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I've been using this keyboard on and off for a few months and overall really enjoy it, but is not without its downsides. Pros: Glide is really well done if you

by kyrra 10y ago

I've been using this keyboard on and off for a few months and overall really enjoy it, but is not without its downsides. Pros: Glide is really well done if you like it. I'm not a glide person (and haven't taken the time to get used to it), so it's nice you can disable it if you'd like. Emoji auto-suggest is pretty fun, I've been tempted to use it in emails but avoided it for now. :) The dictionary it populates from your commonly used words is fairly aggressive (which I like), so it picks up on unique words quickly (and it is easy to clear/reset this list at any time). Being able to send people animates gifs with ease over txt message or whatever service is pretty fun. Overall it's pretty easy to type on, just takes a little getting used to compared to the default iOS keyboard (finger detection differs slightly), but I'm able to type just as fast on it. Cons: Most of my issues are really due to the API limitations Apple has in place. This keyboard is disabled on password fields (as are all 3rd party keyboards). There is no voice dictation (siri or Google's). You have to paste in images from the search (the keyboard can't auto-insert images for you, but text only search results can be auto-pasted with "share"). Landscape mode on an iPhone 6s takes up lots of screen real estate. The opinions stated here are my own, not necessarily those of Google.

refrigerator 10y ago
Not trying to be aggressive here, genuinely curious - is it necessary for you to say "The opinions stated here are my own, not necessarily those of Google."? Would you get screwed over for saying this kind of stuff without the disclaimer?
- kyrra 10y ago
  I prefer to be clear here and disclose my conflict of interest (since I work there) and that I speak for myself only. I'm not sure if it's required that I put it, but I prefer to be clear when it's topics related to Google. Most companies I've ever worked at (like Cisco) are very explicit that you can't talk at all about stuff your company does (unless you are a VP or granted permission to talk on their behalf). You will see many Googlers talk on forums like this and they don't need permission, but are doing so on their own without the explicit permission from the company. Google seems to be open about letting us speak publicly about stuff our company does, but that we aren't speaking on their behalf. I feel it needs to be made explicitly clear to anyone reading it that it's my own opinion.
  - zepto 10y ago
    I was going to thank you for saying it. It makes your opinion seem more trustworthy than that of the Googler's who write about Google without disclosing the relationship.
zem 10y ago
i was personally surprised that glide wasn't given top position in the announcement, since that's the one feature i've seen lots of ios users envy from android.
- zevyoura 10y ago
  Swype and other keyboards with similar functionality have been available since iOS 8's release. It makes sense they'd highlight the new functionality over that.
  - stormbrew 10y ago
    They aren't very good, though. I use swype since switching to iOS last year and it's honestly a slog to use compared to the android keyboard. I actually understand now why so many iphone aficionados don't like the idea of this kind of typing.
ianstormtaylor 10y ago
Agree, it's really nice! The only other Con I've found so far: It's frustrating to have the "Google" wordmark always shown on top of the keyboard's search results, since it uses up another 10% of the screen real estate for no value at all. Just a pure branding play that doesn't help the user solve their actual goal.
scotchio 10y ago
"3D" touch for placing the cursor doesn't seem to work either. Probably my favorite feature
- cloudwalking 10y ago
  Instead you can just swipe the spacebar left or right. It works much better than the iOS 3D touch cursor movement, which seems to false-negative on my force touch very frequently (at least half the time, for me).
  - grmarcil 10y ago
    Thanks for the hint on swiping the spacebar. I still miss the ability to move the cursor vertically and select with the trackpad but this at least makes Gboard usable for me. I think I had the same false-negative problem you are describing with 3D touch trackpad, but it seemed to get a lot better for me with the iOS 9.3 release. Maybe I'm imagining it, but it seemed like there were improvements to whatever algorithm determines a user's intention for normal vs 3D touch. On the other hand, maybe I trained myself to their algorithm. It seems like starting with light contact and increasing pressure is a more reliable trigger than just going in with firm pressure right away.
    - mikeknoop 10y ago
      From my experience, the force touch trackpad cursor only works if you wait 1s between the last normal touch and the force touch.
  - scotchio 10y ago
    Agree - Love this. Thanks for the tip
JoshGlazebrook 10y ago
I just installed the keyboard and it has voice dictation...

by kyrra 10y ago

refrigerator 10y ago

Not trying to be aggressive here, genuinely curious - is it necessary for you to say "The opinions stated here are my own, not necessarily those of Google."? Would you get screwed over for saying this kind of stuff without the disclaimer?

kyrra 10y ago
I prefer to be clear here and disclose my conflict of interest (since I work there) and that I speak for myself only. I'm not sure if it's required that I put it, but I prefer to be clear when it's topics related to Google. Most companies I've ever worked at (like Cisco) are very explicit that you can't talk at all about stuff your company does (unless you are a VP or granted permission to talk on their behalf). You will see many Googlers talk on forums like this and they don't need permission, but are doing so on their own without the explicit permission from the company. Google seems to be open about letting us speak publicly about stuff our company does, but that we aren't speaking on their behalf. I feel it needs to be made explicitly clear to anyone reading it that it's my own opinion.
- zepto 10y ago
  I was going to thank you for saying it. It makes your opinion seem more trustworthy than that of the Googler's who write about Google without disclosing the relationship.

zem 10y ago

i was personally surprised that glide wasn't given top position in the announcement, since that's the one feature i've seen lots of ios users envy from android.

zevyoura 10y ago
Swype and other keyboards with similar functionality have been available since iOS 8's release. It makes sense they'd highlight the new functionality over that.
- stormbrew 10y ago
  They aren't very good, though. I use swype since switching to iOS last year and it's honestly a slog to use compared to the android keyboard. I actually understand now why so many iphone aficionados don't like the idea of this kind of typing.

ianstormtaylor 10y ago

Agree, it's really nice! The only other Con I've found so far: It's frustrating to have the "Google" wordmark always shown on top of the keyboard's search results, since it uses up another 10% of the screen real estate for no value at all. Just a pure branding play that doesn't help the user solve their actual goal.

scotchio 10y ago

"3D" touch for placing the cursor doesn't seem to work either. Probably my favorite feature

cloudwalking 10y ago
Instead you can just swipe the spacebar left or right. It works much better than the iOS 3D touch cursor movement, which seems to false-negative on my force touch very frequently (at least half the time, for me).
- grmarcil 10y ago
  Thanks for the hint on swiping the spacebar. I still miss the ability to move the cursor vertically and select with the trackpad but this at least makes Gboard usable for me. I think I had the same false-negative problem you are describing with 3D touch trackpad, but it seemed to get a lot better for me with the iOS 9.3 release. Maybe I'm imagining it, but it seemed like there were improvements to whatever algorithm determines a user's intention for normal vs 3D touch. On the other hand, maybe I trained myself to their algorithm. It seems like starting with light contact and increasing pressure is a more reliable trigger than just going in with firm pressure right away.
  - mikeknoop 10y ago
    From my experience, the force touch trackpad cursor only works if you wait 1s between the last normal touch and the force touch.
- scotchio 10y ago
  Agree - Love this. Thanks for the tip

JoshGlazebrook 10y ago

I just installed the keyboard and it has voice dictation...