Android L keyboard ported to rooted devices running KitKat

If you’re feeling down because your phone isn’t eligible for the Android L dev preview and you’ve been quietly drowning in a pool of jealousy, allow us to throw you a small life preserver. While there’s not yet a clean build of L for non-Nexus devices, those crafty folks at XDA Developers have managed to pull its fancy Material Design-themed keyboard and port it to other smartphones.

To sample this fancy new input method, you’ll need a rooted device running Android 4.4 or higher. If you already have Google Keyboard installed, you’ll need to uninstall it or delete it from /system/app. After that, you’ll need to download the zip and flash it in either ClockworkMod or TWRP Recovery. Go to Keyboard Settings, Advanced (Expert) Settings and select “Material” as your color scheme.

So far it’s been tested on the Galaxy Nexus, Nexus 4, Xperia L, Galaxy S5, LG G2, Galaxy S3 and the HTC One M8, but it’s believed to work on any ROM based on KitKat.