What it’s essential to know
- A brand new Android characteristic will permit the on-screen keyboard to be hidden when Assistant voice typing is getting used.
- Google will change the on-screen keyboard briefly with a pill-shaped toolbar.
- The voice typing toolbar is rolling out to some Pixel Tablets now, and for now, it appears like will probably be unique to the Pixel Pill.
Even in 2024, one of many worst elements of utilizing nice tablets is coping with the big on-screen keyboards. There are methods to get round this, like utilizing voice-to-text enter or a bodily keyboard. However whenever you use voice typing on an Android pill with Gboard, the large digital keyboard stays in your display screen.
That is what Google is aiming to alter with its new voice typing toolbar for the Pixel Pill, which was first noticed by 9to5Google. The contemporary toolbar has a theme and performance much like Gboard’s bodily typing toolbar, which debuted earlier this month. Nevertheless, as a substitute of minimizing the digital keyboard and including controls for a bodily keyboard, it’s doing the identical for voice-to-text enter.
The toolbar would not activate robotically whenever you begin dictating content material in your Pixel Pill, although. There is a new button subsequent to the dictation icon in Gboard known as Toolbar, and has a double-arrow icon, hinting that you should use it to attenuate the on-screen keyboard. As soon as you choose that button, the keyboard will morph right into a pill-shaped bar that appears so much just like the taskbar on the Pixel Pill or Pixel Fold.
There are 5 primary elements of the brand new voice typing toolbar. The middle of the bar will present the present standing of your dictation, as an example, whether or not Assistant is at the moment listening or whether or not it is ready so that you can converse. There is a menu button and an emoji button to the left. On the proper, you may discover the keyboard button and the dictation button.
The toolbar could be moved to totally different elements of the display screen, such because the left and proper edges of the Pixel Pill’s show, in response to 9to5Google.
For now, the voice typing toolbar is unique to the Pixel Pill. Nevertheless, the Pixel Pill and Pixel Fold typically share most of the similar Android options optimized for giant shows. It is doable that Google provides the toolbar to Gboard for different units, just like the Pixel Fold.
9to5Google found the brand new voice typing UI on a Pixel Pill operating model 13.7 beta of Gboard and a secure model of Android 14 QPR1. This implies that Google is rolling out this characteristic now, but it surely’s unclear how lengthy the rollout will take.
Pill to your house
The Google Pixel Pill is an fascinating machine that blurs the road between a pill and a wise house show. It comes with a speaker dock that powers the machine and easy accessibility to sensible house controls by way of Google Dwelling, making it good to be used by the complete household.
