Google on Thursday released Gboard, their new third-party keyboard for iOS devices, which directly integrates the firm’s search services into the iOS keyboard. Users simply press the Google button in Gboard, and they can then type in what they’re searching for – including locations, GIFs, emoji, and more – without leaving the messaging app to search via Safari, or the Google app.
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.
Gboard also allows users to search for emoji or GIFs directly from the keyboard. Type in “vulcan,” when searching for emoji, and the Vulcan emoji appear, ready to be tapped. Searching for GIFs works the same way, enter “Cheeseburger,” and GIFs of cheeseburgers begin displaying, ready to be used in your messages. The keyboard also offers “glide” typing, in order to enter characters by sliding from letter to letter.
The Gboard works in any iOS app that uses a keyboard, but at the moment it is only available in the United States. More languages are planned for later. The Gboard keyboard for iOS devices is free, and is available in the App Store. [GET IT HERE]
