Android virtual keyboards offer countless features to facilitate the writing of messages and processing of long texts, yet they sometimes contain unexpected limitations.
Among the most appreciated and downloaded apps, certainly stands out Gboard, developed by Google, which has long stood out for its accuracy and deep integration with the company’s services.
Despite its undeniable quality, those who routinely use voice typing have long had to live with a rather frustrating lack, which the Mountain View company seems finally intent on addressing with upcoming updates.
Gboard, it will finally be possible to dictate from the headphones’ microphone
The main problem plaguing the app concerns the handling of external audio sources. When you start voice dictation to compose a message, the common practice requires bringing the phone close to the face to allow the built-in microphone to clearly capture the voice.
If the user is wearing a pair of earphones or headphones, one would logically expect the app to use the microphone of the wearable device to capture the audio.
Until today, however, Google’s app has continued to ignore external peripherals, relying exclusively on the smartphone’s main microphone.
This setting undermines the convenience of earphones in noisy or crowded environments, forcing the user to keep the device near their face for the voice transcription system to understand them.
The new feature spotted in the beta
The situation is fortunately changing for the better. Recent analyses of Gboard beta version 17.1.2 have revealed a highly awaited addition.
Within the dedicated settings for voice typing, a new option appeared that allows enabling the use of the microphone on connected Bluetooth devices.
By enabling this option, the app will finally receive the audio signal directly from the earbuds, bypassing the phone.
However, it should be noted that the distribution of this feature appears to be managed directly by Google’s servers. Some tests conducted on smartphones updated to the same beta version, including recent models like the Pixel 10 Pro XL, do not yet show the new option, indicating that the release is proceeding gradually.
The possible causes for such a long wait
The absence of a similar command is not a shortcoming unique to Google’s software. Other widely used competing apps, such as Microsoft SwiftKey, show the same restriction, while only smaller alternatives have integrated dedicated commands to prefer external audio.
The reasons behind this excessive caution by major developers are likely linked to usability concerns. The use of wireless audio peripherals frequently introduces a slight delay in signal transmission, which could slow the appearance of words on the screen and compromise the responsiveness of the user experience.
Additionally, the quality of the microphones integrated into many inexpensive earphones is often insufficient to ensure clear and accurate transcription.
A roughly captured audio pushes the recognition system to misinterpret the spoken phrases, generating texts full of comprehension errors.
This drop in accuracy would inevitably be associated with a malfunction of the app itself, harming its reputation.
