Among the many mobile apps Google has, there is Gboard, a virtual keyboard app.
With an update, the company is making things easier for Apple's iOS users with disabilities to communicate via Morse code. Previously, the Morse code input method on Gboard was only available for Android users, introduced shortly after its I/O 2018 keynote.
Google said that it consulted with Tania Finlayson, a Morse code and assistive tech developer who was born with cerebral palsy, to help create the feature.
Finlayson describes in a blog post about her experience as a participant in a University of Washington study on a Morse code communication device for children. She explained that the study and the system have been “revolutionary” in improving her own life, and led her to “a partnership with Google on bringing Morse code to Gboard.”
“Working closely with the team, I helped design the keyboard layout, added Morse sequences to the auto-suggestion strip above the keyboard, and developed settings that allow people to customize the keyboard to their unique needs."
"The Morse code keyboard on Gboard allows people to use Morse code (dots and dashes) to enter text, instead of the regular (QWERTY) keyboard.”
Google's Morse code feature on Gboard app replaces the usual letters with giant dot and dash buttons, with suggestions that include the Morse code for a given word and also Google's own search built inside it. The feature also works with Google's standard AI text predictions and suggestions (autocomplete and autocorrect), as well as with Google Assistant.
For those who don't know how to write in Morse code, Google is giving some help on that.
The company has introduced a Morse Typing Trainer web game for Android and iOS that teaches people how to write Morse code using the Gboard app. Users have a grasp of Morse code within an hour, explained Google.
Morse code is a method of transmitting text information as a series of on-off tones, lights, or clicks that can be directly understood by a listener or observer without special equipment. It is named after Samuel F. B. Morse, who is also an inventor of the telegraph.