After rolling out and quickly abandoning a spacebar with its logo plastered atop, Google isn't done tinkering with Gboard. The company is working on a new Gboard theme that's more minimalist and appears flatter, as discovered by the code connoisseur Jane Wong.
The skinny on the flat —
As you can see, the buttons appear to sit flatter atop the background while inverting the colors provides less of a contrast. The tools atop the standard keyboard have also been pared down to take up less space, while the pop-up interface is smaller as well. Within the settings, there's an option to remove the key borders. Altogether, these small tweaks make for a cleaner look and should arrive to a receptive audience should Google decide to go past the development stage.
For comparison: here's what the Gboard currently looks like:
So when will we see it? —
We can't answer that. Like all of Wong's reverse-engineered discoveries, this feature could eventually be released or never see the light of day. If Google's looking to bury the memory of its much-maligned spacebar, this wouldn't be a bad way to start.
In more concrete news, Google launched a virtual braille keyboard for Android last week.
