Google has silently rolled out Gboard beta 7.1 update to users that has revealed some new features and improvements. The new Gboard update brings several new features including Auto-spacing, new emojis, GIF making, new languages and dialects, handwriting settings and more. The latest beta update also adds support for the next major Android releases as well.
Google constantly works on the regular updates for its services. Now, they have brought a new beta version of their keyboard app for Android i.e. Gboard. The latest beta update was discovered by developers at AndroidPolice after APK teardown of the app.
Gboard 7.1 Beta Features
Auto-spacing
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- Source: AndroidPolice
There is a new feature called auto-space after punctuation in the settings. It is disabled by default and can be turned on by opening the Gboard settings and turning the switch located in the Text correction page on. The feature is pretty simple to use, so when you type a standard punctuation, Gboard will automatically add a space after it. If you type a space after the punctuation, Gboard will ignore the first one.
New Handwriting Keyboard
Earlier, Gboard 6.8 added a handwriting keyboard feature. As you scribble through the keyboard, it provides users with more space to input text. Now with the upcoming update, it gets “Handwriting settings” which might allow users to set the speed of scrolling and also the ability to set the thickness of strokes.
Emojis
Emoji 11.0 is set to release later this year and Google is preparing support for some of the upcoming emojis in the Gboard with the update. The latest additions in the Emojis are centered around superheroes and supervillains in male/female versions and multiple skin tones as well.
New languages
Gboard update always brings a set of new languages and this update also brings some. The developer extracted the list from the APK, but some of them might be available earlier as well. For Indian users, it might bring support for Bhili (Devanagari), Kannauji, Vasavi and Wagdi dialects.
Country-specific TLD options
If you long press on the period icon, it shows common top-level domains like .com, .org, .net, .edu, and .gov. However, with the latest update, it now seems to be changing a bit. Gboard is now adding more country-specific ones for China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan etc.
Some other features include the ability to create own GIFs through an integration with Motion GIFs, a new dedicated keyboard for just entering numbers and some miscellaneous settings.
