Imagine a world in which you don’t have to leave your riveting text conversation to search the web for the appropriate GIF. Dream no more: Google today announced that it has created a new keyboard for iOS devices that allows users to perform searches from their messages.
Google introduced the new app, known as Gboard, today that essentially brings the joys of the Internet to any conversation done on smartphones — from email and text messages to other messaging apps.
“Searching and sending stuff on your phone shouldn’t be that difficult,” the company says in a blog post. “With Gboard, you can search and send all kinds of things—restaurant info, flight times, news articles—right from your keyboard. Anything you’d search on Google, you can search with Gboard.”
For example, if you’re conversing with a friend about lunch plans, but don’t know the address, you can click the small “G” icon in the left corner of the keyboard and search for the information.
Results are then shown as cards with key information “front and center,” Google says. By tapping the information you can send it to your friend and keep the conversation going without toggling between several apps.
In addition to allowing users to search Google, the new keyboard also lets people quickly locate emojis rather than scrolling though available options. It also has the ability to provide image search results.
by Ashlee Kieler via Consumerist