Keyboard extensions and Full Access explained

Full Access is a permission every custom keyboard on iOS can request. It lets a keyboard write to a shared container with its companion app and reach the network. Apple blocks microphone access for a keyboard extension either way. Parlo requests Full Access only to hand your dictated text back to the keyboard, and it never touches the microphone.

By Eric Friedman. Last updated 2026-09-08.

What is a custom keyboard extension?

On iOS, a custom keyboard is a separate extension that runs alongside its companion app. By default it runs in a restricted sandbox. It can perform normal typing duties and read your text shortcuts and common-word lexicon. It cannot see the network, cannot write to a shared container with its app, and cannot access the microphone.

What does Full Access add?

Full Access, also called open access, lifts specific restrictions once you turn it on in Settings. Apple's developer documentation lists what changes:

That last row matters most for a dictation keyboard: Full Access never grants microphone access. Apple blocks it at the system level for every custom keyboard, Full Access or not.

Why does Parlo's keyboard ask for Full Access?

Parlo's keyboard cannot record audio, so it needs another way to receive your dictated text. Without Full Access, a keyboard can only read its companion app's shared container; it cannot write to it. Full Access adds that write access, and that is what Parlo's keyboard actually needs. When you tap the microphone key, the keyboard writes a small request into the shared App Group container, so the app knows to start recording.

Once the app finishes and writes your text back to that same container, the keyboard reads the result and marks it consumed. That consumed flag is what stops the same result from ever being inserted twice, even if the keyboard checks the container more than once. The setup screen states the reason for Full Access plainly: "Parlo needs it to hand text back to the keyboard."

The keyboard does not use Full Access for anything else. It never links Parlo's sync stack and never touches CloudKit. The extra network access Full Access technically permits is not something the keyboard uses for your history or your account.

How do you turn Full Access on?

1. Open Settings, then Keyboards.
2. Turn on Parlo in your list of keyboards.
3. Turn on Allow Full Access for Parlo.

Without this step, the keyboard can still appear and type. It cannot write the request that starts a dictation handoff, since that depends on write access to the shared container.

What does Parlo's own setup checklist track?

Parlo's onboarding, and the setup card that stays on your feed until you finish, track the same three steps. Each one shows a state, so you always know what is left:

Until you switch to Parlo for the first time, Parlo has no way to check whether Full Access is actually on. That row shows as unresolved rather than guessing. If you do switch to Parlo but leave Full Access off, the row calls that out directly. The setup card on your feed keeps prompting you until the keyboard can actually hand text back.

What should you expect the first time you switch to Parlo?

The setup screen breaks the process into two steps. First: "Open Settings, tap Keyboards, turn on Parlo and Allow Full Access." Second: "In any app, touch and hold the globe key, then choose Parlo." The globe key is how iOS lets you cycle between installed keyboards. Switching to Parlo uses the same gesture you would use for any other keyboard.

What happens if you skip Full Access?

You can add Parlo as a keyboard and switch to it without ever turning on Full Access. It still types normally, and it still shows its own layout and suggestion strip. What it cannot do is write the request that starts a dictation. Tapping the microphone key does nothing useful, since the keyboard has no way to tell the app to start recording. Turning on Full Access afterward, without reinstalling anything, is enough to make the microphone key work.

Does Full Access change what the app can do?

No. Full Access is a permission for the keyboard extension. The app records audio and runs transcription on its own, regardless of the keyboard's permissions. Recording never happens inside the keyboard in the first place.

Does turning Full Access off delete anything?

No. Turning off Full Access only stops the handoff going forward. Notes already in your feed, your dictionary, and your settings stay exactly where they were. The keyboard simply loses write access to the shared container. A new dictation request from the microphone key has nowhere to land until you turn Full Access back on.

The short version

Full Access adds write access to a shared container and network access for a keyboard extension. It never adds microphone access. Parlo uses it for exactly one purpose: writing your dictation request and reading back the finished text. That is how the keyboard inserts it where you left off without ever inserting it twice.