Gboard is cooking up a speedy new way to add content to messages

Smartphone users tend to fall into one of two groups: those who never think twice about the keyboard apps on their phones, and those who have A LOT of opinions about them. While there are lots of great keyboard options out there, Google’s own Gboard remains one of the most full-featured, getting better all the time with new input modes like the sign language support we just saw debut with the Pixel 11 series. Today we’re taking an early look at another new input method Google developers have been working on.

As we were looking through the changes present in version 18.0.3.954559732-beta-arm64-v8a of Gboard for Android, we identified work towards giving users yet another option for the keyboard’s already crowded top bar. To our existing entries, we could soon see them joined by a new “Quick insert” tool. Once added, it will appear as a plus sign inside a diamond.

Tapping that icon will present users with a number of options for — what else — quickly inserting a bit of content.

From what we’ve seen so far, it looks like Quick insert will draw upon any of six possible sources: tools like voice input, expressions like emoji or stickers, recent clipboard history, images, contacts, and writing tools — which may highlight text you’ve been frequently revising.

Some of these will pull up a few recent examples by default — like images — while also supporting a search function that allows you to pull from files further back in your past.

Selecting contacts brings up a list where you can choose a name and then tap on individual details you want to paste in — or hit “Insert all” to use all that text at once.

Right now, a lot of this already feels reasonably full-featured, with tools like that search option able to surface a lot of great, relevant content. But it’s also just as confusing, with Google replicating a lot of existing Gboard input methods behind this new Quick insert tool. And with so many options in here, is it really going to be any faster to use than existing workflows?

That’s the million-dollar question, and one we’re still looking for the answer to. Perhaps as Google continues to put the polish on Quick insert, some more of the utility will begin to crystalize — like that admittedly handy contacts tool. We’re also curious what this addition could mean for Gboard’s existing input tools; will everything move under the Quick insert banner, or is this meant more to complement them?

We’ll continue to keep an eye on Gboard and let you know about any further advancements Google makes here.