Gboard might turn your keyboard into a trackpad with new cursor mode

Gboard might turn your keyboard into a trackpad with new cursor mode

TL;DR
  • Google could be gearing up to add a cursor mode to Gboard for easier cursor movement and swiping.
  • The Gboard app already has a glide cursor control feature, but it does not support easy line changing or scrolling.
  • By holding down the space bar, users will be able to activate a virtual trackpad for simple cursor movement in any direction.

Gboard is a highly customizable Android keyboard with vast gesture support, including glide typing, trail, and delete. To move the cursor around in a text field, Android users can tap and hold the insertion point and release it in a specific spot. Alternatively, Gboard includes glide cursor control, a feature that lets users move their cursor from left to right by holding and swiping along the space bar.

This implementation currently lacks support for changing paragraphs or lines easily, but Gboard might be adding a dedicated cursor mode for easier cursor movement and scrolling in a future update. We’ve uncovered the functionality in version 16.8.2.867538971-beta-arm64-v8a of the Gboard app. We were able to get an early look at the cursor mode feature, which essentially turns the Gboard keyboard area into a virtual trackpad.