Gboard update brings text selection mode resizing to Android keyboard app

BY GreenBot Staff

Published 6 Apr 2017

It might have taken longer than we would have liked for the Gboard keyboard to make it to Android, but hasn’t rested on its laurels. Since its release in December, has steadily added new features interface tweaks to Gboard on Android, the latest update may be the biggest yet. 

The most noticeable change is the addition of a new toolbar option. en you tap the arrow to the left of the predictive text row (or the G button if you’ve enabled “Show Search more” in the Search settings), you’ll see a new button that looks like a capital “I” flanked by two arrows. Tap it you’ll enter Gboard’s new text selection mode, which turns the keyboard into a series of options related to editing text. There are copy, paste, select, home, four arrow keys, which work together to reduce the time you need to spend messing with the text selection hles.

You’ll also get a better resizable keyboard, to aid with one-hed typing on larger screens. Tap the menu icon in the toolbar (which isn’t visible in the “G” search mode for some reason) select one-hed mode. There will be a new resizing icon that lets you make the keyboard slightly smaller move it around in the box.

Elsewhere, you’ll now be able to customize the toolbar type in numerous new languages, has also tweaked the design of the keys, adding rounded corners shadows.

In its traditional A teardown, Android lice also spotted a few additional changes. Based on its deep dive into the code, it appears that may be merging hwriting mode into the main keyboard adding a new incognito mode for those times when you don’t want you words recorded.

The update is currently rolling out to users in the ay Store, but you can get it early by side-loading the -signed A from A Mirror.

st our type: Gboard is our favorite keyboard on Android, it’s great to see putting so much effort into it. wouldn’t be surprised to see it become the default keyboard when Android O ships this fall, but even if it’s not, it’ll still be one of  the first changes we make when we get a new phone. Even if you don’t utilize its primary function of searching, Gboard is still a fantastic keyboard, the new text selection mode just makes it that much better.