Gboard for Android adds support for 20 new languages

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Google has added more than 20 languages to its virtual keyboard app Gboard that include Chinese, both the traditional and simplified versions, and Korean. The tech giant is also adding support for lesser-known languages.

"Though today's update includes some of the world's most widely-spoken languages, we're equally focused on making sure lesser-known languages, like Manx and Maori, are represented in the keyboard," Angana Ghosh, Product Lead, Gboard, wrote in a blog post late on Tuesday. With this, Gboard for Android now supports over 300 language varieties and covers 74 per cent of the world's population, according to the company.

"Each new language helps more people express themselves with their keyboard, and we're thankful to the thousands of linguists and native speakers around the globe who help us bring new languages to Gboard. There are still many people to meet and languages to discover, so our work won't end here," Ghosh added.

The virtual keyboard app developed by Google for Android and iOS devices was released on iOS in May 2016, followed by a release on Android in December 2016. Gboard currently supports Indian languages such as Assamese, Awadhi, Bengali, Bundeli, Gujarati, Hindi, Kannada, Kashmiri, Konkani, Marathi and Sanskrit among others.

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