Google has added a number of new features in the latest update to Google Keyboard including a one-handed mode and a setting that lets you adjust the height of the keys. The update hasn’t gone live on the Play Store yet, but you can download the APK right now for both 32-bit and 64-bit phones.
Keyboard Height
There’s now five keyboard height settings, ranging from short to tall, that can be changed in the Preferences section of Settings. Previously, you’d have to be rooted in order to adjust the keyboard height.
One-Handed Mode
One-handed mode shifts the keys to one side of the screen to make it easier to type with one hand. You can shift the orientation by tapping on the arrow icon on the side of the keyboard.
You can enable one-handed mode in the Settings, or by long-pressing the comma, which brings up floating action buttons for Settings and one-handed mode.
Long-Press for Symbols
Similar to SwiftKey and other Android keyboards, long-pressing letters will allow you to select numbers, symbols, and variations of the selected letter.
Gesture Delete
Long-pressing one of the suggested auto-complete words above the keyboard gives you the option to delete that suggestion. This is handy if you’ve accidentally stored an incorrectly spelled word, or if you need to get rid of a dirty phrase you’ve been typing into your phone before your significant other finds out.
Gesture Typing Menu
There isn’t much new with gesture typing since the last update, but now the suggested words will appear in the bar above the keyboard instead of floating around by your finger. It’s a cosmetic change, but it helps to declutter the keyboard a bit.
Here is the full list of updated features:
- Keyboard height setting (5 positions from short to tall)
- Show key border toggle
- One-handed mode toggle
- Long-press for hinted symbols toggle
- New emoji/number pad button locations surrounding the space bar
- Enable gesture delete toggle (slide left from delete key)
- Enable gesture cursor control (move cursor by sliding across space bar)
- Dynamic floating preview toggle removed
- Holo White and Holo Blue themes phased out
- New first-time user experience (FTUE)
- Opt-in and a setting for sharing snippets with Google to improve the keyboard for everyone (what and how you type)
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