what you need to know
- Google is working on enhancing physical keyboard support on Android, aiming to provide a desktop-like experience across all devices.
- Android 15 Developer Preview 2 introduces three new accessibility options for physical keyboards: Sticky Keys, Slow Keys, and Bounce Keys.
- Android 15 DP2 introduced the Slow Keys option, which allows users to customize the duration of key presses.
Google has been improving the physical keyboard on Android, aiming to provide a desktop-like experience on any device. The company may continue to achieve this goal by introducing new keyboard features in the next version of Android.
Android Authority’s Mishaal Rahman broke the news about the new keyboard features in Android 15 Developer Preview 2. Apparently, the latest version includes three accessibility options for the physical keyboard: sticky keys, slow keyand Bounce key. Sticky and bouncing keys have been spotted in Android 14 QPR3 Beta 2, but slow key The options are completely new.
you can find slow key option by going to set upclick systemfollowed by keyboard,at last, physical keyboard under Accessibility section.
along with slow key option, you can set how long a key needs to be held down before it registers. However, in Android 15 DP2, you can’t adjust this duration yet. However, Rahman took a peek at the code of the latest preview and discovered that Google may allow this feature to be available for up to five seconds.
As you might have guessed, when you turn on Sticky Keys and press a modifier button like Alt, Ctrl, or Shift, the button stays pressed while you press other keys. This makes it a breeze to press multiple keys at once to execute a command or hit keyboard shortcuts in quick succession.
But for bouncing keys, it prevents you from registering super-fast presses of the same key.
These new options are real game-changers for people with physical disabilities. Android 15 may make it easier for them to use a physical keyboard, whether on a tablet or when the phone is in desktop mode.
Google is incorporating these keyboard features as part of its plan to enhance Android, making it a serious competitor to operating systems like Windows. Microsoft’s desktop operating system has been teetering on these options for a while, so it’s time for Android to catch up.
In addition to new accessibility features, Android 15 also introduces keyboard layout previews on the keyboard settings screen. This is a huge win for non-English keyboard setups, as you can now easily check which characters map to each key.