Google has launched a beta program for Gboard, and the first update already brings some interesting new features. In the 6.1 beta of the popular keyboard, Google has added a few cool features that should be coming to the full release shortly.
First up, they’ve taught the “G” button a new trick. Tap it and you’ll now see a new translate icon at the front, which lets you select the languages that you want to translate to and from. Then, when you enter a word or phrase into the text bar, the translated version will appear above the suggestions bar. You can select from a variety of languages, but Google warns you that translated phrases will be transmitted to Google for deciphering, just like they are over the web.
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Additionally, there is a revamped theme selector in Gboard. It’s not necessarily a new feature—tapping the palette icon has always launch a customization screen that let you add a key border and underlay a color or image—but the interface has received a pretty major overhaul, with better organization, new images, and greater customization.
Next up is the new theme selector. Gboard has supported changing the background to another color or image for a while now, but this update improves the experience a bit. The selector UI now separates solid color themes, recently used themes, and 'Landscapes' into separate rows. The latter is a collection of sample images that can be added very easily - much like the Landscapes category on the Pixel wallpaper picker.
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Elsewhere, you’ll find only minor changes. The dictation interface no longer takes over the whole keyboard, the text predictor has been expanded to include emojis, and there are some slight visual changes to the text box. To try out the new Gboard, you can sign up to be an official beta tester in the Play Store, but the listing notes that the program is currently full. However, you can always side-load the Google-signed APK from APK Mirror and still test out the features.
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