iPhone and iPad owners in the UK and Australia recently received a dedicated iOS keyboard from none other than Google.
Meet Gboard, a keyboard app that landed in the United States App Store last month. Gboard embeds Google Search in the iPhone keyboard, making it easy to search for any information without leaving the texting app you are currently in.
Simply tap the "G" icon in the left-hand corner to instantly start the search engine. This saves time, effort and battery life, as users no longer need to launch a browser or the Google app.
Google shows how useful the integration is via an everyday example.
Most of us text to our friends when making dinner plans. When they recommend going to a new place, things tend to happen like this: you exit the messaging app, fire up a browser window, google the place and maybe even copy-paste a relevant part of the menu or the address back to the messaging up.
What the Gboard does is it simplifies things tremendously.
"Anything you'd search on Google, you can search with Gboard," the company says.
After users search and find the information (such as the one about the restaurant), it's easy to paste it back into the main conversation.
A certain demographic (we're looking at you, millennials) will appreciate Gboard's emoji support, which makes it a breeze to search and select the thing you need. For example, you can use Gboard to look for "poo" or "dancing girl," which will pop up the respective emoji instantly. This will help you avoid scrolling through libraries of vegetables, street signs and whatnot. As you would expect, a built-in GIF-searching function exists, and it is as entertaining as it sounds.
One notable feature of the Gboard is Glide Typing. Users familiar with Android might recognize it as a Swype keyboard, meaning that dragging your finger from letter to letter allows you to automatically type a word.
iDevice owners can download Google's Gboard keyboard from the App Store. Those mindful about their privacy should know that Gboard is designed in such a way that all your typed info stays private.
Google UK told the world about the launch in a tweet.
#Gboard for iPhone is here. No more app switching; search and send, right from your keyboard https://t.co/qNpPdrghGp pic.twitter.com/x5nkMhaxW6
— Google UK (@GoogleUK) June 17, 2016
Keep in mind that the versatile keyboard needs iOS 9 on iPhones and iPads in order to function. In an ironic twist, Google did not release a Gboard app for Android yet.
