For someone like me who is efficiency-obsessed, every extra second you can save on your routine counts.
And even if you're not a productivity-obsessed super-nerd by day, a few easy tweaks to your mobile tech setup might surprise pay off.
The keypad on your smartphone is among the greatest areas to give yourself a time-saving boost. Even though we've been used to it over time, text entry on a touchscreen is naturally uncomfortable and sometimes disastrous from an ergonomic standpoint.
However, there are some fantastic advanced options for enhancing the Gboard Android keyboard—my personal favorite and the one I suggest to most people—and making it easier and more natural to use for your unique typing style.
It will take you less than a minute to complete each tweak. And you'll save a ton of time throughout the day after you determine which precise configuration is most efficient for you.
Gboard Android adjustment
1: Custom keyboard height
The newest addition of all is our first Gboard Android modification, which appears to be accessible at this time for the majority of Android phone owners.
This is a convenient method to easily adjust the height of your on-screen keyboard so that the keys are wider apart or, on the other side, so that the entire thing occupies less of your visible area.
To give it a try and determine your ideal height:
- Press on any text box to bring up Gboard.
- Search the upper row of your keyboard for the rectangle-shaped symbol with arrows in the upper-left and lower-right corners. If it's not visible there, you may discover it in the whole settings menu by tapping the symbol located in the upper-left corner of Gboard.
- After tapping that symbol, move your finger up or down to adjust the keyboard's height by sliding its top and bottom.
- Additionally, while you're there, move the keyboard about until it settles in a location that you like by pressing and holding the symbol with the four outward-pointing arrows.
- When you're finished, make sure you hit the checkmark symbol to save your modifications.
After experimenting with the options to get the height and location that work best for you, take pleasure in your newly improved Android typing experience.
2: The floating keyboard
The notion of changing the design of your keyboard is taken to even new heights with this upcoming Gboard adjustment. It allows you to fully remove Gboard from the bottom of your screen, change its width and height, and position it almost anywhere on your screen.
It may be quite helpful on almost any kind of Android device, but it's particularly beneficial on tablets, foldable phones, and other devices with huge screens, where having the keyboard in a designated region of the screen can greatly improve typing speed, ease, and ergonomics.
Additionally, it's a very simple alteration to make, much like our last one:
- Once more, to bring up Gboard, simply tap on any text box.
- This time, search the upper row of your keyboard for the icon that looks like a keyboard with a line underneath it. Alternatively, you may see it as a quirky little robot head. Again, to find it in the whole menu of choices, hit the four-square symbol located in the upper-left corner of Gboard if you are unable to see it there.
- To move the quirky "board-bot" anywhere on your screen, tap it. Then, press and hold the horizontal line at the bottom of the keyboard. When you release your grip, touch any corner of the keyboard and drag it diagonally inward or outward to adjust its size.
You may hit the same symbol in the upper row of the keyboard to return it to its usual location if you ever want to. Alternatively, you can slide Gboard down until it reaches the bottom of your screen and then release it, which is a quicker and more enjoyable method to complete the same task.
Good to know, no?
3: One-handed optimization
This following Gboard tweak is just for you if you write with the same corresponding appendages and hold your phone in one hand.
To make your on-screen Android keyboard even more accessible with whichever hand you're using, you can quickly drag it to the left or right side of your screen with a few clicks.
Here's the trick:
- To bring up your old friend Gboard, simply tap any text box.
- Locate the symbol that resembles a hand clutching a taco in the shape of a square. (All right, so it's probably not intended to be a taco in the exact shape of a square. However, it is my narrative, and I will not alter it.) Click on the symbol in the upper-left corner of the keyboard to locate it if it's not visible in the top row of Gboard.
- Once it is in front of you, simply tap that dickhead hard enough to cause your keyboard to move to the left or right side of the screen. After that, you may adjust which side it aligns with by touching the arrow along its side that faces left or right.
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| Typing with a single hand has never been so simple. |
And one more left — at least, for some of us...
4: The screen splitter
The only bigger-screen devices that can use our last Gboard Android option are tablets and foldable phones, especially when they are folded out.
You may now divide your keyboard into left- and right-aligned portions in those situations, making it (perhaps) easier to type with just your thumbs.
To give it a shot:
- Place Gboard before you. (You are capable of it.)
- See the symbol in the upper row that depicts a box with dots within that is divided into the left and right halves.
- To switch to the split configuration, press that; to turn off the split mode and return to the conventional keyboard layout, hit that same symbol once more (it will now display the dots as not being split apart).
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| Gboard's split-screen mode is divisive — but it's up to you to decide if you want to use it. |
There you have it: four tweaks to customize your Android keyboard to function as desired.
Your mobile productivity will skyrocket if you figure out the ideal configuration for your particular typing preferences and the device you now own.