Arabic Typing on iPhone: Complete Setup & Usage Guide

The iPhone is one of the most popular smartphones in the Arab world, and iOS has excellent built-in Arabic support. Whether you need to type Arabic messages, use Arabic apps, or communicate with family and friends, this guide covers every aspect of Arabic typing on iPhone — including setup, tips, shortcuts, and voice typing.

Adding Arabic Keyboard to iPhone

Step 1: Open Settings

Tap the Settings app on your iPhone home screen.

Step 2: Navigate to General → Keyboard

Tap General, then scroll down and tap Keyboard.

Step 3: Add Keyboard

Tap Keyboards, then tap Add New Keyboard...

Step 4: Select Arabic

Scroll down or search for "Arabic". You will see two options:

• Arabic: Standard Arabic keyboard — recommended for most users
• Arabic (QWERTY): Maps Arabic letters to QWERTY positions for users familiar with QWERTY layout

Tap Arabic to add it. It will now appear in your keyboards list.

Switching Between Arabic and English on iPhone

Once Arabic is added, tap any text field to open the keyboard. Look for the globe icon (🌐) at the bottom left of the keyboard. Tap it to cycle through your installed keyboards. The keyboard switches instantly.

If you have many keyboards installed, hold the globe icon to see a picker showing all installed keyboards for faster selection.

iPhone Arabic Keyboard Layout

The iPhone Arabic keyboard uses a touch-optimized version of the standard Arabic 101 layout. Letters appear in 3 rows, and you can swipe the keyboard in landscape orientation for a wider layout. Key features:

• Tap and hold a letter to see related characters (hamza forms, tanween)
• The numbers row shows Arabic-Indic numerals by default
• Special characters panel includes Arabic comma (،) and question mark (؟)

Typing Arabic Diacritics (Harakat) on iPhone

The iPhone Arabic keyboard includes shortcut access to harakat:

• Tap and hold the base letter you want to vowel
• A popup shows vowel options: fatha (فَ), kasra (فِ), damma (فُ), sukoon (فْ), shadda (فّ), and tanwin variants
• Slide your finger to the desired diacritic without lifting

Arabic Voice Typing on iPhone (Siri Dictation)

iPhone supports Arabic voice typing through its built-in dictation feature. To use it:

1. Make sure you are on the Arabic keyboard (switch using globe icon)
2. Tap any text field to open the keyboard
3. Tap the microphone icon (🎤) at the bottom right of the keyboard
4. Speak in Arabic — your speech is converted to Arabic text in real-time

Arabic dictation supports both MSA and several dialects (Gulf Arabic and Egyptian Arabic have the strongest support).

Arabic in iPhone Apps

Messages (iMessage)

iMessage displays Arabic text correctly with automatic RTL direction when the conversation partner has an Arabic-capable device.

Mail

iOS Mail app supports Arabic perfectly. Compose Arabic emails by switching to Arabic keyboard. The RTL formatting is handled automatically.

Notes

Notes supports Arabic with full RTL text direction. You can start a mixed Arabic-English note and each paragraph maintains its own text direction.

Troubleshooting Arabic iPhone Issues

Problem	Solution
Arabic text shows as boxes on some apps	The app lacks Arabic font support. Use our web keyboard and copy text instead.
Autocorrect changes Arabic words incorrectly	Settings → General → Keyboard → turn off Auto-Correction for Arabic keyboard.
Arabic voice typing not available	Settings → General → Keyboard → Enable Dictation must be ON.
Arabic text direction mixed with English	Start each paragraph with its intended language character to set direction correctly.

Use Our Web Keyboard on iPhone Safari

For typed Arabic with diacritics, Tajweed marks, and export features not available on the system keyboard, use our Arabic Typing Keyboard in Safari on your iPhone. It is fully touch-optimized and works great on iPhone screens.