Gboard updates shortcut button, changes look

After reaching 10 billion downloads on the Play Store, Gboard, the popular Android keyboard, recently tweaked its shortcut button. This little icon helps you use different tools quickly. Above your keyboard, there’s a row that can hold up to six shortcuts. To see more options, you tap the small icon in the top-left corner, which opens a grid.

Before this update, the shortcut icon was a 2×2 square inside a circle. This matched the button on the other end, often used for voice typing, though you could swap it for something else. Both ends looked balanced and neat.

Old Look vs. New Look

Now, the circle around the 2×2 square is gone. The squares aren’t empty anymore—they’re solid and colored white or black, depending on your theme. This matches the shortcut buttons on the right. The change doesn’t affect how the button works, but it does make the row look less even. The symmetry between the two ends isn’t quite the same anymore.

Gboard has played with this button’s design for years. Not long ago, it got a bold, colorful background. Earlier, it was a 3×3 grid of dots, and way back, just an arrow. Over time, the design keeps getting simpler.

2021 vs. 2022

This latest version of the shortcut button showed up in the beta a few weeks ago. Now, with version 14.9 and a quick server update, it’s available to everyone using the main Gboard app.
The tweak is small, but it’s part of Gboard’s habit of keeping things fresh and easy to use. Even though the look has changed, the button still does its job—helping you get to your tools fast.