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Gboard 6.4 beta expands Incognito mode beyond Android O, brings minor visual redesigns

The latest beta of Gboard for Android is beginning to roll out this evening with one new major feature and several minor visual redesigns. Previously limited to Android O, an Incognito mode to match Chrome’s is now available on Marshmallow and above.

Accessible by opening an Incognito tab in Chrome 59+ (the current stable version), the keyboard overlays itself with the familiar ‘person wearing a hat and shades’ icon. Google has yet to specify the exact functionality, but it’s likely that Gboard is not learning from input while in this mode. There doesn’t appear to be a way to access Incognito anywhere besides in Chrome.

Version 6.4 happens to include another minor redesign of the Theme page in settings. Rather than a carousel that separated Custom, Recently used, Colors, and Landscapes, Gboard has switched to a grid display.

Another minor change sees the list of tools and shortcuts in the suggestions bar re-ordered. With version 6.3 already combining the Search field to show both web and GIF results, Gboard now features a new GIF icon that takes users directly to the picker. Lastly, a new overflow menu now hides the shortcut to activate the one-handed mode quickly.

There are likely other changes in Gboard — like support for new languages or changes to the machine learning algorithms — that Google will highlight by the time version 6.4 hits the stable channel.

Version 6.4 is now available via the Play Store for those enrolled in the beta program.


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Avatar for Abner Li Abner Li

Editor-in-chief. Interested in the minutiae of Google and Alphabet. Tips/talk: abner@9to5g.com

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