Gboard's Material You elements are arriving on more Android phones in latest beta

Rounded buttons and a splash of color

Google has been testing different Gboard Material You designs for quite some time. While we’ve yet to see the final form of the keyboard, elements previously included on Pixel phones are now arriving on other Android 12 phones that support the theming engine, like recent Samsung and Oppo flagships.

3 Images

The feature adds splashes of color to various aspects of Gboard on the phones. Backspace, shift, and the symbol switcher button take on a hue based on your selected theme, alongside the comma and period keys. Enter and the toolbar arrow at the top get a similar treatment, but with darker shades. Sadly, the navbar itself doesn't take on the new color.

Speaking of Material You tweaks, some rounded elements have appeared too, with the symbol switcher and enter taking circular shapes — if you use your keyboard with borders. In addition, the keypress popups have done away with the previous rectangular appearance in favor of a circular one, like we know from Pixel devices.

2 Images

Left: Current pop-up look. Right: New pop-up look

That’s not all, though. Another feature that has arrived with this beta is the new streamlined look for Gboard’s floating mode. It adjusts the tab for moving the keyboard around by doing away with the circular bulge at the bottom of the UI and replacing the full-sized icon with a horizontal bar, indicating that it’s still movable. The floating keyboard also gets rounded edges, matching the circular keys mentioned above.

2 Images

Left: Old floating UI. Right: New floating UI

So far, we’ve been able to access these changes on our Samsung Galaxy Z Fold3, Galaxy S22 Ultra, and Oppo Find X5 Pro running Android 12 and using Gboard beta version 11.5.05.427194903. We’ve previously seen general Material You elements pop up in different parts of the Gboard UI on non-Google phones, including a tinted top bar, rounded corners, and an altered system auto icon. But as far as the actual keyboard interface goes, this is the first major overhaul coming to Gboard beta on these devices.

About The Author

Haroun Adamu (133 Articles Published)

Haroun became an Android enthusiast in 2014 and has been avidly following the industry since then. Currently a medical student, he doubles as an SEO copywriter for small businesses. When not scouring the net for the latest tech news, you'll either find him nose-deep into his textbooks or working on Homeripped, his fitness website.

More From Haroun Adamu