Google’s new keyboard — Gboard, was launched 2 weeks ago for iOS devices. This brought a laundry list of added functionality to what has essentially been one of the least revolutionised feature of smartphones — the keyboard. Unfortunately though, Google released Gboard for iOS devices and not their native Android platform, where development on the keyboard has just begin. To top it up, it was released only in the US and supports only English for now.
Gboard introduces some new functionality to the keyboard that were not present before. GBoard allows users to do a Google Search right from within the keyboard instead of forcing you to close the app in which you are typing and open Google Search separately. The keyboard also lets users search for GIFs and emoji by simply keying in their description. For example, typing ‘dancing’ would bring up the dancing girl emoji. To make typing easier, the keyboard also features glide typing that lets you type words by simply swiping your finger from one word to another.
All the features that Google has introduced with Gboard have been missing in all the third party keyboard apps we have seen so far, including SwiftKey.
Our question today is simple, would you, as users, like to see the Gboard on your Android device, and if so, what feature are you most keen on using? Is it the sending of GIFs, the emoji suggestions, the ability to Google anything while chatting to appear smarter to your date or something else? Are you bummed that Google did not launch GBoard for Android alongside its iOS version?
