Read update
- The clipboard manager is now being enabled server-side in this same version.
The latest Gboard update is rolling out to the beta channel, and this one comes with the promise of a very heavily requested feature: Clipboard integration. Soon we'll be able to copy stacks of things between applications without hopping back and forth for each and every line. There are also interesting strings suggesting we might get improved voice typing.
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.
Clipboard manager
We previously came across the first hints of a clipboard manager a couple months ago with the v7.5 teardown, but quite a bit more has been added and it looks like this thing might be ready to launch.
The original hints didn't really detail much, but it was a safe bet that this would be a fairly traditional clipboard manager with a history of copied text that could be pasted in from a list. With the text in this update, that can now be confirmed. Additionally, there are lines showing that it will also be possible to pin items so they'll remain permanently available. This is particularly useful for things like mailing addresses, email, prepared text messages, etc.
strings
The clipboard integration hasn't gone live for me yet, but it looks like all of the necessary text, icons, and layouts are here. There's even text for a feature card. I wouldn't be surprised to see this going live before the next version. I've only tried tinkering with it for a moment, but I'll see about enabling this shortly.
UPDATE: 2018/10/26 2:31am PDT BY
The clipboard manager is now being enabled server-side in this same version.
More themes
Speaking of feature cards, text for another feature card was added that promotes 53 new color themes. I don't see anything remotely like that from looking through the APK, but the name for one new theme was added: Sand.
Sand doesn't appear in the list for me after updating, and that's not the only one. At least a few of the others listed in the APK seem to be missing, so perhaps there's a big reveal coming soon.
On-device voice typing
Voice typing has been a feature of Gboard since before it was even called Gboard. While it hasn't really changed much over the years, there's a lot of new text that might indicate something is about to happen. These additions seem to describe something that is almost exactly like the current offline speech recognition, but with possible performance and privacy improvements.
Specifically, one line explains that you can make voice typing faster by enabling on-device voice typing. Another line is a description of a preference that allows your voice and surrounding audio to improve speech recognition, but this one reads a bit like an opt-in that sends the audio back to Google.
strings
While all of this sounds fairly normal, there was one anomaly that stood out. In one line of text, the English speech recognition pack was described as 85 MB, which is significantly larger than the 49 MB for the current speech pack. This alone has me pretty suspicious about the possible implications of an enhanced speech interpreter.
New languages
Left: v7.6. Right: v7.7.
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. (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
- Arabic [ar]
Localized names for sub-locales
- ????? [bal_XT]
- ?????? [bgq_XU]
- ??????? [blk_MM]
- ???? ??? [bpy_XT]
- Br?hu? [brh_PK]
- Nkob? Bulu [bum_CM]
- Chahta [cho_US]
- ?????????? [cu_RU]
- ??????? [dhd_XT]
- Gedeo [drs_ET]
- Kadazandusun [dtp_MY]
- Bahasa Hulontalo [gor_ID]
- Wayuunaiki [guc_CO]
- Migulimancema [gux_BF]
- Ekegusii [guz_KE]
- Harar [hae_ET]
- Kihehe [heh_TZ]
- ????? [hoj_XT]
- Iban [iba_MY]
- Iu Mienh [ium_CN]
- ???????????? [kaa_XB]
- Jinghpaw [kac_MM]
- Kikamba [kam_KE]
- "Q'eqchi'" [kek_GT]
- K?rmancki [kiu_TR]
- ????? ???? [koi_RU]
- ?????? [kok_XU]
- Olukonjo [koo_UG]
- ?????? [kok_XU]
- Olukonjo [koo_UG]
- ????????? [kum_RU]
- ???????????????? [kxm_TH]
- Lugbara [lgg_UG]
- ??????? [lif_XD]
- L?v? [liv_LV]
- ?????? [lmn_XU]
- ??? [lo_XT]
- Dholuo [luo_KE]
- "Basa Mangkasara'" [mak_ID]
- Bahasa Pasar [max_ID]
- K?m??r? [mer_KE]
- K?m??r? [mer_KE]
- ???? ????? [ms_XF]
- ????? [mup_XT]
- Chindau [ndc_ZW]
- ??????? [noe_XT]
- Deitsch [pdc_US]
- ???? [ps_XT]
- Sasak [sas_ID]
- Sooninkanxanne [snk_ML]
- ?l?nski [szl_PL]
- ????? [taj_NP]
- Ateso [teo_UG]
- Tol??? [tly_AZ]
- Trinidadian Creole [trf_TT]
- ??????? [xnr_XT]
- Likpakpaln [xon_GH]
Sub-locales
- Arabic (Algeria) [ar_DZ]
- Arabic [ar_EG]
- Arabic (Morocco) [ar_MA]
- Arabic (Oman) [ar_OM]
- Arabic (Morocco) [ar_MA]
- Arabic (Oman) [ar_OM]
- "Pa'O Karen" [blk_MM]
- Brahui [brh_PK]
- Bulu-Bene (Cameroon) [bum_CM]
- Choctaw (US) [cho_US]
- Church Slavonic [cu_RU]
- Gedeo (Ethiopia) [drs_ET]
- Kadazandusun (Malaysia) [dtp_MY]
- Gorontalo (Indonesia) [gor_ID]
- Gorontalo (Indonesia) [gor_ID]
- Eastern Oromo (Ethiopia)> [hae_ET]
- Hehe (Tanzania) [heh_TZ]
- Iban [iba_MY]
- Iu Mien [ium_CN]
- Iu Mien [ium_CN]
- Kekchi [kek_GT]
- Kirmanjki (Turkey) [kiu_TR]
- Komi-Permyak (Russia) [koi_RU]
- Konzo [koo_UG]
- Karay-a (Philippines) [krj_PH]
- Karelian [krl_RU]
- Kumyk [kum_RU]
- Khmer Surin [kxm_TH]
- Lugbara [lgg_UG]
- Limbu [lif_XD]
- Livonian (Latvia) [liv_LV]
- Luo [luo_KE]
- Makassarese (Indonesia) [mak_ID]
- North Moluccan Malay (Indonesia) [max_ID]
- Meru (Kenya) [mer_KE]
- Malay (Latin) (Malaysia) [ms_MY]
- Malay (Latin) (Singapore) [ms_SG]
- Malay (Arabic) (Malaysia) [ms_XC]
- Malay (Arabic) (Brunei) [ms_XF]
- Ndau [ndc_ZW]
- Pennsylvania Dutch [pdc_US]
- Sasak (Indonesia) [sas_ID]
- Soninke [snk_ML]
- Silesian [szl_PL]
- Eastern Tamang (Nepal) [taj_NP]
- Teso [teo_UG]
- Talysh (Azerbaijan) [tly_AZ]
- Trinidadian Creole English [trf_TT]
- Konkomba [xon_GH]
Variants
- Baoul? [baoule]
- Baoul? [baoule]
- abc ? ???????? [bns_transliteration]
- abc ? ????????????? ??????? [bpy_beng_transliteration]
- Cree [cree]
- Fantse [fantse]
- Gagauz [gagauz]
- Ibibio [ibibio_dynamic]
- Ibibio [ibibio_dynamic]
- Lakota [lakota]
- Pontic Greek [pontic]
- Rangpuri [rangpuri]
- Romani [romani]
- ?????? [russian_jcuken]
- abc ? ???? [tcy_knda_transliteration]
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.