Gboard

Gboard is a virtual keyboard app

developed by Google for native Android
and iOS devices. It was first released on
iOS in May 2016, followed by a release on
Android in December 2016, debuting as a
major update to the already-established
Google Keyboard app on Android.
 Gboard

Developer(s) Google

Initial release May 12, 2016

Stable release(s)

9.0.4.291247272 / February 6, 2020

Preview release(s) [±]

Android 9.0.11.294665833 / February 4,

2020[1]

Android 8.6.5.262971459 / August 18,

TV 2019[2]
Operating system iOS, Android

License Proprietary

Gboard features Google Search, including

web results and predictive answers, easy
searching and sharing of GIF and emoji
content, a predictive typing engine
suggesting the next word depending on
context, and multilingual language
support. Updates to the keyboard have
enabled additional functionality, including
GIF suggestions, options for a dark color
theme or adding a personal image as the
keyboard background, support for voice
dictation, next-phrase prediction, and
hand-drawn emoji recognition. At the time
of its launch on iOS, the keyboard only
offered support for the English language,
with more languages being gradually
added in the following months, whereas on
Android, the keyboard supported more
than 100 languages at the time of release.

In August 2018, Gboard passed 1 billion

installs on the Google Play Store, making it
one of the most popular Android
apps.[3][4][5][6][7] This is measured by the
Google Play Store and includes
downloads by users as well as pre-
installed instances of the app.[8]
Features
Gboard is a virtual keyboard app. It
features Google Search, including web
results and predictive answers, easy
searching and sharing of GIF and emoji
content, and a predictive typing engine
suggesting the next word depending on
context.[9] At its May 2016 launch on iOS,
Gboard only supported the English
language,[9] while it supported "more than
100 languages" at the time of its launch on
the Android platform. Google states that
Gboard will add more languages "over the
coming months".[4] As of October 2019,
916 languages are supported.[10]
Gboard features Floating Keyboard[11] and
Google Translate in Gboard itself.[12]
Gboard supports one-handed mode on
Android after its May 2016 update.[13] This
functionality was added to the app when it
was branded as Google Keyboard.[14]

An update for the iOS app released in

August 2016 added French, German,
Italian, Portuguese, and Spanish
languages, as well as offering "smart GIF
suggestions", where the keyboard will
suggest GIFs relevant to text written. The
keyboard also offers new options for a
dark theme or adding a personal image
from the camera roll as the keyboard's
background.[15] Another new update in
March 2018 added Croatian, Czech,
Danish, Dutch, Finnish, Greek, Polish,
Romanian, Balochi, Swedish, Catalan,
Hungarian, Malay, Russian, Latin American
Spanish, and Turkish languages, along with
support for voice dictation, enabling users
to "long press the mic button on the space
bar and talk".[16][17] In April 2017, Google
significantly increased the amount of
Indian languages supported on Gboard,
adding 11 new languages, bringing the
total number of supported Indian
languages to 22.[18][19]
In June 2017, the Android app was
updated to support recognition of hand-
drawn emoji and the ability to predict
whole phrases rather than single words.
The functionality is expected to come to
the iOS app at a later time.[20][21] Offline
voice recognition was added in March
2019.[22][23]

On 12 February 2020, a new feature “Emoji

Kitchen” was introduced that allowed
users to mash up different emoji and use
them as stickers when messaging.[24]

Reception
In 2016 The Wall Street Journal praised the
keyboard, particularly the integrated
Google search feature. However, it was
noted that the app does not currently
support integration with other apps on the
device, meaning that queries such as "Buy
Captain America movie tickets" sends
users to the web browser rather than an
app for movie tickets installed on their
phone. The Wall Street Journal also praised
the predictive typing engine, stating that it
"blows past most competitors" and "it gets
smarter with use". They also discovered
that Gboard "cleverly suggests emojis as
you type words". It was noted that there
was the lack of a one-handed mode (a
feature added in May 2016 for Android), as
well as a lack of options for changing
color or the size of keys, writing that "If
you're looking to customize a keyboard,
Gboard isn't for you."[25]

