How to use the secret trackpad on your Android phone

Android users have been informed of a helpful trick that can help them text faster. If you own an Android, then changing some settings around could help better your texting experience.

One such way includes utilizing Android’s Google keyboard – also known as Gboard. The tool comes equipped with several handy features that can help you text faster and avoid spelling mistakes. One of the ways it can help you text faster is through its trackpad feature.

The virtual keyboard is one of the essential parts of your smartphone experience. You rely on it for texting, creating to-do lists, drafting long LinkedIn posts and emails, and editing quick documents in Google Docs. While smartphone keyboards have evolved in recent years with auto-predictions, AI features, a clipboard, and more, you can’t escape mistakes and errors while typing on a small keyboard on a glass.

Using your Android phone’s secret trackpad, you can take care of such errors without lifting a finger from the keyboard. Whether you use Gboard, Microsoft SwiftKey, or the default Samsung keyboard on the top Samsung Galaxy phones, the built-in keyboard trackpad is readily available to serve you during text editing. Let’s check it in action.

How to use Gboard’s secret trackpad

Google Gboard is among the best keyboard apps on Android. It’s the default keyboard app for most Android users. Although the trackpad implementation is nowhere near as smooth as the iOS keyboard, it gets the job done with quick text editing on the go. Here’s how to use it:

1. Open any conversation, document, or email compose screen on your Android phone.
2. Long-tap on the spacebar and glide your finger to the left or right to move the cursor.
3. You can move your finger over the entire bottom bar and move the cursor to a precise word in the paragraph.

Unlike the default keyboard on iPhone, Gboard doesn’t turn the entire keyboard into a trackpad. You can move your fingers along the bottom bar only. The cursor reach is limited, and you can’t freely move it over an entire paragraph. You also don’t get haptic feedback or visual tweaks for an active trackpad over the spacebar.

Put aside the half-hearted trackpad implementation, Gboard is packed with cool add-ons to elevate your typing experience on Android.

How to use Samsung Keyboard’s secret trackpad

Samsung offers a feature-rich keyboard on Galaxy smartphones and tablets. The Korean giant’s implementation is up there with Apple, and you can move the cursor anywhere on the screen.

1. Open a document or any text field on a Samsung phone.
2. Long-press on the spacebar.
3. Wait for the Cursor control option to appear.
4. You can move your finger over the entire keyboard to navigate a big paragraph easily.

On Gboard, you can move the cursor over one or two sentences. Samsung does a better job here. If your Samsung Keyboard doesn’t turn into a trackpad using the steps above, tweak an option in the settings.

1. Open Settings and scroll to General Management.
2. Select Samsung Keyboard settings.
3. Tap Swipe, touch, and feedback.
4. Select Touch and hold the spacebar.
5. Tap the radio button beside the Cursor control.

From now on, your Samsung Keyboard will act as a trackpad when you long-press on the spacebar.

How to use the secret trackpad on Microsoft SwiftKey

Microsoft SwiftKey is known for astute next-word predictions, and it has been in the news due to a recent Bing Chat AI integration (powered by ChatGPT).

1. Open SwiftKey.
2. Follow the on-screen instructions to set it as default.
3. Open Typing.
4. Enable the Cursor control toggle.
5. When you write a message, email, or paragraph with a typo, long-press on the spacebar to activate the trackpad.