If you use Gboard (most phones)
- 01
Open Gboard's settings
The fastest way: open any app and bring up the keyboard. Tap and hold the comma key, then tap the gear icon. Or go to Settings → System → Languages & input → On-screen keyboard → Gboard.
- 02
Tap Languages
You'll see your current languages. Tap Languages.
Fig. gboard settings → languages - 03
Add keyboard
Tap Add keyboard. Search for "Arabic."
- 04
Pick a layout
Layout tiles sit at the bottom of the screen, usually the default Arabic layout plus PC, sometimes more. Pick PC if you're learning the standard Arabic 101 layout and want your phone to match your computer. Otherwise stick with the default; it's the comfortable one on a phone screen.
Fig. arabic layout selection in gboard - 05
Done
Tap Done. Arabic is now installed.
If you use Samsung Keyboard
Go to Settings → General management → Samsung Keyboard settings → Languages and types → Manage input languages. Find Arabic in the list and toggle it on; download if prompted. The Samsung Keyboard guide has the full walkthrough, including the spacebar-swipe language switch.
Which Arabic keyboard should you use?
Short version: the keyboard already on your phone is probably fine. Here's where they actually differ.
The best Arabic predictions of the three, and the only one with a PC layout that matches desktop. Glide and voice typing work in Arabic too. If it's already your keyboard, add Arabic and you're done; full steps in the Gboard guide.
Already on your Galaxy, and it types Arabic fine. Predictions run a notch behind Gboard, though, and there's no desktop-matching layout. Steps in the Samsung guide.
The party trick is typing two languages at once, no switching, handy when chats drift between Arabic and English mid-sentence. Arabic predictions are good. Layout options are thinner than Gboard's.
How to switch to Arabic when typing
Bring up the keyboard in any app and tap the globe icon (🌐) on the bottom row, usually next to the spacebar. Each tap cycles to the next language. No globe icon? Hold the spacebar instead; most keyboards pop up a language picker from there.
The Arabic 101 keyboard layout
Gboard's PC option is the same standard Arabic 101 layout desktops use. If you ever type Arabic on a laptop, the reference below is exactly what you'll find there.
Android Arabic keyboard questions
Which steps apply to my phone: Gboard or Samsung Keyboard?
It depends on the keyboard app, not the phone brand. Most Android phones ship with Gboard, so the numbered steps cover that. Galaxy phones default to Samsung Keyboard, which has its own short path through General management. Open your keyboard and check the settings gear if you are not sure which one you are using.
There is no globe key on my keyboard. How do I switch to Arabic?
Hold the spacebar instead. Almost every Android keyboard pops up a language picker from a long press there. If you would rather have the key back, both Gboard and Samsung Keyboard have a setting that shows a dedicated language key beside the spacebar.
Should I pick the Arabic layout or the PC layout?
The default Arabic layout is the comfortable one for thumbs, with bigger keys and fewer of them. The PC layout copies the desktop Arabic 101 arrangement, so every hour on your phone also trains you for a laptop. Pick PC if you expect to type Arabic on a computer; pick the default if the phone is the whole story.
Is Arabic typing on Android any different from English?
Only in direction. Text runs right to left and the cursor sits at the right edge of the field, which looks wrong for about a day. Predictions, glide typing and voice input all work in Arabic once the language finishes downloading.
If the keyboard is step one of learning the language itself, our sister site Tfaddalu picks up from there: spoken Palestinian Arabic, taught at the same unhurried pace as this site.