diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index ad82917c8..56641240e 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -104,6 +104,7 @@ appium:buildToolsVersion | The version of Android build tools to use. By default
 appium:skipLogcatCapture | Being set to `true` disables automatic logcat output collection during the test run. `false` by default
 appium:suppressKillServer | Being set to `true` prevents the driver from ever killing the ADB server explicitly. Could be useful if ADB is connected wirelessly. `false` by default
 appium:ignoreHiddenApiPolicyError | Being set to `true` ignores a failure while changing hidden API access policies. Could be useful on some devices, where access to these policies has been locked by its vendor. `false` by default.
+appium:hideKeyboard | Being set to `true` hides the on-screen keyboard while the session is running. Use it instead of the legacy `appium:unicodeKeyboard` one (which will be dropped in the future). This effect is achieved by assigning a custom "artificial" [input method](https://developer.android.com/develop/ui/views/touch-and-input/creating-input-method). Only use this feature for special/exploratory cases as it violates the way your application under test is normally interacted with by a human. Setting this capability explicitly to `false` enforces `adb shell ime reset` call on session startup, which resets the currently selected/enabled IMEs to the default ones as if the device is initially booted with the current locale. `undefined` by default.
 appium:mockLocationApp | Sets the package identifier of the app, which is used as a system mock location provider since Appium 1.18.0+. This capability has no effect on emulators. If the value is set to `null` or an empty string, then Appium will skip the mocked location provider setup procedure. Defaults to Appium Setting package identifier (`io.appium.settings`). Termination of a mock location provider application resets the mocked location data.
 appium:logcatFormat | The log print format, where `format` is one of: `brief` `process` `tag` `thread` `raw` `time` `threadtime` `long`. `threadtime` is the default value.
 appium:logcatFilterSpecs | Series of `tag[:priority]` where `tag` is a log component tag (or * for all) and priority is: `V    Verbose`, `D    Debug`, `I    Info`, `W    Warn`, `E    Error`, `F    Fatal`, `S    Silent (supress all output)`. '*' means '*:d' and `tag` by itself means `tag:v`. If not specified on the commandline, filterspec is set from ANDROID_LOG_TAGS. If no filterspec is found, filter defaults to '*:I'.
diff --git a/lib/driver.ts b/lib/driver.ts
index 999061238..4162b10e6 100644
--- a/lib/driver.ts
+++ b/lib/driver.ts
@@ -183,6 +183,8 @@ class AndroidUiautomator2Driver
 
   _hasSystemPortInCaps: boolean | undefined;
 
+  _originalIme: string | null;
+
   mjpegStream?: mjpeg.MJpegStream;
 
   override caps: Uiautomator2DriverCaps;
@@ -210,6 +212,7 @@ class AndroidUiautomator2Driver
     this.jwpProxyActive = false;
     this.jwpProxyAvoid = NO_PROXY;
     this.apkStrings = {}; // map of language -> strings obj
+    this._originalIme = null;
 
     this.settings = new DeviceSettings(
       {ignoreUnimportantViews: false, allowInvisibleElements: false},
@@ -485,7 +488,9 @@ class AndroidUiautomator2Driver
     };
 
     // start an avd, set the language/locale, pick an emulator, etc...
-    // TODO with multiple devices we'll need to parameterize this
+    if (this.opts.hideKeyboard) {
+      this._originalIme = await this.adb.defaultIME();
+    }
     await helpers.initDevice(this.adb, this.opts);
 
     // Prepare the device by forwarding the UiAutomator2 port
@@ -791,6 +796,13 @@ class AndroidUiautomator2Driver
         this.log.info('Restoring window animation state');
         await this.adb.setAnimationState(true);
       }
+      if (this._originalIme) {
+        try {
+          await this.adb.setIME(this._originalIme);
+        } catch (e) {
+          this.log.warn(`Cannot restore the original IME: ${e.message}`);
+        }
+      }
       await this.adb.stopLogcat();
       try {
         await this.releaseSystemPort();
diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index 532d0d224..9cb2b7509 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -63,7 +63,7 @@
   },
   "dependencies": {
     "appium-adb": "^11.0.1",
-    "appium-android-driver": "^7.1.3",
+    "appium-android-driver": "^7.2.1",
     "appium-chromedriver": "^5.6.5",
     "appium-uiautomator2-server": "^5.12.2",
     "asyncbox": "^2.3.1",