Most Google apps are a bit better on Android as Google keeps its best features for its own platform (and there are still many Android features that iPhones still can’t match). But sometimes iOS gets a feature before Android, as is the case with a huge time-saving feature available in Gboard for iOS that keeps you focused on your present task without having to leave what you are doing just to do a simple task—in this case, making a simple calculation with Gboard’s handy built-in calculator (that you may have missed), which is present on both iPhone and iPad OS.
Gboard on iOS has a built-in calculator
Is handy for quick calculations
Gboard on iOS has a built-in calculator, and it’s a huge timesaver because you can do quick calculations without leaving the app you’re in if you need to do a quick calculation. This might not seem like a major help, but it’s about cognitive load and focus: if you’re in the middle of sending a text message and need to do some math, it’s not helpful to leave the app, go back to your homescreen, find the calculator, open it and do the calculation only to have to go back to the first app.
These moments of broken distraction are especially bad because on the way to opening the calculator, you might get side-tracked by the colorful Instagram icon, and suddenly you’re twenty minutes into your Instagram Reels feed and totally unfocused. By keeping your focus on the present app, which Gboard helps you do by letting you do math right within the keyboard, you’re less likely to lose focus. And this function works anywhere there is a text input field. I found it especially helpful in messaging apps, where I spend a lot of time and you probably do too.
It’s a simple tool that is activated very easily: just type a math equation and you’ll see the solution in the space above the keyboard. You can both do simple calculations, but you can also do multi-step math sentences like “(87*99)+(31*33)+(99-11).”
I tried an open-source keyboard to stop Google from learning my typing habits
I gave up Gboard after learning what really happens to your typing data
How to activate Gboard on iOS
Just grab it from the App Store
iOS has had the ability to add third-party keyboards for many years. To get Gboard up and running on iOS:
- Download Gboard from the App store and install it.
- In Settings -> General -> Keyboard -> Gboard -> Turn on and Allow Full Access.
- To toggle to Gboard in any app, tap the globe icon in the bottom left and switch keyboards.
And that’s it. You’ll now have access to Gboard, which brings other handy tools that the default iOS keyboard lacks such as Google Translate, Google Search, and other Google services — right from the keyboard.
A workaround for Android
Here’s an easy way to do math without leaving the app you’re in
For those of you that love the idea of doing a quick calculation without leaving the app you’re in, here’s a quick solution for Android: just bring up Gemini or Google Assistant “on top” of the app you’re in — by saying “Hey Google, what is 99+654” if you have voice activation set up, or by pressing and holding the power button on your phone to invoke your assistant and typing the equation into the search box. It’s not as elegant as doing the calculation from within the keyboard, but it achieves the same goal of keeping you in the current app.
A workaround for Samsung
Edge panels make it easy to bring up a calculator from any screen
If you’re using a Samsung Galaxy phone, you might not have Edge Panels turned on, but here’s a reason to turn it back on: it’ll give you fast access to calculator from any app. To turn it on, go to Settings -> Display -> Edge Panels -> On -> Then click the edit button and add the calculator. Even better, on Samsung, you can turn most apps into a floating app with pop-up view. To do that, enter the task switcher > tap the app icon above the app preview -> Open in pop-up view.
It’s rare for iOS to get the best features first
Hopefully, Google brings this tool to Android soon
Android users pride themselves on being utility-first. Thanks to the openness of Android, it’s easy to customize the experience — whether by changing the launcher (some Android launchers can even improve battery life significantly or even turn your phone into a Windows Phone), tweaking developer options to optimize every facet of your experience, or by swapping out the default apps to ones that better suit your needs.
While there are a few workarounds to stay “in the flow” of what you’re doing by bringing up a keyboard through Gemini or Google Assistant, I have yet to find a way to fully replicate this great Gboard feature that as of now only exists on iOS.
