10 ms·

Gboard: Search, GIFs, emojis and more from your iPhone keyboard

284 points by crb 10y ago

colinbartlett 10y ago
The App Store page addresses my immediate concern with giving Google access to every single thing I type on my phone: > What Gboard sends to Google: > When you do a search, Gboard sends your query to Google’s web servers so Google can process your query and send you search results. Gboard also sends anonymous statistics to Google to help us diagnose problems when the app crashes and to let us know which features are used most often. > What Gboard doesn’t send to Google: > Everything else. Gboard will remember words you type to help you with spelling or to predict searches you might be interested in, but this data is stored only on your device. This data is not accessible by Google or by any apps other than Gboard.
- chickenfries 10y ago
  So it's like using Google? It also stores data to help with spellcheck and autocorrect like any other keyboard? I'm honestly confused what you're trying to point out. (edit: my mistake, I thought you were raising privacy concerns, not saying that your concerns were assuaged)
  - elsherbini 10y ago
    I believe GP was saying that the quoted text made them no longer concerned.
    - colinbartlett 10y ago
      My concerns were indeed assuaged. Generally I am overly cautious but I trust Google enough when they say the data isn't transmitted to them.
      - chickenfries 10y ago
        Oh, I apologize. I thought you were being critical but I see what you're saying.
- djrogers 10y ago
  What I'd like to know is if anything searched for is tied to my google account. Even if this keyboard doesn't require you to log in, Google can get your user info from any other google app you are logged in to (gmail, maps, etc)...
  - bobwaycott 10y ago
    I'm not sure why you're being downvoted for this. It's one of my concerns, as well. The idea of inviting Google into my text messages, which is a far more private and unfiltered place than my Google searches in a browser, makes me a bit uneasy. The parent's notice that it wasn't transmitting everything one types is helpful. I send a lot of GIFs, so this would only make my workflow faster, but I don't want to have everything I do with a keyboard tied to my Google account because I'm using a keyboard. It makes me a bit sad to recognize that my first thoughts and reactions to many Google announcements these days—even silly and playful ones—is to start ticking off and formulating potential vectors for identifying and collecting things about me that can be turned into juicy bits for advertisers.
  - untog 10y ago
    I have to assume that it is. Search results are personalised in the browser, I assume they'll want to do the same here too.
  - Cenk 10y ago
    As far as I can tell there is no way to log in to the keyboard, and the searches from the keyboard are not showing up in my search history.
JamesBaxter 10y ago
It's very odd to me that Google would release this on iOS first. I understand the value of iOS market share but when you have your own platform... I think this looks really good, doesn't seem to be in the UK App Store yet or I'd have installed it already.
- skrowl 10y ago
  Android has had these features for a long time. Google published their own keyboard (with glide typing / etc) in June 2013 - https://plus.google.com/+android/posts/caeWaRkUyrE https://plus.google.com/+android/posts/caeWaRkUyrE , but glide typing keyboards have existed on Android for many years before that. The searching existing on-screen context / inserting relevant data is actually MUCH better on Android in the form of Now On Tap, which came out with Android M around this time last year - http://gizmodo.com/google-now-on-tap-hands-on-contextual-awesomeness-1707588235 http://gizmodo.com/google-now-on-tap-hands-on-contextual-awe... . It has the added benefit of looking at what's on your screen to figure out what you want vs the new iOS keyboard where you have to click the G, then type in whatever you were interested in again. This app is basically just trying to cram as much as they can into the keyboard, since they can't offer an option like Now On Tap on iOS due to Apple restrictions.
  - JamesBaxter 10y ago
    But the advantage of not having to switch apps is still missing on Android. I don't think it's "cramming it in" when that's the main benefit of the system.
    - skrowl 10y ago
      Now on Tap is available anywhere in Android (even when you don't have a keyboard / input area displayed) by just holding down the home / circle key. There's no switching of apps required.
      - spinchange 10y ago
        NoT doesn't allow you to copy the SERs back into the previous app/keyboard context does it? It seems like at least one app "switch" is still required to share what you just looked up, because it takes you out of the app to present the search results.
