Google’s Gboard app finally gets tablet-optimized design with latest beta

Earlier this year, Google announced that it would update most of its first-party apps with a UI design that’s optimized for large-screen devices like foldable phones and tablets. Now, the company has released a tablet-optimized UI for the Gboard app, and you can install it on your Galaxy Tab device.

The Gboard app’s 12.3 Beta version is now available for the Google Play Store. It features a taller design for both the background and the keys. The updated keyboard app now feels less like a stretched version of a smartphone keyboard and more like a keyboard that’s made specifically for tablets. In portrait screen orientation, the touch targets get narrower, but all the keys still use the same layout.

The keyboard now has a Tab button on the left, left and right arrow buttons (great for text editing), and the comma and period buttons are shifted to the third alphabet row. There is also a dedicated button to hide the keyboard. The emoji key has been shifted from the right to the left side of the spacebar, while the top bar now shows more suggestions.

With Google focusing on tablets and large-screen devices once again, users will find tablets more productive and easy to use. We can now expect the company to release more apps with multi-pane UI and large-screen-optimized designs, which could nudge third-party developers to do the same. Samsung has already updated most of its stock apps with multi-pane UI for its foldables and tablets.