Gboard rolls out ‘auto-switch after apostrophes’ & M3 Expressive Settings redesign [U]

As we wait for the broader redesign, Gboard for Android is getting a nice quality-of-life improvement with the “auto-switch after apostrophes” shortcut.

Update 2/14: “Auto-switch after apostrophes” has widely rolled out to stable users (version 16.7) in the past week. It’s enabled by default.

Original 1/22: Gboard can now “Automatically switch back to the letter keyboard after an apostrophe.” Previously, you had to press the space bar or use the ‘?123’ key in the bottom-left corner.

This lets you immediately complete a possessive noun or contraction. You’ll see a prompt when this is rolled out to your device. You have the option to disable from Settings > Preferences > Shortcuts.  

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We’re currently seeing “Auto-switch after apostrophes” in the beta channel (version 16.6). It’s not yet widely rolled out for testers.

Speaking of Settings, Gboard has rolled out the Material 3 Expressive redesign as of version 16.5 in the stable channel. It’s a straightforward modernization that makes use of containers to group together relevant menus on the main list. Individual pages have also been updated.

Google is also testing a redesign of the shortcuts page, as well as rounded keys.