Android Gboard update suggests emojis and GIF to users, on par with the iOS app

Google has rolled out an update to the Android Gboard adding GIF and emoji suggestion features as the users type using it. The update also added a handy voice-to-text command feature along with these features.

The Gboard for iOS devices had these features and the Android version is catching up with its rival only now. This update offers many new features to the Android Gboard including quick translation, personalized keyboard backgrounds, voice-to-text function, etc. For now, the suggestion feature is supported only by the instant messaging apps including Snapchat, Allo, Facebook Messenger, and Hangouts.

Google is expected to introduce these features to the other apps as well in the near future. With the update, the Android devices get voice typing capabilities with an upgraded UI. This lets them switch back to the usual typing mode easily. Besides these features, new keyboard themes have also been installed to various devices based on Android. These can be accessed from the Gboard settings or the Theme icon in the quick feature menu in the suggestion strip.

These Microsoft Surface Phone renders may be too futuristic

Gboard for Android also supports Google Translate and the same can be accessed from the quick feature menu. Eventually, the translation tool will offer text interpretations as users type sentences in real time.

For now, Android phones thrive with the right-to-left language support on Gboard for search and share features. For instance, the Farsi, Hebrew, and Arabic texts are written the other way around in comparison to normal typing.

Android users can download the latest version of Gboard for Android from the Google Play Store and experience these new feature additions and improvements.