Google Keyboard 3.0 brings personalized suggestions from other Google apps

BY Abhijeet Mishra

Published 19 Mar 2014

Google Keyboard updated to version 3.0, brings personalized suggestions from Google apps

Among the sea of third-party keyboard apps available on Android, Google’s own keyboard app – Google Keyboard – arguably offers one of the finest typing experiences. Today, Google Keyboard is getting even better with an update to version 3.0.19373, which brings an important feature called Personalized Suggestions.

Google Keyboard will now use user data from other Google apps and services to improve suggestions and corrections while typing, a feature that has long existed in third-party apps like SwiftKey. The data will be stored only on your device and can be erased at any time through Settings (where you’ll also find the option to turn Personalized Suggestions off), so you don’t have to worry about Google having yet another way to mine your personal info.

The update also includes various interface tweaks, like an ABC button in the emoji tab for a quick return to the keyboard, and a new Settings icon when long-pressing the mic button (or, if you’ve disabled Google voice typing, the comma button.) We didn’t notice anything else, and it’s possible the major version bump from 2.0 to 3.0 was mainly due to the introduction of Personalized Suggestions.

Google Keyboard 3.0.19373 is currently live on the Play Store, though as with every Google app update, it will likely be a few days before it shows up for everyone. For impatient folks, here’s a download link for the keyboard’s APK file for updating manually.