Gboard for Android preps an easier way to ‘Resize’

We’re still waiting for Gboard to roll out its toolbar redesign, but until then, Google is working on a new “Resize” UI.

About APK Insight: In this “APK Insight” post, we’ve decompiled the latest version of an application that Google uploaded to the Play Store. When we decompile these files (called APKs, in the case of Android apps), we’re able to see various lines of code within that hint at possible future features. Keep in mind that Google may or may not ever ship these features, and our interpretation of what they are may be imperfect. We’ll try to enable those that are closer to being finished, however, to show you how they’ll look in case that they do ship. With that in mind, read on.

“Resize” would be another shortcut in the upcoming toolbar/panel redesign. It starts by letting you adjust the height of keys and the panel by dragging up/down from the top or bottom edge. 

That customization is already possible in Settings > Keyboard height with seven options: Extra-short, Short, Mid-short, Normal, Mid-tall, Tall, and Extra-tell. This new way is easier to access and much less buried.

What’s new (as seen in the screenshots below) is how you can move the resized keyboard (center button) up the screen so that empty space exists between the bottom edge and the system status bar. This feature is still in development, so that might change, and this would purely become a new way to edit keyboard height.

While it’s similar to the One-handed and Floating modes, the big difference — if Resize remains this way — is that you can’t adjust the width in the current UI. It will always span the entire width of your screen, which is an option some might want. In those other two existing modes, you could shrink the height, but it would proportionally become narrower.

We’ve enabled it with Gboard 13.0, which also includes new work on Tabletop mode for foldables, but those changes are not yet live.

Thanks to JEB Decompiler, from which some APK Insight teardowns benefit.

Dylan Roussel contributed to this article.

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