No sé si lo habrás notado, pero he estado pensando mucho en los teclados de Android esta semana. Incluso me atrevería a decir que han dominado mis ondas cerebrales durante varios días. (Sí, soy realmente genial. Intenta contener tu admiración).
And you know what? Dedicating all this mental energy to the simple subject of listening to text messages on a phone made me realize something: we, both the collective 'we' that represent us, the exceptionally intelligent and attractive earthlings who use and enjoy cell phones based We at Android, and the larger “we” representing mobile watchers in general, have come to take for granted just how awesome the Android keyboard experience is.
As I thought in Tuesday's column, most of us never actively think about the keyboard power-up app on our mobile devices, and in many ways, that's actually a good thing. As with efficient interface design, when something works well, you shouldn't think about it. That's how you know it works.
But today I want to break that rule for a minute, because we've certainly spent a lot of brains lately thinking about how Google is missing the mark when it comes to Android design and development. For once, I'd like to take a few minutes to talk about an area where The Googley-oo does the right thing, especially since it's an area that tends to be underappreciated on all sides of the mobile spectrum.
The reality, as I've pointed out before, is that the app that powers your phone's keyboard is arguably the most important piece of software you use. No matter how awesome your email app, office suite, or note-taking doojigger might be, a less-than-exceptional keyboard will hold you back from taking full advantage of these utilities. When it comes to productivity and efficiency, the system that lets you enter text on your phone is cutting edge and essential to the efficiency of virtually every part of your phone-using experience.
And if you want to remind yourself how effective our current Android keyboard options are, all you need to do is grab an iPhone and try typing on it for a few minutes. It's almost shocking to spend time using Apple's oft-praised, magical, and revolutionary iOS keyboard after getting used to the little-known Android typing layout. It honestly feels like stepping back in time to an earlier, less advanced era of smartphone typing technology.
Don't get me wrong: the iOS keyboard is definitely good, especially if it's the only typing experience you know of. I mean, it does the job and a lot of people use it: the vast and overwhelming majority of humans and/or walruses who use an iPhone, if I were to take a guess. But everything about it is significantly less powerful, efficient, and well-presented than what we see and take for granted on the Android side of things, almost comically. And once you have that perspective, the difference is impossible to ignore.
Strangely, simple things like being able to see numbers, punctuation, and special characters are missing for effortless access in the main keyboard view. Also missing from the action are more advanced features, such as the ability to float the keyboard on a larger screen, the ability to access your clipboard to quickly paste recent or pinned items, and the ability to trigger a real-time translation when you type. . .
![Teclado IOS, Android Gboard]()
JR Apple's current iOS keyboard along with Android's Gboard keyboard. Wait, again, what year is it? To Apple's credit, your experience with the default iOS keyboard has come a long way in recent years. The company added the ability to swipe just under a year and a half ago, and began supporting third-party keyboard apps in 2014, though those apps have generally been regarded as second-class citizens, lacking a full-fledged system. support. and with a variety of reported issues related to consistency and reliability. Even if you install Gboard on an iPhone, the typing experience isn't as advanced or comprehensive as what you get with the full Gboard setup on Android, possibly due to the different setup in the Apple world. I'm highlighting all of this less for the simple sport of beating up Apple (as entertaining as this pastime can be) and more to remind us how amazing the Android typing experience is, not just with Gboard, but with one of the most notable writing options. android keyboard. The positives are due in part to the default keyboard created by Google, but also to the Google foundation built into Android and how it gives you the power to find whatever keyboard you like and like. Make them act like a first class citizen. For all the time we spend picking out nits and thinking about the things Google could do better, it's important to remember the critical, defining areas of the experience where Android is doing the right thing. And let me tell you, after spending weeks getting intimately familiar with just about every smartphone typing scenario imaginable, I can say without a doubt that we've got it pretty good—so good, in fact, that we don't. stop and think about it. We can just go through our days and know, even subconsciously, that we are maximizing efficiency and having a truly exceptional and hassle-free mobile text input experience. Subscribe to my weekly newsletter for more practical tips, personal recommendations, and easy-to-follow perspective on the big news.
![Boletín de AI]()
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JR Apple's current iOS keyboard along with Android's Gboard keyboard. Wait, again, what year is it? To Apple's credit, your experience with the default iOS keyboard has come a long way in recent years. The company added the ability to swipe just under a year and a half ago, and began supporting third-party keyboard apps in 2014, though those apps have generally been regarded as second-class citizens, lacking a full-fledged system. support. and with a variety of reported issues related to consistency and reliability. Even if you install Gboard on an iPhone, the typing experience isn't as advanced or comprehensive as what you get with the full Gboard setup on Android, possibly due to the different setup in the Apple world. I'm highlighting all of this less for the simple sport of beating up Apple (as entertaining as this pastime can be) and more to remind us how amazing the Android typing experience is, not just with Gboard, but with one of the most notable writing options. android keyboard. The positives are due in part to the default keyboard created by Google, but also to the Google foundation built into Android and how it gives you the power to find whatever keyboard you like and like. Make them act like a first class citizen. For all the time we spend picking out nits and thinking about the things Google could do better, it's important to remember the critical, defining areas of the experience where Android is doing the right thing. And let me tell you, after spending weeks getting intimately familiar with just about every smartphone typing scenario imaginable, I can say without a doubt that we've got it pretty good—so good, in fact, that we don't. stop and think about it. We can just go through our days and know, even subconsciously, that we are maximizing efficiency and having a truly exceptional and hassle-free mobile text input experience. Subscribe to my weekly newsletter for more practical tips, personal recommendations, and easy-to-follow perspective on the big news.
