Damien Wilde / Android Authority
TL;DR
- Google could remove Gboard’s keyboard switcher gesture in preparation for Android’s revamped keyboard switcher button.
- The keyboard app could also get a new auto-correct option to help you fix your sentences.
- Google is also working on a new edit button for the app’s customization menu.
Google is testing a new keyboard switcher button that could arrive with Android 15 QPR1. This button will let users change the current keyboard with a single tap or open the keyboard switcher menu with a long press. In preparation for this change, Google seems to be disabling the long press gesture to switch between keyboards in the Gboard app.
An APK teardown helps predict features that may arrive on a service in the future based on work-in-progress code. However, it is possible that such predicted features may not make it to a public release.
Currently, the Gboard app lets you switch between keyboards with a long press of the spacebar if you use two or more languages or keyboard layouts. New code spotted in the latest Gboard beta (version 14.6.02.665297282) suggests that Google plans to deprecate this gesture in a future update, likely to give users a more consistent experience when the revamped keyboard switcher button arrives with Android 15 QPR1.
Google also seems to be working on offering users more control over Gboard’s auto-correct feature. We’ve spotted code related to two new options that will let users choose whether they want auto-correct to fix words only or correct words and sentences. The latter is a new addition and could be similar to the Proofread feature Google added to the app last year.
Code
<string name="0_resource_name_obfuscated_7f140061">Auto-correct words only</string> <string name="0_resource_name_obfuscated_7f140063">Auto-correct words and sentences</string>However, the Proofread feature requires users to tap a “Fix it” button in the toolbar to correct typos, grammar, and punctuation. This new setting might implement changes automatically, but we’ll have to wait until the rollout to know for sure.
Additionally, the latest Gboard beta introduces an edit button to the toolbar customization menu. As you can see in the attached video, the menu has a new button with a pencil icon in the bottom right corner and you have to select it to rearrange icons. It should prevent users from accidentally rearranging icons in the toolbar or customization menu.
Although none of these changes are live in the current Gboard beta release, Google could roll out the new edit button soon. You will likely have to wait a while for the new auto-correct option, though.
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