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How to Get the New Dark Keyboard on Your iPad or iPhone Without the iOS 7.1 Beta

Jan 7, 2014 11:36 PM

Feb 22, 2014 02:23 AM

Keyboard layout with dark and light key designs.

If you're lucky enough to have an iOS developer account, then you had a brief glimpse of some of the darker options with the 7.1 update, including a darker keyboard. This was exclusive to developers who installed the first iOS 7.1 beta, but is no longer available, unfortunately.

For those of us that don't have an extra $100 to drop on a developer account, there is a way to get this dark keyboard, and not only as a preview, but as your default look. All you need is to jailbreak your iOS 7 device. Already jailbroken? Then this will be quick!

Install Bloard

Open up Cydia, search Bloard, then install.

App icon for Bloard version 0.0.1-11, file size 78 kB.

Enable Tweak

Easy, right? Next, go into your Settings application, locate Bloard and enable.

Settings menu from a mobile application displaying various app icons.

Settings menu with an option to enable a feature called "Bboard."

There's not much else to it. If you want to revert back to basic white, then just go into the Bloard settings and disable.

Text conversation between two individuals discussing fetching water from a well, with one person responding humorously.

How to Get the New Dark Keyboard on Your iPad or iPhone Without the iOS 7.1 Beta

Easy! Enjoy the darker-look, and let us know of any trouble you run into. Check back soon as we'll be covering several more new softMods for iOS 7 over the coming weeks.

The next big software update for iPhone is coming sometime in April and will include a Food section in Apple News+, an easy-to-miss new Ambient Music app, Priority Notifications thanks to Apple Intelligence, and updates to apps like Mail, Photos, Podcasts, and Safari. See what else is coming to your iPhone with the iOS 18.4 update.