Gboard v7.8 prepares option to clear search history, enhancements to voice typing and clipboard manager [APK Teardown]


The latest update to the Gboard app is now out, but it doesn't appear to be adding any features in this update, or at least not yet. A teardown points to some enhancements to some features we've either seen in the past or expect to go live in the near future, including tweaks to the Clipboard Manager, an option to delete search history, follow-ups related to voice typing, and of course, a ton of new languages and localized keyboards.

Teardown

Disclaimer: Teardowns are based on evidence found inside of apks (Android's application package) and are necessarily speculative and usually based on incomplete information. It's possible that the guesses made here are wrong or inaccurate. Even when predictions are correct, there is always a chance that products could change or may be canceled. Much like rumors, nothing is certain until it's officially announced and released.
The features discussed below are probably not live yet, or may only be live for a small percentage of users. Unless stated otherwise, don't expect to see these features if you install the apk. All screenshots and images are real unless otherwise stated, and images are only altered to remove personal information.

Follow-up: Clipboard manager

We've been tracking a new clipboard manager for a few versions, and it was even live for a number of people at one point. Oddly, the feature never finished rolling out, and has since disappeared for most people, if not all. While there's no real information about why this feature crawled back into its shell, it's possible that it was either unfinished, or simply not polished enough for a proper introduction.
Two new lines seem to indicate that there's at least a little more fine tuning of the UI. These will add section titles for recent and older clippings. These will likely come alongside a dedicated space for pinned clips.
<string name="clipboard_unpinned_most_recent_separator">RECENT</string>
<string name="clipboard_unpinned_older_separator">OLDER</string>

Delete search history

The built-in search feature on Gboard is just like any Google search field, but sometimes it feels a little lacking compared to some of the other places you'll find it. Even so, some basic features should be available, but one particular gap has been around for a while. You can't easily delete your search history from Gboard. However, that's going to be changing. An option to clear your search history appears to be in the works.
<string name="delete_recent_search_candidate_dialog_title">Delete this search from your history?</string>
<string name="delete_recent_search_candidate_dialog_cancel_button">Cancel</string>
<string name="delete_recent_search_candidate_dialog_confirm_button">Delete</string>

Follow-up: On-device voice typing

We've previously discussed an upcoming enhancement that would speed up voice typing my moving all of the processing to phones, thus removing the round trip with Google's servers. Now there's a list of the languages that should be able to take advantage of this feature. There are 43 languages in total, and likely more to come as Google optimizes for additional languages.
  • Afrikaans
  • Arabic
  • Basque
  • Bulgarian
  • Catalan
  • Chinese
  • Croatian
  • Czech
  • Danish
  • Dutch
  • English
  • Finnish
  • French
  • Galician
  • German
  • Greek
  • Hebrew
  • Hindi
  • Hungarian
  • Icelandic
  • Indonesian
  • Italian
  • Japanese
  • Korean
  • Lithuanian
  • Malay
  • Norwegian
  • Persian
  • Polish
  • Portuguese
  • Romanian
  • Russian
  • Serbian
  • Slovak
  • Slovenian
  • Spanish
  • Swedish
  • Tagalog
  • Thai
  • Turkish
  • Ukrainian
  • Vietnamese
  • Zulu
<string name="s3_langid_languages_list">af, ar, bg, ca, cs, da, de, el, en, es, eu, fa, fi, fr, gl, hi, hr, hu, in, is, it, iw, ja, ko, lt, ms, nb, nl, pl, pt, ro, ru, sk, sl, sr, sv, th, tl, tr, uk, vi, zh, zu,</string>
<string name="s3_asr_language_tags_list">af, am, ar-ae, ar-bh, ar-dj, ar-dz, ar-eg, ar-ly, ar-ma, ar-om, ar-sa, ar-sd, ar-tn, az-az, bn-bd, bn-in, bs, ca, cs, de-at, de-be, de-ch, de-de, de-lu, el-cy, el-gr, en-au, en-ca, en-gb, en-in, en-ke, en-ng, en-ph, en-us, en-za, es-419, es-ar, es-es, es-mx, es-us, et-ee, eu-es, fa, fi, fr-002, fr-be, fr-ca, fr-ch, fr-fr, gl-es, gu-in, hi-in, hr, hu, hy-am, in, is, it-ch, it-it, iw-il, ja-jp, jv-latn, ka-ge, km-kh, kn-in, ko, lo-la, lt, lv, ml-in, mr-in, ms-bn, ms-my, ms-sg, nb, ne-in, ne-np, nl-be, nl-nl, pl, pt-002, pt-ao, pt-br, pt-mo, pt-pt, ro-md, ro-ro, ru-by, ru-kg, ru-ru, si-lk, sk, sl, sr-latn-rs, srp-latn-me, su-latn, sv-fi, sv-se, sw, ta-in, ta-lk, ta-sg, te-in, th-th, tl, tr-cy, tr-tr, ur-in, ur-pk, zh-cn, zh-hk, zh-tw,</string>
One interesting note is that it seems there is text for a feature card discussing voice typing, but leaving out the distinctions about on-device processing. In fact, it reads as though voice typing in languages other than English is a brand new feature. I'm not quite sure what is intended here, but I imagine this text might be changed before the feature card actually appears.
<string name="feature_card_asr_title">Try voice typing in your language</string>
<string name="feature_card_asr_description">Now Gboard lets you type by voice in your language. Just tap the microphone icon and speak.</string>

