Google appears to be testing out a potential aesthetic change to the Gboard app, and it's not going well with people who find themselves acting as Google guinea pigs.
The updated layout features rounder (basically circular) keys than the old rectangular keys you're used to seeing.
Confused and upset users have been posting images of the change on social media (as spotted by Android Authority). Notably, it's not a consistent change.
In some images, the keys are clearly letters in circles, while others feature a more ovular pill-shaped look.
It's not great.
How to (sort of) get rid of the circles
Many people have been reporting getting the new bubble shaped keyboard buttons in Gboard beta.Do you have this (in beta) ? pic.twitter.com/faZ8ODwttYMarch 6, 2025
To be clear, from what we can tell the design is only rolling out to people running the latest Gboard beta build (version 15.1.05.726012951-beta-arm64-v8acom.google.android.inputmethod.latin). If you're not in the beta, you most likely aren't seeing this change.
So far the only way it appears you can get rid of the change is to turn off Key borders, which takes all shapes away.
To do so, navigate to Settings > Theme and select a theme. Then toggle the Key borders option off.
The beta does not offer a way to revert to the more rectangular keys, and so far the code does not reveal if Google will add such a toggle in the future.
If you've encountered this issue and the above fix isn't working, you can also try reverting from the beta version to see if that returns the app to the non-circular style.
Outlook
So far Google's Gboard upgrades don't seem to be going over well with beta testers.
Of course, with Google testing different variations, it's also not clear what key shape Google might settle on. Google might also roll the change back, especially as it seems as though many users are not pleased with the update.
More from Tom's Guide
- Google Pixel 9a rumors — what Google’s planning as the iPhone 16e and Nothing Phone 3a ramp up the pressure
- Google Chrome at risk from shape-shifting browser extensions — how to stay safe
- Forget ChatGPT — Google Gemini can now see the world with live video and screen-sharing
You must confirm your public display name before commenting
Please logout and then login again, you will then be prompted to enter your display name.
