Google is known for making great, exclusive apps for Android users. If they choose to, they’ll first launch an app for Android then iOS. However, that’s not the case with the company’s latest addition to their app family, Gboard. This is a third-party keyboard exclusively for iOS users. It uses Google’s world-famous search engine capabilities to give users access to GIFs, addresses, emojis, search queries, and more all without ever leaving the app you’re currently in whether it’s Messages, Safari, or, as Google notes, YouTube.
iPhone users—this one’s for you. Meet Gboard, a new app for your iPhone that lets you search and send information, GIFs, emojis and more, right from your keyboard.
Google gave a description of Gboard and the functionality of it in their official blog post:
Say you’re texting with a friend about tomorrow’s lunch plans. They ask you for the address. Until now it’s worked like this: You leave your texting app. Open Search. Find the restaurant. Copy the address. Switch back to your texts. Paste the address into a message. And finally, hit send.
Searching and sending stuff on your phone shouldn’t be that difficult. With Gboard, you can search and send all kinds of things—restaurant info, flight times, news articles—right from your keyboard. Anything you’d search on Google, you can search with Gboard. Results appear as cards with the key information front and center, such as the phone number, ratings and hours. With one tap, you can send it to your friend and you keep the conversation going.
Other functions include searchable emojis and GIFs and Glide typing to make typing your messages much faster.
In case you’re wondering, Google did not port their material design keyboard from Android over to iOS and add new features to it to make it different and worth downloading. The keyboard theme used is the default for iOS and there’s just some new capabilities Android users haven’t seen yet to keep Google’s user database strong across all platforms.
Gboard is available for free from the U.S. App Store in English now with more countries and languages to come soon for your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch. We’ll let you know if this keyboard ever comes to Android.
Source: googleblog.blogspot.com
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