Nothing's aesthetic is arguably the brand's most distinguishing factor in a market saturated with generic designs. However, many users felt a slight visual disconnect when using the conventional keyboard: Gboard is functional, but it lacks the minimalist "soul" of Nothing's interface. This is where Nboardcomes in, a creation by dotSlimy that arrives to brilliantly bridge that design gap.
Native aesthetics and real minimalism
The first thing that stands out about NBoard is how well it understands Carl Pei's visual language. It's not just a dark "skin"; it's an interface that makes generous use of white space and clean typography like Inter o Roboto. The yellow accents, so characteristic of the brand, give it that touch of identity that makes the keyboard feel like an integral part of the system and not like an external application.
From my point of view, NBoard's greatest victory is cohesion. Using a Nothing Phone 3 and having the keyboard share the exact same philosophy significantly improves the daily experience. Furthermore, customization is absolute: you can configure the bottom keys for quick access to AI, the clipboard, or emojis depending on your needs.
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AI and advanced clipboard
NBoard isn't just a pretty face. dotSlimy has integrated cutting-edge features that even keyboards from major companies are slow to implement smoothly. Most notably, it boasts native integration with the Gemini API, allowing quick actions like summarizing text, correcting grammar, or expanding ideas through custom prompts. It is, literally, having an advanced writing assistant built right into the keys.
Its smart clipboard also deserves special mention, as it allows you to preview not only text but also images, as well as quickly pin or delete clips. Quality-of-life features such as cursor control via the spacebar or swipe typing (currently in beta) demonstrate the project's high technical ambitions.
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A global project with localization challenges
As is often the case with emerging community projects, NBoard initially focuses on markets where development is most active. Currently, although it offers QWERTY and AZERTYlayouts, local autocorrect is limited to English and French.
For us Spanish-speaking users, this means that the keyboard is perfectly functional in its design and AI tools, but it lacks the safety net of autocorrect in Spanish. In my opinion, this shouldn't discourage enthusiasts: being a free, Open Source project, it's only a matter of time before the community collaborates to integrate our language and make it the ultimate keyboard.
Transparency and community: the value of openness
The fact that it is completely free and open source is a relief in terms of privacy. The developer has shared analyses from VirusTotal and Koodous, demonstrating a total commitment to security. It is refreshing to see how the Nothing community takes the initiative to create tools that the brand has not yet officially developed, offering a clean product with no trackers.
Mauro Fernando
good keyboard