Google's new Android Keyboard update adds some much needed features

By Sharun Mittal on May 04, 2016 04:35 PM

Google has updated the Google keyboard to version 5.0 with One-Handed Mode, New Gestures, Keyboard Height adjustment and a lot more. Let's have a look at some of these features in a bit more detail.

One-Handed Mode

It’s possible that this is one of the most demanded features for any keyboard as the size of the phones keep getting larger. Most OEM’s like Samsung, Xiaomi, LG and the likes have incorporated some sort of one-handed mode in either their Keyboards or the entire UX, so it was about time that Google also added this feature to its keyboard.

To enable the feature you just need to do is hold the comma button (,) on the keyboard and swipe it right to enter the one-handed mode, and from there you can easily change it between left or right side with the arrow button. To go back to the full size just tap on the expansion icon.

Keyboard Height

This again is available on various OEM keyboards as well as those available on the Play Store including SwiftKey. Google has also enabled this feature in which we can select the desired height of the keyboard ranging from short to medium, this is a good feature to have as not all people have similar sized hands so they should be given an option to customize as per their grip.

And some more...

Some more features like moving the cursor with a long press on the space bar have also been introduced. You can also then keep your finger pressed and move your finger to select text. The update also adds borders for each key which was missing since the material design update, making keys easier to distinguish.

After the update, the Google Keyboard also automatically adjusts for a password field to include a number row in the prediction field so that you can enter a password with numbers far more easily without having to switch to the number pad. Its now easier to access the numpad and emojis too :).

The update is being rolled out on a staged basis and will take some time to reach everyone. But if you are in a hurry, you can use this link to download the google keyboard v5 update APK to enjoy all these features now.