Google Gboard: Useful Tips and Tricks

With my Moto G4 Plus, Google Gboard was imposed directly on me. I wasn't a fan of it because this keyboard looks very simple at first glance. But with a few tips and tricks, it became my favorite keyboard on my smartphone.

Series of numbers

I am a person who pro day enters numbers into his smartphone very often. No idea why, it usually just happens. Switching to the punctuation block just got too stupid for me over time. I've been looking for a solution for this Proproblem wanted. After a short time on the Internet, I found out that you can easily display a row of numbers on Gboard.

You can do this by pressing the Google logo with the keyboard extended, opening the settings (far right), and then clicking the point again Settings opens and under the tab grope the row of numbers activated.

Translation tool

In fact, I haven't used this feature that often. Even so, it can be very handy in an emergency. It's directly linked to Google Translate, which means you get the same good results as in the app itself.

To get there, you have to call up the Google logo again with the keyboard open and search for the translator's logo (far left). Then another text field should open, as well as the typical Google selection for the languages.

After you have selected two languages ​​you can start typing in the text field of the keyboard, whereby this text appears at the same time in the desired language in the actual text field.

Change the orientation of the keyboard

There is one disadvantage that smartphones with large displays have: With the exception of the Galaxy S8 (Plus) from Samsung, you can usually no longer operate them with one hand. That's what the developers of Gboard thought too. That's why they have a feature programmed, which allows you to attach the keyboard to the right or left side of the display to offer the possibility of typing texts with one hand. There is also the possibility to customize the keyboard on a specific part of the display without any restrictions.

In order to be able to make these adjustments, you have to call up the menu, which is located behind the Google logo. In this menu one then selects the point with this thumb and the square (second symbol from the right).

The keyboard should now attach to the right or left side and three tools should appear on the opposite side. With the top one you can reset the keyboard to its normal size, with the middle tool you can change the side to which the keyboard is attached and with the bottom tool you can then change the size and position of the keyboard in a certain field of the display without restrictions.

Show umlauts

As you may have noticed, I'm not a fan of switching my keyboard first to get to things like the number line. The same applies to the umlauts. At some point I even got used to just spelling out the umlauts, as this was faster for me. In a video I found out that you can easily add your own keys for umlauts, which then looks like the stick iOS keyboard.

To activate this, you have to do the following: Open the settings via the menu behind the Google logo, the menu item Languages search and there the keyboard Deutsch (Schweiz) activate and deactivate the currently active keyboard. And then you can use the umlauts on your keyboard.

Part of the list with the available languages ​​for Gboard (screenshot: © 2017 TechnikNews)

gestures

Things like the fact that you can turn the iOS keyboard from the iPhone 6s into a trackpad with 3D touch, I found very cool. On Gboard you can not only use this with the help of gestures, but also many other practical features.

1. The space bar as a trackpad

Most of you probably know it. You make a mistake on a word, delete it completely and then type it again. Waste of time. It's easier than that. To do this, you have to hold down the space bar with your finger and move your finger to the right or left. The cursor always changes its position by one character, which means that you can get to the faulty spot more quickly and correct it.

2. Backspace swipe

You can also delete entire words with one swipe. To do this, you simply have to hold down the back space button briefly and swipe to the left. Words are marked that disappear as soon as you lift your finger off the display.

This is how the backspace swipe works (screenshot: © 2017 TechnikNews)

3. Glide typing

Finally there is that Glide typing Feature. To do this, you simply swipe over the letters that you would like to have typed. Google should then recognize the words correctly and also hyphenate them correctly. This means that you only have to lift your finger after each word, but you don't have to press the space bar. Unfortunately, this does not always work quite as reliably. Then you have to type in the words manually.

Demonstration of Glide Typing (Screenshot: © 2017 TechnikNews)

Conclusion

Then Gboard became my favorite keyboard after all. Practical features can actually improve your writing speed a lot. In addition, features like Google Translate can be really useful when you need to quickly write a text in another language.

You should definitely check out this keyboardprohave beer. Google Gboard can be found for free in the Google Playstore and since iOS 10 also in the Apple AppStore.

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