Gradient themes hit Gboard beta, could roll out to stable build soon (Update: Rolling out!)

Update, December 19, 2018 (2:50PM EST): Gradient themes are now rolling out to the stable version of Gboard. The new themes show up in version 7.8.8, though not everyone with the new version sees it yet.

In addition to dark and light gradients, the update also includes a new sand-colored theme. The theme you pick also affects the navigation bar. Dark themes feature a dark navigation bar, while light themes feature a white navigation bar.

Original article, December 14, 2018 (1:59PM EST): Google Gboard comes with a variety of themes to help you customize your smartphone’s on-screen keyboard. Right now, there are two default sections of themes available: color themes and image themes.

It appears that color themes are going to get some more customization with the option to add gradients. At least, that’s what Gboard Beta 7.8.8 makes apparent, as gradient themes just showed up there, via XDA Developers.

There are both light and dark gradient themes available in Gboard beta, with a pretty wide variety of hues to choose from. See for yourself below:

Unfortunately, so far it seems the gradient themes only appear on the Google Pixel 3. Even the Google Pixel 3 XL seems to be unable to get the gradient themes to work in Gboard beta.

Usually, features which appear in the beta version of Gboard eventually roll out to the stable version most of us use, so there’s a good chance we’ll all be able to use gradient themes soon. However, sometimes features arrive in beta and then never make it to a stable release, so there’s always a chance we won’t see this new customization tweak.

If you don’t use Gboard, you should: it’s definitely the best Android keyboard available. Give it a download below!