If English is your native language, you sometimes lose sight of the fact that there are tons of other languages spoken all around the world. Good thing that app developers are always considering the fact that their apps have to reflect that reality and that they need to add more support so people all over the world will get the chance to enjoy using their product. Google has been conscientious about that and now they’re bringing 20 more new languages to their Gboard virtual keyboard.
Included in these new languages that Gboard supports are Chinese (traditional and simplified) and Korean, which are the top two most requested languages among Google users. South Korea has one of the biggest digital markets (not to mention the country with the fastest internet) and China is of course a huge smartphone market and Mandarin is the most widely spoken language in the world, so that makes sense.
But Google also wants to emphasize that they are not just focusing on widely-spoken languages but also the lesser-known ones, like Manx and Maori. They have even been working with a fairly recent alphabet, Adlam, which was created just twenty six years ago in Guinea because the Fulani language didn’t have its own written alphabet. Now there is actually an Adlam keyboard in Gboard so native speakers can have “the true sounds of their language” when typing on their smartphones.
Currently, Gboard for Android already supports 300 language varieties and that covers about 74% of the world’s population. Knowing Google, they are probably aiming for close to 100%, so we can expect more languages to be added soon.
SOURCE: Google
