On Monday, Google pushed out a rather large update to their keyboard – which is available over on the Google Play Store. Google Keyboard is one of the most popular keyboard apps in the Google Play Store, right up there with SwiftKey, and Fleksy. In this update, the Google Keyboard sees a much awaited feature in one-handed mode. This is great for being able to use the keyboard one-handed (duh!), which is especially great to use on larger devices. Like the Nexus 6, or any of the other 6+ inch devices on the market right now.
Besides getting one-handed mode, Google also added the long-press for hinted symbols option to be toggled. The keyboard height can now be adjusted in the settings. There is now a setting for sharing information with Google. As is usually the case when it comes to sharing data, this data will help Google improve the keyboard for everyone, and it is an opt-in experience. You can also long-press to drag or even remove suggestions from the suggestion bar. Google has made some changes to gesture typing. One change is removing the dynamic floating preview, which Google says is in the suggestion bar now. They also added the ability to slide left from the delete key to delete entire words, and finally a gesture cursor is here which can be controlled by sliding left or right on the space bar.
Google has also added a new first-run experience here on the Google Keyboard. It’s nothing too special, it’s just giving you a way to see what features are in the Google Keyboard, before you start using it. It’s similar to what you see from other keyboards when you first install them on your smartphone or tablet. The update is rolling out in stages from the Google Play Store right now. And APK’s have been pretty scarce so far. The Google Keyboard does have multiple versions, depending on what hardware you have inside your smartphone or tablet. So be careful when sideloading the APK onto your device. If you are unsure of what version you need, it’ll be best if you sit back and wait for it to land on your device from the Google Play Store.