As Facebook announced its purchase of Giphy for $400 million, users quickly aired their disappointment and vowed to drop the app. Here are some of the best alternatives to Giphy for iPhone users, and the steps you need to do to delete the iMessage Giphy app.
A 3D printed Facebook logo is placed between small toy people figures in front of a keyboard in this illustration taken April 12, 2020. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/
It's a good thing that Apple has its own Bing-powered GIF search app in iMessage for the iPhone and iPad which 9to5Mac reported to have been found by one Filipe Espósito. Bing can still source GIFs through Giphy via Apple's native iMessage search, but it is no longer powered by Giphy.
While Facebook confirmed to Bloomberg's Sarah Frier that it will know which apps Giphy GIFs are being used, it will not get user-identifiable data. Apple could choose to filter out Giphy results in the future or use Signal GIF searches that use a privacy-protecting proxy.
Whatever the tech giant's decision may be, here are some alternatives for Giphy. Following is also a simple guide on how to remove the Giphy iMessage app from the iPhone and iPad.
Removing the iMessage GIF app
After Facebook purchased Giphy, users threatened to delete it from their iPhones and iPads. Here is how to do it.
Open the iMessage app.
Open the iMessage app drawer and swipe to the far right.
Tap the three-dot icon to see more options.
Look for the Giphy iMessage app.
Swipe from right to left, then click on Delete.
People wearing face masks following the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak are seen at an Apple store as the new iPhone SE goes on sale, in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, China April 24, 2020. China Daily via REUTERS
Best Giphy alternatives
To get GIFs from other sources, here are some alternatives to Giphy.
Apple's iMessage GIF app
Apple has a built-in GIF search app in iMessage which is powered by Bing. It is called "#images" and is symbolized by a red icon with a magnifying glass. To see it in the iMessage app:
From the iMessage app, swipe to the far right
Click on the three-dot icon
Tap "Edit" in the top right corner
Swipe down to find #images
Tap the green + icon
Click Done
Tenor
Tenor has the largest community and is owned by Google. As it claims to be top GIF app, Tenor can be accessed from any device through its website and the iOS and iMessage apps, as well as in Android.
GIFWrapped
GIFWrapped uses iCloud or Dropbox to store and save GIFs across multiple devices, including iMessage. While it is free to download from the App Store, users may opt to remove ads for $2.
Reddit
Reddit provides a slightly different experience, but it offers loads of great GIFs. Users may sort GIFs by hot, new, and top.
Google Search
The traditional search with Google can still provide good results.
Duck Duck Go Search
DuckDuck Go provides good privacy-focused options for Gif searches. Users may refine their search using the "Image" result filter.According to 9to5Mac, Google is likely to produce more GIFs from Giphy than DuckDuck Go, although it is easier to check the source with web searches.
$400 million deal with Facebook
Giphy has been one of the most popular GIF platforms over the last decade. With today's news about Facebook buying the company, it immediately raised privacy and security concerns and many will likely look for a new source of GIFs.
On Friday, Facebook announced in a blog post that it purchased the popular gif search engine as part of Instagram. The deal is said to be worth $400 million, as reported by Axios.