Disabling recordings of audio recordings and using Gboard signed out

If you're concerned with potential privacy and security implications with Google storing recordings of your voice, you'll have the option to keep that audio from being stored. An option in settings will allow you to choose whether or not recordings should be saved under your account.
<string name="voice_sign_in_denied_snackbar_text">Your audio history will not be recorded. You can change this in settings.</string>
<string name="voice_sign_in_description">Audio will be saved to your account, under Voice &amp; Audio activity. You can change this anytime from settings.</string>
<string name="voice_sign_in_denied_snackbar_button_label">SETTINGS</string>
As an interesting addition, there are a couple lines that also discuss using Gboard while signed out. Since this is in the context of voice typing, the message explains that the recordings won't be stored (because there's no account to store them on), but it is an interesting detail.
<string name="setting_voice_account_title">Google Account</string>
<string name="setting_voice_account_no_account_summary">Using Gboard voice typing without an account</string>
<string name="setting_voice_account_with_account_summary">Using %s for Gboard voice typing</string>
<string name="setting_voice_activity_link_text">Audio history will be saved to your account, under Voice &amp;#38; Audio activity. &lt;b&gt;&lt;linkable&gt;Manage&lt;/linkable&gt;&lt;/b&gt;</string>
<string name="setting_voice_without_sign_in_text">Audio history will not be recorded.</string>
<string name="setting_voice_account_key">setting_voice_account_key</string>

New languages

With new versions comes support for more languages. While it's hard to identify each and every one, I can at least show the list of the names added and hopefully you'll recognize one that matters to you or those in your life. Some of these languages may not be live yet, but the names are present in resources, so they're pretty obviously coming. (Sorry, some names and letters are lost as a result of software that doesn't support all alphabets, which is why they have question marks or boxes in your browser.)

Language tag

  • Balinese [ban]
  • Brahui [brh]
  • Eastern Cham [cjm]
  • Gujari [gju]
  • Rangpuri [rkt]
  • Vlax Romani [rmy]

