What you need to know
- Google’s Rambler uses AI to clean up voice typing, removing filler words, correcting grammar, and formatting text.
- Developer Akshay Kadam has released PixelBoard, a modified Gboard APK that enables Rambler on other Android phones.
- Users can reportedly access Rambler by installing PixelBoard and setting it as their default keyboard instead of Gboard.
If you’ve ever wanted to try the Pixel 11’s Rambler feature on your Android phone, you can now do so, although there’s a catch.
The Google Pixel 11 series launched earlier this year with several new AI features, including Magic Cue, Magic Capture, and Rambler. For those unfamiliar, Rambler is Google’s new AI-powered voice typing feature that offers a much more advanced experience than the regular voice typing we’ve had on Android phones for years.
Similar to AI voice typing tools that have been available on desktops for a while, Rambler automatically cleans up your speech, fixes grammar and formatting, and removes filler words like “um” and “uh” to give you properly formatted text. It can also understand corrections while you’re speaking, add emojis, and even rewrite your text in different tones, such as formal or casual.
Unlike traditional voice typing, though, Rambler doesn’t show a live transcription of everything you’re saying. Instead, once you’ve finished speaking and tapped the Done button, it processes your speech and returns a cleaned-up, properly formatted version of what you said.
The feature has been exclusive to the Pixel 11 series so far, but a developer has now found a way to bring it to other Android devices.
Developer Akshay Kadam has shared a modified version of Google’s Gboard app, called PixelBoard, on GitHub. The developer has patched the Gboard APK to enable Rambler on Android phones that don’t officially support the feature.
According to the developer, you can install the modified APK on your Android device and switch your default keyboard from Gboard to PixelBoard to access Rambler without needing a Pixel 11.
That said, PixelBoard isn’t an official Google app, and installing modified APK files always carries security and privacy risks. There’s also no guarantee that Rambler will continue working through this method. Since the feature is officially exclusive to the Pixel 11 series, Google could block the workaround through a future Gboard or server-side update.
But if you’re curious about Rambler, the developer’s GitHub project offers an unofficial way to try the feature without buying a Pixel 11. Just keep in mind that you’re installing a modified keyboard at your own risk.