References
1. "Gboard - the Google Keyboard
APKs" . APKMirror. Retrieved
2019-11-02.
2. "Gboard - the Google Keyboard
APKs" . APKMirror. Retrieved
2019-08-18.
3. "Gboard passes one billion installs on
the Play Store" . Android Police. 2018-
 08-22. Retrieved 2018-08-23.
4. Lee, Reena (December 16, 2016).
"Gboard, now available for Android" .
The Keyword Google Blog. Google.
Retrieved January 8, 2017.
5. Whitwam, Ryan (December 17, 2016).
"[Update: Official] Google Keyboard is
now Gboard with v6.0 update—
includes integrated search, dedicated
number row, multiple active languages,
and more [APK Download]" . Android
Police. Retrieved January 8, 2017.
6. Robertson, Adi (December 12, 2016).
"Google's great iOS keyboard is now
 on Android" . The Verge. Vox Media.
Retrieved January 8, 2017.
7. Vasile, Cosmin. "Google's Gboard
keyboard app exceeds 1 billion
downloads in the Play Store" . Phone
Arena. Retrieved 2018-08-23.
8. "Gboard passes one billion installs on
the Play Store" . Android Police. 2018-
08-22. Retrieved 2018-08-23.
9. Perez, Sarah (May 12, 2016). "Google
launches Gboard, an iOS keyboard that
lets you search without a browser" .
TechCrunch. AOL. Retrieved January 8,
2017.
10. "Set up Gboard - Android - Gboard
Help" . support.google.com. Retrieved
2019-10-08.
11. https://digicular.com/google-
keyboard-floating-keyboard/ . Missing
or empty |title= (help)
12. https://support.google.com/gboard/a
nswer/7421372?
co=GENIE.Platform%3DAndroid&hl=e
n . Missing or empty |title= (help)
13. Andrimo, Team; Andrimo (2019-06-
04). "Gboard" . review. Retrieved
2019-06-04.
14. Klosowski, Thorin. "Google Keyboard
Now Has a One-Handed Mode" .
 Lifehacker. Retrieved 2018-08-23.
15. Patel, Rajan (August 4, 2016). "Olá
Gboard: new languages, personal
keyboards and more" . The Keyword
Google Blog. Google. Retrieved
February 23, 2017.
16. Ni, Alan (February 23, 2017). "Gboard
for iPhone gets an upgrade" . The
Keyword Google Blog. Google.
Retrieved February 23, 2017.
17. Vincent, James (February 23, 2017).
"Google upgrades its iPhone keyboard
with voice dictation and 15 new
languages" . The Verge. Vox Media.
Retrieved February 23, 2017.
18. Martonik, Andrew (April 25, 2017).
"Google dramatically improves
support for Indian languages across
Translate, Gboard and more" . Android
Central. Retrieved April 27, 2017.
19. Baxi, Abhishek. "Google improves
support for Indian languages in
Google Translate, Gboard, and more" .
Android Authority. Retrieved April 27,
2017.
20. Statt, Nick (June 12, 2017). "Gboard
for Android now recognizes hand-
drawn emoji and anticipates your next
phrase" . The Verge. Vox Media.
Retrieved June 14, 2017.
21. Cheng, Roger (June 12, 2017).
"Google's Gboard smart keyboard gets
new bells and whistles" . CNET. CBS
Interactive. Retrieved June 14, 2017.
22. "An All-Neural On-Device Speech
Recognizer" . Google AI Blog.
Retrieved 2019-08-22.
23. "Google's new voice recognition
system works instantly and offline (if
you have a Pixel)" . TechCrunch.
Retrieved 2019-08-22.
24. "Google's Gboard introduces Emoji
Kitchen, a tool to mash up emojis to
use as stickers" . TechCrunch.
Retrieved 2020-02-13.
 25. Olivarez-Giles, Nathan (May 12, 2016).
"Review: Gboard Adds Google's
Search Box to iPhone Keyboards" .
The Wall Street Journal. Dow Jones &
Company. Retrieved January 8, 2017.

External links
Gboard on Google Play
Gboard on the App Store

Retrieved from
"https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?
title=Gboard&oldid=940557351"

Last edited 3 days ago by Unique Is Me

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