Samsung recently unveiled theGalaxy Z Flip 5andFold 5as incremental upgrades to its last generation models. While foldables have the inherent capability of delivering a more immersive big-screen experience in a smaller form factor, typing on the large inner displays can quickly become cumbersome. One ofour favorite keyboard apps, Google’s Gboard, introduced a convenient split layout back in May this year to save your thumbs from the agony. We are now discovering how this virtual keyboard leverages its flexible design to offer users a new personalization option on foldable phones.
In June 2022, Gboard started beta testing a newsplit keyboard layout for foldables, splitting the keyboard vertically down the middle into two clusters placed on the extremities of the screen within easy reach of your thumbs. This layouteventually made its way to tabletsand recently became the default on the large inner displays of foldable phones like the Galaxy Z Fold 5. By default, the split layout duplicates keys in both clusters if they are close to the line of bifurcation. For instance, Google duplicates the G key in both halves along with the V key in the row below.
Gboard offering to remove duplicate keys(left); split layout with keys removed(right)
After making multiple typos involving these duplicated keys, my colleague Zachary Kew-Denniss saw a message pop up in the suggestion strip, offering to remove the duplicate G and V keys. Tapping theRemovebutton in the strip redirects toGboard settings→Preferences→Layout→Split layout to include duplicated keys. Turning off the toggle removes the duplicate keys, perhaps helping you avoid accidental errors while typing.
Split keyboards aren’t a novel concept, and they have existed in various forms over the years, mostly promising more comfortable typing and better ergonomics. While most split mechanical keyboards duplicate the B key in the bottom row and split the spacebar in two, Google’s approach is notably unique. The spacebar runs along the entire width of the display in the split layout, and G and V are duplicated instead of B. The standard QWERTY layout also features staggered rows where keys aren’t in neat columns. However, Gboard’s split layout has a very slight stagger, but only for the top row. All the rows below are ortholinear, with keys arranged in a grid of sorts.
While the ergonomic benefits of Gboard’s unique split layout are debatable, the developers at Google are using the endless virtual configurability of the keyboard to their advantage. In any case, we really appreciate the customization options in the split layout, which is the new default on foldables like the Z Fold 5.
