Image: PixelBoard (Akshay Kadam)

PixelBoard is a modified version of Google's Gboard keyboard that brings the Pixel 11's Rambler voice typing to other Android phones. Its developer, Akshay Kadam, says it works without root and installs next to your existing keyboard instead of replacing it.

The project, published on GitHub, got a wider audience after Artem Russakovskii (@ArtemR) shared it on X.

Someone ported Gboard with Rambler AI dictation from Pixel 11 to all devices, no root required.

https://t.co/0GLO0WJ1HO

https://t.co/UK0PCM18vn

— Artem Russakovskii (@ArtemR) October 11, 2026

Rambler is Google's Gemini-powered take on dictation. Instead of typing out every "um" and false start, it tidies what you say into clean, punctuated text. If you correct yourself mid-sentence, it keeps the correction. Google's support page lists the Pixel 11 series as a requirement, and Google has only talked about it as a Pixel 11 feature so far.

PixelBoard switches those features on. Kadam says Rambler, one-tap proofreading and tone rewriting (professional, casual, concise or emotive) work on any supported Android phone. Newer extras, such as Google's "describe your edit" prompt bar and a choice between cloud and on-device processing, are limited to recent Pixels like the Pixel 8 Pro and Pixel 9 series and are hidden elsewhere.

It's aimed at Android users who want Rambler-style dictation without buying a new Pixel, and who are comfortable sideloading apps. The latest build is based on Gboard 18.4.1 and supports 64-bit ARM phones running Android 10 through Android 16, according to the README.

Getting it is simple. You can download the ready-made APK, about 127MB, from the project's releases page and allow installs from that source. Or you can patch an official copy of Gboard yourself using the project's patch file in Morphe Manager. After that, you enable PixelBoard in Android's keyboard settings, open Voice typing and change the dictation type from Standard to Rambler.

There's an important detail that the "no root" pitch doesn't cover: where your voice goes. Google says Rambler needs an internet connection for its full features, with only basic cleanup offline. PixelBoard's own notes say on-device processing options appear only on supported Pixels. On most other phones, then, Rambler's best results likely depend on Google's servers, just as they do on a Pixel 11. The difference is that you're reaching them through a third-party build.

That build is also signed by Kadam, not Google. It installs under its own app ID, so the Play Store won't update it. Updates mean grabbing new releases from GitHub, and the project has shipped several since it appeared in September. Kadam also says the APK was pre-patched to get past Google's signature and integrity checks, which is the kind of thing Google can break with a future server-side change.

None of this has been independently checked. We haven't verified which permissions the app requests, what data it sends beyond what Gboard normally does, or how stable it is across phones. The patches are open source under the GPL-3.0 license, so anyone can read them. Gboard itself remains Google's proprietary app.

If you try it, a separate keyboard you can switch back from is a sensible safety net. Just remember that a keyboard sees everything you type.