Sidnicious 10y ago
I just installed this. It's a really good keyboard: responsive, and "glide" typing and corrections work implausibly well. I haven't tried the search features yet, but it's winning me over from the stock keyboard.
- genghisjahn 10y ago
  Security would be an issue, but I'd really like to be able to have a lastpass button that allowed me to copy passwords without leaving the app.
  - nacs 10y ago
    Most apps that have a "Share" button (like Safari) can use the official Lastpass addon to auto-fill usernames/passwords without having to leave the app. There's no need to copy-and-paste the passwords either since it fills the form field for you.
  - calebegg 10y ago
    3rd party keyboards can't be used on password fields; it's an OS-level restriction.
koolba 10y ago
Wow this is a really interesting way to make inroads into chat apps. Plus since it's at the keyboard level it transcends to all installed apps. Anybody familiar with the iOS APIs for this to know if it's an "always on" type of thing? i.e. can they use this to track everything typed everywhere as long as the keyboard is enabled or does it require the "G" button like in the pic?
- colinbartlett 10y ago
  If you grant a keyboard "Full Access" in iOS (which is required for network access) then it does indeed have the ability to transmit everything back to a host. But Google says they do not do that: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11683215 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11683215
- throwanem 10y ago
  The on-screen keyboard belongs to the app, which therefore knows about anything you type with the keyboard, and in theory could transmit that information to Google. I'd be amazed to see that get past App Store review, though.
aaronmoodie 10y ago
Really great keyboard, but I don't agree with the decision to replace San Fransisco with Roboto. The weight and position of the type is off on the keys, and it makes the keyboard feel less native than it should.
- unlinker 10y ago
  Google apps on iOS are a clusterfuck. You should see YouTube, for example.
  - tdkl 10y ago
    YouTube is the same clusterfuck on Android as well.
  - Artistry121 10y ago
    I use YouTube daily on my iPhone with Red and it is incredibly feature dense and useful and because of good search pretty quick too. It does seem crowded but I have difficulty imagining a better solution and really like the App.
- WWKong 10y ago
  It does not feel native. But after some usage the native keyboard will feel a bit out of place.
- tjl 10y ago
  They've made the conscious decision to use their Material design and Roboto in all their iOS apps. This is funny because in their Android UI documents they stress that you should stick with the OS style. But, they do exactly the opposite on iOS. It's one of the reasons why I use the Google apps as little as possible. I doubt I'll use this keyboard. I have an iPhone 5 so screen space is limited and I don't want to waste it on a big Google logo in my keyboard. Plus, I can't see that I'll have much use for it.
- 7Z7 10y ago
  Good news for you. John Gruber reviewed Gboard and one of his complaints in regard to the UI stylings was that "they should have gone the whole way and used San Francisco for the typeface, too." To which Rajan Patel replied: >"@daringfireball ..[we should go all the way w/ design]..
Aelinsaar 10y ago
I just gave this a try, and I have to say, I'm impressed. I'm a very good touch typist on a keyboard, but I'm nothing special on a touchscreen. This definitely ups my accuracy, even in quick bursts (I realize it's not in the title, but the overall keyboard is much more responsive, it's not just the added functionality).
jastanton 10y ago
Interesting one thing the keyboard is missing is the ability to switch to dark theme for some parts of iOS and some apps. It makes it look out of place an awkward in some contexts. I imagine this is some system level limitation in API. Other then that its quite good! I could really see this as new way for me to use Google more often. And Im loving the swipe to text!
kyrra 10y ago
I've been using this keyboard on and off for a few months and overall really enjoy it, but is not without its downsides. Pros: Glide is really well done if you like it. I'm not a glide person (and haven't taken the time to get used to it), so it's nice you can disable it if you'd like. Emoji auto-suggest is pretty fun, I've been tempted to use it in emails but avoided it for now. :) The dictionary it populates from your commonly used words is fairly aggressive (which I like), so it picks up on unique words quickly (and it is easy to clear/reset this list at any time). Being able to send people animates gifs with ease over txt message or whatever service is pretty fun. Overall it's pretty easy to type on, just takes a little getting used to compared to the default iOS keyboard (finger detection differs slightly), but I'm able to type just as fast on it. Cons: Most of my issues are really due to the API limitations Apple has in place. This keyboard is disabled on password fields (as are all 3rd party keyboards). There is no voice dictation (siri or Google's). You have to paste in images from the search (the keyboard can't auto-insert images for you, but text only search results can be auto-pasted with "share"). Landscape mode on an iPhone 6s takes up lots of screen real estate. The opinions stated here are my own, not necessarily those of Google.
