Gboard Adds Flick-Down Gesture for Numbers and Symbols on Android

Overview

• Swiping down on letter keys enters hinted symbols, with Q through P mapping to 1 through 0 and a brief slide-down animation.
• The control is off by default and lives under Settings > Preferences > Shortcuts as “Flick keys to enter symbols.”
• Enabling “Touch & hold keys for symbols” improves discoverability by showing corner hints on letters.
• Early use can accidentally trigger glide typing if a finger strays outside the key, so some users may prefer long‑press for numbers.
• The feature is rolling out widely with Gboard 16.2, though availability may not appear immediately for every user.