The Gboard Assistant Voice Typing toolbar is rolling out to Google Pixel phones in the latest beta test. According to a report from Android Authority, Google is testing out the new voice typing UI in version 15.0 of the Gboard app within its phones after the company implemented it to the Pixel Tablet last year.
The Assistant Voice Typing toolbar shows up as a new bar above the keyboard, complete with a microphone, a backspace key, and buttons to open the keyboard, minimize it, return to the previous toolbar page, change the language, and more. Tapping the microphone on the far right side of the toolbar triggers Assistant Voice Typing, and the “Speak Now” prompt will pop up in the blank space of the toolbar awaiting your voice commands. Pressing the microphone button stops voice typing and the “Paused” prompt appears.
The neat thing about the new Assistant Voice Typing toolbar is you can either leave it at the bottom of your phone screen like normal, or you can drag up to the right side of your screen if you need to extra space for your other tasks. When you stop talking while voice typing is active, you receive a few buttons as actions and voice typing remains active until you open up the keyboard again.
The Assistant Voice Typing toolbar is only available for beta testers who own a Google Pixel phone and already have the Gboard app download into it. It’s unknown when it will be fully available to all Pixel users as well as other Android phones and iPhones.
