Write in Morse code

You can write in Morse code on your mobile device.

Tania’s Story: Morse code meets machine learning

Important: Morse code is available for English (United States) on devices running Android 5.0 and higher.

Contents

Step 1: Download GBoard

Step 1: Download Gboard

On your Android phone or tablet, install Gboard.

Step 2: Set up the Morse keyboard

1. On your Android phone or tablet, open the Settings app.
2. Tap System Languages & input.
3. Tap Virtual keyboard Gboard.
4. Tap Languages English (U.S.).
5. Swipe right through the options, and then tap Morse code.
6. Tap Done.

Step 3: Use Morse code

The Morse code layout works with accessibility services, like TalkBack, Switch Access, or Select to Speak.

1. On your Android phone or tablet, open any app that you can type with, like Gmail or Keep.
2. Tap where you can enter text.
3. Tap the Globe . If you have other languages set up, tap again until you reach Morse code.
4. Enter text using the dot (.) and dash (-).

Tip: To play a game and find other learning tools, visit g.co/morse.

Connect an external switch

Gboard will automatically recognize the keys your switch device has assigned to the dot (.) and dash (-) characters.

You can use Android Switch Access to enter Morse code with an external switch device.

1. On your Android phone or tablet, open the Settings app.
2. Tap System Languages & input Physical keyboard.
3. Turn on Show virtual keyboard.

Tip: If you have more than 2 switches, you can assign more actions to the other switches.

Change settings for Morse layout

1. On your Android phone or tablet, open the Settings app.
2. Tap System Languages & input.
3. Tap Virtual keyboard Gboard.
4. Tap Languages Morse code.
5. From here, you can turn on settings, like Sound on keypress, Character timeout, and Enable key repeat.

Hear feedback when you type

1. On your Android phone or tablet, follow steps 1-4 in "Change settings for Morse layout."
2. Turn on Sound on keypress.

Change character timeout

You can change how long Gboard waits before it turns a Morse code sequence into a letter. You can also send each letter manually.

• Change how long Gboard waits:
  1. Touch and hold the spacebar.
  2. Tap Language Settings Morse (U.S.) Character timeout.
• Send a letter to the text field manually:
  1. Set "Character timeout" to "Never."
  2. Tap the spacebar where you find the Morse code.

Set word timeout

If you turn on this feature, you can control how long before letters turn into words when you type.

• This setting is off by default, so there's no timeout.
• If you set the timeout to one second, and then type "hello," your keyboard adds the word and a space to the text field after one second.

Tip: When you turn on word timeout, your keyboard autocorrects, suggests, and predicts words as usual.

Repeat keystrokes

To repeat keystrokes: Hold down the dot (.) or dash (-).

When key repeat is on, you can:

• Set when to start repeating
• Set the speed of the repeat rate

Get more help

For more help with Morse code, contact the Google Disability Support team.