Animate the iOS Keyboard in After Effects
The iOS Keyboard template is an After Effects template that allows you to automatically animate iOS keyboard input within After Effects. Just add your text and the template will do the rest.
Step 1 - Open preferred comp
The template includes two different compositions:
- iOS Keyboard - Messages -- Recreates the keyboard and output used in the Messages iOS app.
- iOS Keyboard - Plain -- Recreates the keyboard for any iOS app, designed specifically for animating the typing effect only.
Step 2 - Add text
Open one of the comps and type or paste your text in the TYPE layer. If text doesn't appear, drag the current time indicator past the second keyframe on the TYPE layer.
Step 3 - Set type keyframes
On the TYPE layer there are 2 keyframes indicating the start and end of the typing animation. Reposition these keyframes, add additional keyframes, or apply easing to customize timing.
Step 4 - Edit appearance
The TYPE layer includes a Keyboard Appearance effect with several adjustments:
Dark Mode -- Changes background to dark color with light text.
Default Keyboard -- Sets keyboard to uppercase, lowercase, numbers, or symbols before and after animation.
Colors -- Adjusts colors throughout the composition.
In iOS Keyboard - Plain, an additional Hide Help Bar effect hides the predictive text area.
Step 5 - Render or use in separate comp
The keyboard automatically highlights the last character "pressed" based on text animation timing. Render the comp directly or nest it in another composition.
In iOS Keyboard - Plain, the TYPE layer won't render by default. Right-click and deselect Guide Layer to enable rendering.