The default Apple keyboard hasn’t really changed a lot over the last few years. The iPad got a “flick” gesture in iOS 11 to reduce the need to press Shift so often, and we’ve seen some tweaks here and there, but there hasn’t been a substantial improvement to the keyboard in a long time.
With iOS 13, Apple is making a series of welcome improvements that should go a long way toward appeasing those who have given up on Apple’s keyboard in favor of a third-party one. It’s not a holistic rethinking of the keyboard, but rather a number of welcome quality-of-life improvements.
QuickPath
The most immediately noticeable improvement to the iOS keyboard (besides a dark theme for Dark Mode) is surely the new QuickPath typing method. This is Apple’s version of swipe typing, found in lots of third-party keyboards such as Gboard and Swiftkey, and on most Android phones.