It has been a while since the launch of the Google keyboard (or Gboard as it is called) and you cannot help but praise its features. They range from quick punctuation marks to finger shortcuts to slide through the keyboard. This application has a lot of tricks up its sleeve. You may know some of these tricks, but I am sure you will discover some new ones on this list today. Therefore, we will have a quick summary of the Google keyboard tricks.
Google keyboard tricks
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Floating Keyboard
Apart from the “one hand” mode, the “Float” mode has been implemented to move the keyboard on either side of the screen.
Click on the letter “G” of Google and then on the 3 points.
Click on the option “Floating.”
Now move the keyboard wherever you want or resize it.
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Create your GiF
Using the back or front camera of your mobile you can create your GIFs with some effects that can be seen live.
Press on the G key – Then on Gif – Create GIF.
The camera opens where you can start recording and then edit with some clipping to be sent directly to the app you are using.
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Write by Hand
A new feature that is available from version 6.8 beta of Gboard which allows you to write by hand as if the screen were paper and your finger a pen.
Go to Gboard settings – Click on “languages” – Add keyboard.
Select from the list the keyboard in Spanish or English of the USA.
Finally, select in “Handwriting” design.
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Send animated emoticons
Gboard joins the fashion of animated emoticons, and for that, you just have to have the app updated and then click on the emojis icon – Select icon 2 – select your favorite emoticons.
Note: If you click on the + button you can download more emoticons from Google Play, whether they are free or paid.
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Bitmoji Support and Stickers
Now Gboard has support for using bitmoji inside your keyboard, as well as downloading stickers to send from the emoji icons.
For bitmoji, you have to download the application and customize the bitmoji according to your physical characteristics, and for the stickers you have to download separately, that some are paid.
Note: These new features are available as of version 6.5.
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Write in Incognito mode
Starting with the Gboard version 6.4 Google has implemented a hidden mode so that it does not save information about what we write and that later appears in the text prediction.
For now, it only works in chrome automatically when you open a new tab in incognito mode, but it is expected to work later on apps like WhatsApp, Facebook, telegram, etc.
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Draw Emojis to Search
Now it is easier and fun to find emojis. You just have to draw, and GBoard will show you similar emoji suggestions.
How I do it:
Click on the emojis icon.
Click on the pencil icon in the top right corner.
Draw and choose your emoji.
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Google Translate
This feature allows the translation of words and phrases in real time. The good thing about this feature is that it allows you to choose both the source language and the target language.
All you have to do is tap the G icon and hit the translate icon. There are more than 90+ languages to choose from.
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Browsing and deleting text
The selection and navigation through the text is a difficult task. But with G board it’s simple. All you need to do is slide back and forth in the space bar for easy navigation. To erase text, pass over the backspace key, and the words will be quickly deleted.
Note: You can also use the navigation icon that is found by clicking on the G icon.
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Remove Suggestion words
On most keyboards, deleting a word is a bit difficult, but Gboard is faster: Select the word from the suggestion tray and drag towards the delete icon. Simple, huh?
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Quick access to punctuation marks
With Gboard, you can quickly access the special keyboard. Press and hold the dot key (to the right of the spacebar), and you will get the punctuation marks there at your fingertips (literally!).
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GIF and Emoji Search in the Go
You can search for an emoji or GIF from Gboard, instead of scrolling through web pages. Like the GIF search in Messenger, all you need to do is type the keyword, and the list is displayed almost instantly.
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Capital Letter and Capital
No more worrying if you activate the shift key before you start typing. It is an agile and easy way to capitalize the words while writing.
Highlight the word and touch the Shift key. > Once: if it needs to be capitalized the word or two times: Put everything in capital letters.
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Double Space and Point instantly
Most of the time I just inserted a space when all I wanted was a point. This impressive feature of Gboard since it automatically inserts a point and space when you double tap the space bar.
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Add shortcuts for frequently used words
You can teach Gboard to remember shortcuts (for the words of frequent use) through the function of personal Dictionary.
For example, the YT shortcut will give YouTube a suggestion. For the Insertion of a word, go to Settings> Language, and input> Gboard and select Personal dictionary> Add the shortcuts you want.
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Pad number
While writing the numbers, if the conventional numeric keypad seems a bit small, you can always expand it using this shortcut:
Touch the special character key and then on the (1234) right key of the space bar. There you have it, the extended numeric keypad.
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Fractions
This Gboard feature allows you to write fractions with a single touch of the finger. A long touch on any of the numeric keys and will open more options for fractions such as 1/2, 1/3 or 3/8.
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Transcribe by voice
Another great feature is the voice search. Now you can easily switch between the writing and speaking modes, with a simple touch of a key.
All you need to do is press the microphone icon on the right side and press any key when you have finished speaking.
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One-hand mode
The one-hand mode of the Gboard can be very helpful if you have a large-screen phone and it is difficult to get to the other end.
To activate this mode, hold down the comma key and drag your finger towards the “one hand in a square” icon and you will have the small keyboard.
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Instant search
Do you want to search Google inside the keyboard? With the search function available in the G icon, search and share nape was so fast.
Do you need to share a song quickly? Hit the search icon and enter the name and hit enter. Phew!
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Cool Themes and customization
When we talk about keyboards for Android, it is mandatory to mention the customization. You can select from a wide range of available themes, which are divided into two categories: Colors and landscapes. If none like it, you can add an image of your gallery as a keyboard theme.
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