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Gboard for iOS gets Morse code to help people with disabilities

If you cast your mind back to Google I/O which took place in May this year, you might remember seeing Tania Finlayson who, with the help of her husband Ken and Google, developed a Morse code implementation into Gboard to help people with cerebral palsy and other conditions which can make it hard to type. Now, Gboard for iOS supports Morse code.

Discussing her collaboration with Google, Finlayson said:

“Working closely with the team, I helped design the keyboard layout, added Morse sequences to the auto-suggestion strip above the keyboard, and developed settings that allow people to customize the keyboard to their unique needs. The Morse code keyboard on Gboard allows people to use Morse code (dots and dashes) to enter text, instead of the regular (QWERTY) keyboard. Gboard for Android lets you hook external switches to the device (check out the source code my husband Ken and I developed), so a person with limited mobility could operate the device.”

In order to use the new keyboard, ensure that you’re running version 1.29.0 of Gboard for iOS. The Morse code setting is only available for English (U.S.) for the time being and can be selected as one of the options in the section where you add keyboards. If you’re on Android, make sure you update the app too as improvements have been added.

If you're interested in using Morse code on Gboard be sure to check out this resource page which tells you how to learn Morse, connect an external switch, and much more.


Let us know in the comment section whether or not you know Morse code - if you haven't tried be sure to check out Google's rather good tutorial.

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