Localized Subtype Locale

  • Brong [abr_GH]
  • Dangme [ada_GH]
  • Lur [alz_CD]
  • Anaang [anw_NG]
  • Магӏарул мацӏ [av_RU]
  • Азәрбајҹанҹа [az_RU]
  • ᬪᬵᬱᬩᬮᬶ [ban_XF]
  • Basaá [bas_CM]
  • བོད་ཡིག [bo_XT]
  • Birom [bom_NG]
  • براہوئی [brh_XC]
  • Akɔɔse [bss_CM]
  • ᯔᯊ᯲ᯑᯤᯞᯪᯰ [btm_XF]
  • ᨅᨔ ᨕᨘᨁᨗ [bug_XF]
  • Ucôkwe [cjk_CD]
  • Cam [cjm_XA]
  • চাঁটগাঁইয়া [ctg_XT]
  • Mǐnzhōngyǔ [czo_CN]
  • Dagaare [dga_GH]
  • Хуэйзў йүян [dng_KG]
  • Yacouba [dnj_CI]
  • डोटेली [dty_NP]
  • Ewondo [ewo_CM]
  • ᜀᜊᜃᜇ [fil_XF]
  • گوجری [gju_PK]
  • Kru Brofo [gpe_GH]
  • ગુજરાતી [gu_IN]
  • Oluhaya [hay_TZ]
  • Hmub [hea_CN]
  • ہندکو [hnd_PK]
  • Haqniqdoq [hni_CN]
  • ہندکو [hno_PK]
  • Chimakonde [kde_TZ]
  • Kriolu [kea_CV]
  • Bahasa Komering [kge_ID]
  • ಕನ್ನಡ [kn_IN]
  • Коми [kpv_RU]
  • ꤊꤢ꤬ꤛꤢ꤭ꤜꤟꤤ꤬ [kyu_MM]
  • Ladino [lad_IL]
  • Lampung Api [ljp_ID]
  • لەکی [lki_IR]
  • లంబాడి [lmn_XV]
  • Elhomwe [lon_MW]
  • Ciluba [lua_CD]
  • मगही [mag_NP]
  • Mandar [mdr_ID]
  • بهاس جاوي [mfa_TH]
  • Ma'anyan [mhy_ID]
  • മലയാളം [ml_IN]
  • Монгол [mn_XT]
  • Manggarai [mqy_ID]
  • Thiểng Mường [mtq_VN]
  • Baso Palembang [mui_ID]
  • مارواري [mve_XT]
  • Hmoob Daw [mww_CN]
  • Sindebele [nde_ZW]
  • Ngbaka [nga_CD]
  • Ngaju [nij_ID]
  • Vagahau Niuē [niu_NU]
  • Yira [nnb_CD]
  • Nupe [nup_NG]
  • Kigiryama [nyf_KE]
  • Kinyamwezi [nym_TZ]
  • Runyankore [nyn_UG]
  • Kinyakyusa [nyy_TZ]
  • ଓଡ଼ିଆ [or_IN]
  • हिਪੰਜਾਬੀ [pa_IN]
  • Haausqyaix [pcc_CN]
  • پہاڑی [phr_PK]
  • Melayu Papua [pmy_ID]
  • Runashimi [qug_EC]
  • Kinyaturu [rim_TZ]
  • कामता [rkt_IN]
  • Romani čhib [rmy_RO]
  • সান্তালি [sat_XU]
  • ꢱꣃꢬꢵꢰ꣄ꢜ꣄ꢬ [saz_IN]
  • شینا‬ [scl_PK]
  • کوردی خوارین [sdh_IR]
  • Cebaara [sef_CI]
  • Cisena [seh_MZ]
  • ሰባት ቤት ጉራጌ [sgw_ET]
  • සිංහල [si_XT]
  • सुरजापुरी [sjp_XT]
  • Kisongye [sop_CD]
  • SiSwati [ss_ZA]
  • Sesotho [st_LS]
  • بَسَ سُنْدَ [su_XC]
  • Sylhoti‬ [syl_XA]
  • Tokelau [tkl_TK]
  • Kok Borok [trp_XA]
  • Rutooro [ttj_UG]
  • Umbundu [umb_AO]
  • Урум [uum_GE]
  • ꕙꔤ [vai_LR]
  • Kutai Tenggarong [vkt_ID]
  • OstfrŠnkisch [vmf_DE]
  • Bahasa Manado [xmm_ID]
  • Ciyawo [yao_MW]
  • Hauqcuengh [zyb_CN]

