In case you’ve been waiting for a clipboard manager to become available in Gboard, you’re in luck, as version 7.7 brings it to the table. We’re looking at a stable version of the app here, at least the source doesn’t mention this is a beta, and interestingly enough, clipboard manager is not available in Gboard v7.7 beta, at least not to us, as we’ve installed the app to make sure. This new version, 7.7, is still not available to us, so we were unable to test out the clipboard manager that XDA Developers mention, but you can check out the gallery down below in order to see some screenshots proving its existence. Now, the source does mention that the feature has been ‘manually enabled’, but doesn’t really offer any explanation as to how, but it’s definitely not available via settings in the app, we’ve checked. This could mean that Google still did not flick the switch when it comes to this feature, even though it’s baked into Gboard v7.7, the company may release the feature via a server-side update, or we may see a new regular update to the app, but the former is more likely.
In any case, once it becomes available, you will be able to access Gboard’s clipboard manager by hitting the ‘Google’ icon in the top left portion of the keyboard, and then hitting the three dots on the right. You will clearly see a clipboard icon there, and ‘Clipboard’ text below it. Gboard’s clipboard manager allows you to add new clips, delete a clip, or pin a clip. This feature is still rather barebones, but the company will probably polish it out in the coming months. For now, though, it seems to be usable enough.
Background: Google has been adding new features to Gboard rather fast ever since the app got rebranded from Google Keyboard to Gboard. The company has recently added the floating keyboard mode to the app, and before then, GIF creation has been added, and also e-mail address autocompletion, all within the last couple of months. Before then, Google baked in Google Translate into the application, which can be quite useful if you find yourself in need of translation frequently. Gboard is one of the most popular keyboards in the Play Store, it has been downloaded over one billion times (pre-installs included), and it is currently holding a 4.2-star rating in the Play Store, after over two million reviews that the app received.
Impact: Gboard is regarded to be one of the best keyboards for Android, and it is the go-to keyboard for many Android users. As already mentioned, Google did add quite a few features to the keyboard every since it got rebranded, but it doesn’t seem like the company will stop there. It remains to be seen what will Google’s next move be, as the Clipboard Manager was one of the most anticipated additions to the app, and it’s now here, same goes for the floating keyboard option which was added quite recently.
