Google announced on Monday the addition of YouTube, Google Maps, and doodling functions within its Gboard app for iOS. The smart keyboard update is available for all iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch users running iOS 9.0 or later.
The new integrations for the keyboard bring more functionality and ease of use to daily tasks that we mindlessly do through other methods. Google’s update is one of the biggest for the app since its introduction in May last year for Apple fans.
Gboard users on Android have yet to get access to these new features, but the operating system itself provides a similar level of integration in its upcoming release. GIFs, emoji recognition, and simultaneous translation are available for all users.
What type of keyboards are you using? Gboard looks pretty cool. (not as cool as #LegereEmoji ?) https://t.co/MqIjvPaTXZ
— John Legere (@JohnLegere) July 31, 2017
How to use Gboard’s new features on iPhone
Google has designed Gboard as a keyboard in which you don’t have to go back and forth between applications to enter content into your messages. You can do everything right then and there just by tapping the G button on the left side of the screen.
iPhone users can now perform a couple of new tricks by doing just that. Once they select the button, new tabs for address addition through Google Maps and media via YouTube can be found.
The idea behind this is that people no longer have to go to the Google Maps app, open it, wait for it to load, zoom in and search the area around to find a local business and then copy and paste the address in a message. Same thing goes for a funny video you just want to share right away.
For artists, Google now has a free form canvas that allows them to doodle and scribble at will in reply to other people’s messages. These replies will send themselves as images, and you can find the canvas next to the emoji menu signaled by the pen icon.
The tech giant has also added Arabic, Hebrew, and Farsi to its expanding list of supported languages. People who write in these languages will be able to enjoy the same standard benefits other users get, like Glide and Voice typing, as well emoji, GIFs, and multilingual text entries.
Gboard’s new features mirror those already present in messaging services like WhatsApp, which allows you to share location details, documents, media, and more right within the app.
Apple’s iOS has long had smart detection of dates and locations in messages to coordinate appointments and events through the Calendar and Notes apps. Android O is looking to integrate similar functions when it launches in the coming weeks.
Source: Google
