Edgar Cervantes / Android Authority
TL;DR
- Google’s been working on an undo button for Gboard since at least summer 2023.
- While still not broadly available, the button has finally entered testing for Gboard beta users.
- The button adds undo and redo controls for your Gboard edit history.
Mistakes happen. You could say that they’re just a consequence of being human, but as we’ve all seen very clearly over the past year, AI makes plenty of mistakes, too. That’s one of the reasons we love apps that offer ample opportunity for us to make corrections, like the open-source HeliBoard keyboard and its handy undo button. But if you’d rather not go the third-party route with your Android keyboard, you’re in luck, as Google’s own Gboard is picking up a very similar undo tool.
Google’s been thinking about bringing an undo button to Gboard for a while now. Development progress on the button was first spotted a solid 18 months ago, but so far there hasn’t been any way for you try it out for yourself. And while there still isn’t in the main Gboard release, testers signed up for Google’s beta program have started to notice the undo button’s arrival in the new 14.9.06.x build, according to 9to5Google.
Even for beta testers, this still isn’t widely available and Google seems to be taking its time to evaluate the tool with a smaller sample size. Those who do have access will be able to select a new undo option in Gboard’s drag-to-customize screen, letting you add an undo button to the row where you can include options like translation and inserting emoji.
Once you tap on the undo button’s back arrow, Gboard will undo your last change and also bring up separate “undo” and “redo” controls, letting you step back and forth through your edits until you get your text right where you want it. 9to5Google observed in its testing that while the keyboard will keep track of that edit history even if you dismiss it in an app and bring it back up later, that record appears to be wiped clean once you exit the app you were entering text in yourself.
Have you spotted this new option yet in Gboard on your own phone? Has it saved you any headaches yet? Let us know down in the comments.
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