All posts tagged: Gboard

This free, offline-first Android keyboard gives you privacy Gboard will never offer

This free, offline-first Android keyboard gives you privacy Gboard will never offer

Published by skeptic

Gboard, Google’s official keyboard, doesn’t really need an introduction for most Android users! Most Android smartphones use Gboard as the default keyboard. I have relied on Gboard most of the time I’ve driven a daily Android smartphone, and the experience has been decent. I also love that it offers well-integrated features, including a built-in clipboard, multi-language support, in-line translation, and more. However, the lack of customization and control has been a bottleneck from the get-go. While some customization options, such as themes and colors, are available, you can’t really customize the typing experience beyond a certain limit. There is also the problem with privacy, given that you don’t really control what happens to your data. The moment you part with a Google account, all those fancy features cease to be useful. Given these circumstances, an open-source, offline-first Gboard alternative must sound like an amazing idea. This is what LeanType offered, and I decided to try it. Related I tried an open-source keyboard to stop Google from learning my typing habits I gave up Gboard after …

I replaced Gboard, Chrome, and Google Messages — my phone is so much faster

I replaced Gboard, Chrome, and Google Messages — my phone is so much faster

Published by skeptic

Recently, I had to set up a phone for my aging parent, and some of the pre-installed apps were a tad too bloated for their use, especially on their older Android phone. I mainly needed to find a lightweight browser, a basic keyboard that suited their hunt-and-peck typing style, and, of course, a messaging app that was a bit more customizable. Android phones come with a lot of Google apps pre-installed that can slow your phone down and feel unnecessarily bloated, while others, like Google Maps, are incredibly well-made and a cut above their competitors. After a bit of trial and error, I settled on three apps that made a noticeable difference in performance when used exclusively for browsing and texting. Firefox Focus A stripped-down browser built for speed and privacy Tashreef Shareef / MakeUseOfCredit: Tashreef Shareef / MakeUseOf The first thing I replaced was Chrome. Firefox Focus is Mozilla’s lightweight, privacy-first browser for Android, and it’s a very different experience from the regular Firefox app. Where standard Firefox gives you tabs, extensions, and a full …

This Gboard feature is a huge timesaver, but only available in iOS

This Gboard feature is a huge timesaver, but only available in iOS

Published by skeptic

Most Google apps are a bit better on Android as Google keeps its best features for its own platform (and there are still many Android features that iPhones still can’t match). But sometimes iOS gets a feature before Android, as is the case with a huge time-saving feature available in Gboard for iOS that keeps you focused on your present task without having to leave what you are doing just to do a simple task—in this case, making a simple calculation with Gboard’s handy built-in calculator (that you may have missed), which is present on both iPhone and iPad OS. Gboard on iOS has a built-in calculator Is handy for quick calculations Credit: Brandon Miniman / MakeUseOf Gboard on iOS has a built-in calculator, and it’s a huge timesaver because you can do quick calculations without leaving the app you’re in if you need to do a quick calculation. This might not seem like a major help, but it’s about cognitive load and focus: if you’re in the middle of sending a text message and need …