New feature opens the floating Gboard QWERTY keyboard on Android by default in landscape mode
As we said, you need to be running beta version 13.6. The version on my Pixel is 13.6.06.574113912-beta-arm64-v8a and this shows that I am a beta tester for Gboard which is why I do have the floating keyboard when I type in landscape. If your version number doesn’t say beta, you will not have the feature yet even if you have version 13. 6. But don’t be too upset, the feature should be coming very soon to all Android Gboard users.
The full-sized Gboard QWERTY in landscape
Once you are in landscape and the floating QWERTY is right in front of you, you can move the keyboard by dragging it using the bottom bar. If you want to return to the full-sized QWERTY layout in landscape, drag the floating keyboard to the bottom of the display and like magic it will open up to the full-sized landscape QWERTY that you are familiar with.
Once you do this, the keyboard will not return to the floating layout in landscape unless you follow these directions. To return back to the floating QWERTY in landscape and have it open that way by default, tap the blue circle icon on the left of the toolbar with the four boxes inside. The first option you’ll see is “Floating.” Tap on that and you’ll get the floating keyboard back.