Subtype Locale

  • Abron [abr_GH]
  • Dangme (Ghana) [ada_GH]
  • Alur [alz_CD]
  • Anaang (Nigeria) [anw_NG]
  • Avar [av_RU]
  • Balinese [ban_XF]
  • Basaá (Cameroon) [bas_CM]
  • Berom (Nigeria) [bom_NG]
  • Brahui (Arabic) [brh_XC]
  • Akoose (Cameroon) [bss_CM]
  • Batak Mandailing [btm_XF]
  • Buginese (Lontara) [bug_XF]
  • Buginese (Latin) [bug_ID]
  • Chokwe (DRC) [cjk_CD]
  • Eastern Cham (Cham) [cjm_VN]
  • Eastern Cham (Latin) [cjm_XA]
  • Min Zhong (China) [czo_CN]
  • Dagaare [dga_GH]
  • Dungan [dng_KG]
  • Dan [dnj_CI]
  • Dotyali (Nepal) [dty_NP]
  • Ewondo (Cameroon) [ewo_CM]
  • Filipino (Baybayin) [fil_XF]
  • Gujari (Pakistan) [gju_PK]
  • Ghanaian Pidgin [gpe_GH]
  • Haya (Tanzania) [hay_TZ]
  • Hmu (China) [hea_CN]
  • Southern Hindko [hnd_PK]
  • Hani [hni_CN]
  • Northern Hindko [hno_PK]
  • Makonde [kde_TZ]
  • Cape Verdean Creole [kea_CV]
  • Komering (Indonesia) [kge_ID]
  • Komi-Zyrian (Russia) [kpv_RU]
  • Western Kayah (Kayah Li) [kyu_MM]
  • Ladino (Israel) [lad_IL]
  • Lampung Api (Indonesia) [ljp_ID]
  • Laki [lki_IR]
  • Elhomwe (Malawi) [lon_MW]
  • Luba-Kasai (DRC) [lua_CD]
  • Mandar (Indonesia) [mdr_ID]
  • Kelantan-Pattani Malay (Arabic) [mfa_TH]
  • Ma'anyan (Indonesia) [mhy_ID]
  • Manggarai (Indonesia) [mqy_ID]
  • Muong (Vietnam) [mtq_VN]
  • Musi (Indonesia) [mui_ID]
  • Hmong (China) [mww_CN]
  • Northern Ndebele [nde_ZW]
  • Ngbaka Gbaya (DRC) [nga_CD]
  • Ngaju (Indonesia) [nij_ID]
  • Niuean [niu_NU]
  • Nande [nnb_CD]
  • Nupe (Nigeria) [nup_NG]
  • Giryama (Kenya) [nyf_KE]
  • Nyamwezi (Tanzania) [nym_TZ]
  • Nkore (Uganda) [nyn_UG]
  • Nyakyusa [nyy_TZ]
  • Osage [osa_US]
  • Bouyei [pcc_CN]
  • Pahari-Pothwari [phr_PK]
  • Papuan Malay (Indonesia) [pmy_ID]
  • Chimborazo Highland Kichwa [qug_EC]
  • Nyaturu (Tanzania) [rim_TZ]
  • Rangpuri (Devanagari) [rkt_IN]
  • Vlax Romani (Romania) [rmy_RO]
  • Saurashtra [saz_IN]
  • Shina (Pakistan) [scl_PK]
  • Southern Kurdish [sdh_IR]
  • Cebaara Senoufo (Côte d'Ivoire) [sef_CI]
  • Sena (Mozambique) [seh_MZ]
  • Sebat Bet Gurage (Ethiopia) [sgw_ET]
  • Songe (DRC) [sop_CD]
  • Swazi (South Africa) [ss_ZA]
  • Sesotho (Lesotho) [st_LS]
  • Sundanese (Arabic) [su_XC]
  • Sylheti (Latin) [syl_XA]
  • Tokelauan [tkl_TK]
  • Kok Borok (Latin) [trp_XA]
  • Tooro (Uganda) [ttj_UG]
  • Umbundu (Angola) [umb_AO]
  • Urum [uum_GE]
  • Vai [vai_LR]
  • Kutai Malay (Indonesia) [vkt_ID]
  • East Franconian (Germany) [vmf_DE]
  • Manado Malay (Indonesia) [xmm_ID]
  • Yao [yao_MW]
  • Yongbei Zhuang (China) [zyb_CN]

Variants

  • Choctaw
  • Church Slavonic
  • Kamba
  • Karelian
  • Komi-Permyak
  • Konkomba
  • Kumyk
  • Meru
  • Nande
  • Nyakyusa
  • Nyaturu
  • Wayuu

Variant transliterations

  • abc → بلوچی [bal_arab_transliteration]
  • abc → हरियाणवी [bgc_transliteration]
  • abc → بهاغري [bgq_arab_transliteration]
  • abc → भोजपुरी [bho_transliteration]
  • abc → دکنی [dcc_arab_transliteration]
  • abc → गढ़वाली [gbm_transliteration]
  • abc → छत्तीसगढ़ी [hne_transliteration]
  • abc → कुमाँऊनी [kfy_deva_transliteration]
  • abc → ಲಂಬಾಣಿ [lmn_knda_transliteration]
  • abc → मारवाड़ी [rwr_transliteration]
  • abc → सदरी [sck_deva_transliteration]
After all of this, it makes you wonder how many languages Google has left to add. They've got to be getting fairly close to running out, right?

Download

The APK is signed by Google and upgrades your existing app. The cryptographic signature guarantees that the file is safe to install and was not tampered with in any way. Rather than wait for Google to push this download to your devices, which can take days, download and install it just like any other APK.
Gboard - the Google Keyboard
Developer: Google LLC
Price: Free 

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Linktree’s free workaround lets you add multiple links to your Instagram bio

EVERYTHING WE KNOW ABOUT THE PIXEL 4, THE MOST-LEAKED PHONE EVER

Our favorite iOS apps for the iPhone and iPad in 2018