Edgar Cervantes / Android Authority
TL;DR
- An Android Authority teardown has revealed that Gboard could get a variety of tweaks and additions.
- The keyboard app could soon let you add Emoji Kitchen combos to a favorites list.
- We also discovered a SmartEdit feature and evidence of tighter integration with the Pixel 10’s Magic Cue feature.
Gboard recently gained the ability to create stickers without using Pixel Studio, but it looks like Google isn’t stopping there. In fact, the company is working on a slew of other tweaks and additions to its popular keyboard app.
An APK teardown helps predict features that may arrive on a service in the future based on work-in-progress code. However, it is possible that such predicted features may not make it to a public release.
We conducted a teardown of the Gboard app for Android (version 15.5.5.766552071-beta-arm64-v8a) and discovered several changes. For starters, Google could soon let you add Emoji Kitchen combos to a favorites list. Check out our screenshots below.
This would be a useful addition, allowing you to quickly send your desired emoji mashups to someone. This would be a welcome change from putting them together from scratch or visiting the page of recently used combos. The third screenshot above also shows that Gboard could get a search bar in the Emoji Kitchen panel, although this seems to duplicate the search bar in the Emoji Kitchen’s browse page.
We also discovered evidence of a so-called “SmartEdit” feature in Gboard. Our uncovered excerpts, seen below, suggest that this allows you to use your voice to edit text.
Code
SmartEdit helps you add, remove, or replace words easily with just your voice.
To apply your edits, your editing commands and text that’s edited will be sent to Google and temporarily processed. No audio or voice data is sent.
Your use of the SmartEdit feature in Gboard is subject to the Generative AI Terms of Service. To learn how your data is handled, visit the Google Privacy Policy
SmartEdit with GboardWe’re a little confused about this feature, as Gboard already lets you use voice commands to edit text. So we’re guessing Google is working on more commands or something more ambitious.
Code
+Finish your task directly without app switching. Your data is kept private unless you share it.
+[Pixel Sense] brings your info to you, with no need to search
+Finish tasks faster with Pixel Sense
+Get info right when you need itFor the uninitiated, Pixel Sense or Magic Cue proactively provides info from your other apps based on context. One leaked example is if a friend asks for your flight number in a message, Magic Cue can then search your Gmail inbox and find it without you having to manually sift through your emails. I’m guessing Gboard integration would allow for seamless access to the clipboard, for one.
We also spotted some neat animations in the upcoming Writing Tools feature in Gboard. Check out the video below, which shows these animations as text gets processed.
Oddly enough, we also spotted a Smart Reply feature in Writing Tools. I’m not sure how this differs from Gboard’s existing Smart Reply feature on Pixels, which uses Gemini Nano to generate suggested replies on-device. I’m guessing this could potentially harness the cloud for improved suggestions. Check out the first screenshot below.
We also discovered that Google might be working on an easier way to disable Smart Reply (see the second screenshot above). The company could let you disable Smart Reply by visiting settings > Corrections & suggestions. This would be a welcome change as users currently need to visit their phone settings and then tap Security & Privacy > More Security & Privacy > Android System Intelligence > Keyboard to disable the feature.
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