keyboard later, tap Edit on the same screen, tap the red minus next to vmux Keyboard, and confirm. The host app stays installed; the extension is just no longer registered with iOS. Re-add it any time from Add New Keyboard....

To uninstall completely, delete the vmux Keyboard host app from the home screen. iOS removes the extension along with it, and the wordlist and your learned-word frequencies go with it.

Updating the keyboard

Updates ship through the App Store like any other app. After an update lands, iOS automatically reloads the extension the next time you switch to it — there is nothing to tap. The first switch after an update can take an extra second while iOS reloads the new bundle; subsequent switches are instant again.

Where to go next

• Layout and keys — every key and what it sends.
• Swipe gestures — swipe typing and trackpad mode.
• Using with vmuxPhone — when to use this versus the embedded keyboard.
• Troubleshooting — keyboard does not appear, keys do not register.