Google for iOS now has a newly-updated app with several improvements, including a new feature that plays animated GIFs straight in the image search results.
With the rise of mobile and various messaging services in recent years, people have become more reliant on expressing their emotions, reactions or moods through emoticons, images and GIFs rather than describing it in words.
Animated GIFs are rapidly growing in popularity and it's now easier to create them or to find one that best suits a certain topic or situation. An increasing number of services are adding support for GIFs and these short animations are starting to pop up everywhere, whether it's on Facebook, on various image-hosting websites, in comments to someone's posts or somewhere else on the almighty web.
Google has been toying with GIFs for a good while now. For instance, Google+ users who chose to enable Google Photos automatic backup have been enjoying GIFs for quite some time, as Google automatically creates such animations by stitching photos taken in rapid succession.
The GIF trend shows no signs of dying down, on the contrary, and the short animations are now available in the image search results when using the Google app for iOS.
The latest Google for iOS app is now at version 9.0 and comes with a number of new features, and this neat ability to play GIFs is among the highlights. When searching for something and selecting the image results, users will now be able to tap and pay animated GIFs right in that results page.
Other new features, meanwhile, will also help with productivity and more serious matters. The latest Google for iOS app now includes the ability to add a photo or a review for a local establishment, as well as get map results straight within the app when searching for an address. These new additions aim to make search more convenient, as well as help users save time.
Not too long ago, Google for iOS got an update that brought improved local search results, as well as an always-on OK Google option, and the latest version of the app now aims to further improve the overall search experience. Google for iOS version 9.0 is now available for download from the App Store and is compatible with iPhones, iPads and iPods touch running iOS 7 or later.
