Edgar Cervantes / Android Authority
TL;DR
- The latest Gboard beta contains clues that separate toggles to hide the comma and period keys may soon be available.
- Back in March, we spotted a single toggle for both keys being tested.
- If rolled out, users could choose a cleaner keyboard interface.
Back in March, we reported that Google was working on a Gboard option to hide both the comma and period keys. That change echoed Apple’s iPhone keyboard, where punctuation is hidden by default, but it didn’t give Android users much control. While the cleaner layout may appeal to some, especially in regions where commas and periods aren’t as essential, it tied both keys to a single switch.
It seems that Google isn’t done tweaking. In the latest Gboard beta (version 15.8.4.793526320-beta-arm64-v8a), we managed to activate an updated version of the feature. This time, there are two separate toggles: one for the comma key and another for the period key.
AssembleDebug / Android Authority
That means you’ll be able to customize your layout to match your typing style, whether you can’t live without quick access to commas or just want a less cluttered keyboard.
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As the March testing proves, there’s no guarantee these options will roll out to everyone, but the refinements suggest Google is still actively developing the idea. At least it looks like this will be an optional change, rather than an involuntary push toward the iPhone model.
⚠️ An APK teardown helps predict features that may arrive on a service in the future based on work-in-progress code. However, it is possible that such predicted features may not make it to a public release.
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