Gboard is the most popular virtual keyboard for Android users because of its great features. However, one thing that’s missing from GBOARD’s feature set in landscape mode and XDA Developers claims they might be adding support to fix this soon!
When you use Gboard in landscape orientation, it just stretches across the screen. It makes typing awkward and frustrating!
We used to have physical keyboards on phones that we could type with in landscape, but these days even the smallest phone screen is more than big enough for typing. It’s a pain when you need wider space and can’t use your usual taps anymore because it’ll register them as presses of buttons instead!
But, Gboard could split when in landscape
So the good news is Gboard will be landscape friendly. Thanks to @RKBDI on Twitter we’ve got some leaked screenshots of what it’ll look like when you split your screen for horizontal use- looks promising doesn’t it?
These screenshots show the keyboard in both light and dark themes. As expected, instead of being stretched to fit a square canvas like mostkeyboards are now-a days (and thanks for bringing this up!), half of keys on each side have been pushed over so that your hands can rest more naturally when typing with them!
We don’t know when this will arrive
For the time being, this feature is not available to the public, as the company is still testing it out. The feature is hidden deep within the app’s code, and it takes a lot of tech wizardry to activate it. However, when it launches, it’ll most likely arrive for Gboard beta testers first. If you’re on the Gboard beta version, you should keep an eye out.
We can draw a line from this feature to the fact that Google is focusing more on tablets. While you’ll be able to split your keyboard using your phone in landscape, this feature could also be useful when using a tablet. We can’t deny that it will be utilized on Android tablets and foldables when it launches.