Tushar Mehta / Android Authority
TL;DR Gboard’s latest update adds a new flick gesture to speed up typing symbols.
With the option enabled, you can swipe down on the alphabet keys to enter symbols.
The option works alongside the Touch & hold option that also lets you select symbols, but by long-pressing a key.
Google has been testing various ways to make typing on Android devices feel as effortless as possible. In addition to making voice typing much more efficient, Google has been experimenting with several Gboard tweaks, such as auto-switching to the English alphabet after you enter a symbol or punctuation mark. Besides those tests, the tech giant has also been rolling out new features, such as the recent addition that lets you enter symbols with far more ease.
A new “Flick keys to enter symbols” mode is now rolling out to Gboard with version 16.2. The feature was spotted rolling out to the beta channel last month, and is now also available on the stable channel, as highlighted by 9to5Google.
With this new option, you can essentially tap and hold a key briefly, and then swipe downwards to insert a particular number or symbol instead of the letter. While Gboard already lets you tap and hold a key to reveal and then insert symbols, the flick gesture is a tad bit faster. You can also tweak the input sensitivity setting to increase or decrease the delay after which the flick gesture works.
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The flick gesture does take some training of the thumb muscles to get used to the sensitivity. Gboard might sometimes misinterpret it as a swipe for typing a word, contradicting the attempt to flick to enter a symbol.
Moreover, dragging the letters at the extreme edge may be difficult and instead trigger the touch-and-hold gesture that opens a list of all support character variations or symbols associated with that particular key. Therefore, getting used to the feature can be an initial learning curve that you must master.
To enable flick gesture on Gboard, head over to Preferences in Gboard settings, and enable the toggle next to Flick keys to enter symbols. While this will primarily enable numbers in the top row, you can also enable multiple symbols by also allowing the toggle for Touch & hold keys for symbols.
Additionally, you can tap the Flick input sensitivity option and tweak the delay using the slider.
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