Crack your phalanges and stretch your tendons, fellow Android-loving animals: We’re about to make a small but very significant change to your Android keyboard settings. I’m asking you not – I’m not even Arnold You, really: With an incredible 30-second setting, this fast switcher will make you about five times faster at tapping text on your fancy phone screen.
“Well, Mr. Writer Person, how could this possibly save me that much time?” You may be wondering — along with, perhaps, “Mr. Writer, what happened to your brain that caused you to have a formal conversation with yourself in the middle of a keyboard-focused column?” Yes, Jasper, we will answer at least one of those questions now. (The others, I’m afraid, cannot be answered without the help of a whole team of highly trained psychoanalysts.)
Google’s Gboard Android keyboard, yes, positive overflow with useful shortcuts and saved time saver. And everything is absolutely amazing. It’s the little things that cut a few seconds off your typing time and really add up throughout the day.
Bbb-but: A lot of them revolve around the idea of long-pressing a key on the Gboard keyboard — pressing and holding a specific key for about a second, in other words, to reveal some handy function hidden beneath it.
That’s all well and good, but very Act long-pressing a key on Gboard is by no means optimized for efficiency. By default, you have to press and hold the button for what feels like forever (even if it’s actually only a fraction of a second) before the alternate function appears.
And that brings us to the pressing Gboard upgrades we’ve gathered here to cover. Deep inside Gboard’s virtual heart lies a way to change the length of that long press delay — the amount of time it takes a button to register your complement of presses and switch from a single-press function to its secondary destination. And lowering the puppy away from its default state will make more of a difference to your smartphone’s typing speed than any other adjustment you can make.
So, ready to feel the power of high-octane typing coursing through your capillaries? Here’s the five-step, 30-second secret:
- Go to Gboard settings on your phone. The fastest way to achieve this is to drag the keyboard in any text field, then tap the three-dot icon in the top row and look for the gear-shaped Settings icon in the panel that appears. (And if you don’t see the three-dot icon right away, tap the right-facing arrow in the top row of the keyboard to open it.)
- In Gboard’s settings, tap the row labeled “Preferences.”
- Scroll down to the very bottom of the screen that appears next and tap “Snooze long press button.”
JR - See that saucy little slider? Turn the bad boy down, down, down. I would recommend trying a setting of around 200ms to start with. (You can always go back and adjust it later if it feels faster or slower than you want.)
- Make sure to tap “OK” after making those adjustments. And while you’re there, make sure the toggle next to “Long press for symbols” is also enabled.
Didja do all that? Oh my gosh, look at you! I always knew you were smart and capable, no matter what the internet said about you.
With the changes made, find your way back into any open text field — in an email, document, search query, cheese-colored sandwich journal, or whatever you happen to have nearby — and hold your fantastic finger firmly. to any key on the keyboard.
JR You’ll see the button switch to its secondary function in the blink of an eye, without awkward long delays or pregnant pauses. Much better, right?
And with this cool new setting, you can achieve a group special characters and numbers faster than you say “iPhone typing terror.” Need a hyphen? Place your finger on the “h” key for a fraction of a second. Looking for the @ symbol? Just tap “a” and hold your finger for one extra tap.
You won’t stop your typing rhythm or sit and wait for the keyboard to collect its thoughts. You will hardly even get away from your thoughts. And if you type rambling poppycock into your Android-scented friend like I did, all those saved seconds will add up quickly.
Keep in mind, too, that long-pressing in the right place can even change your Gboard layout and make your entire on-screen keyboard more accessible on its own. Functionality like that (along with long-press Gboard menus and commands) will now be easier to reach than ever, and you’ll be flying around your phone’s keyboard like nobody’s business — all thanks to one small adjustment in Gboard’s rare visit to the virtual machine room.
Room, room. Happy speeding.
Discover even more time-saving secrets of Android shortcuts with my free Android Shortcut Supercourse. All sorts of advanced knowledge awaits!
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