- refrigerator 10y ago
  Not trying to be aggressive here, genuinely curious - is it necessary for you to say "The opinions stated here are my own, not necessarily those of Google."? Would you get screwed over for saying this kind of stuff without the disclaimer?
  - kyrra 10y ago
    I prefer to be clear here and disclose my conflict of interest (since I work there) and that I speak for myself only. I'm not sure if it's required that I put it, but I prefer to be clear when it's topics related to Google. Most companies I've ever worked at (like Cisco) are very explicit that you can't talk at all about stuff your company does (unless you are a VP or granted permission to talk on their behalf). You will see many Googlers talk on forums like this and they don't need permission, but are doing so on their own without the explicit permission from the company. Google seems to be open about letting us speak publicly about stuff our company does, but that we aren't speaking on their behalf. I feel it needs to be made explicitly clear to anyone reading it that it's my own opinion.
kennydude 10y ago
Interesting how they don't use Hangouts for iOS in the screenshots huh...
- free2rhyme214 10y ago
  Not really. More iOS users, like myself, use iMessage 10X more than Hangouts. Actually since Telegram came out I haven't really used Hangouts at all.
travis_bickle 10y ago
Meet the new Google toolbar. GG Sundar Pichai
- jrowley 10y ago
  Woah, I forgot Google toolbar existed. What time to be alive - you'd go over to {insert technologically incompetent relative}'s house and each time there'd be a new toolbar installed.
  - travis_bickle 10y ago
    Yeah, young enough to just barely recall it :) Anyways, this is again a nice strategy, or better call it data grab. (Although, I haven't use GBoard)
drakenot 10y ago
I wish that Apple would still allow the force-touch trackpad feature on 3rd party keyboards. I've gotten so used to having it that it makes it difficult to consider using any other keyboard other than the stock one.
- zhongjin 10y ago
  you could do that in the space bar
mootothemax 10y ago
>Get it now in the App Store in English in the U.S. What a shame. I know plenty of people here in Poland who have their phone languages set to English for convenience. Let alone the English speakers in other English-speaking lands - I guess I can understand local English variants presenting a few minor issues, at least.
WiLLGuys 10y ago
That's amazing. However, what a big pity, I can't used it in China.
zatkin 10y ago
When I installed this, it wanted me to "Allow Full Access", which then came up with a pop-up from iOS saying: "Full access allows the developer of this keyboard to transmit anything you type, including things you have previously typed with this keyboard. This could include sensitive information such as your credit card number or street address." This seems pretty sketchy.
- notatoad 10y ago
  I'm not sure how this keyboard could work any other way - the whole value prop is that you can search from the keyboard, and it would be pretty hard to send your search queries to google if it couldn't send the things you type to google. the app store description is pretty clear on what it actually sends to google, and it's actually less than what most keyboards send - swype, the standard google keyboard on android, and i think most others send everything up to their respective servers so they can sync personalized predictions across devices, this keyboard only sends the queries that you explicitly ask google to search for.
  - fuzzywalrus 10y ago
    That seems antithetical to the Apple statement about "This could include sensitive information such as your credit card number or street address." Anyway to confirm the only keystroke that google can access are the ones submitted to its search query?
    - notatoad 10y ago
      Apple only has one permission level for keyboards that send stuff over the network: full permission. There's no way to determine what exactly they send using apple's keyboard permissions API, and apple doesn't know what they send. They just know it's a keyboard that can send anything you type over the network, and warn you accordingly. You have to either trust that google isn't flat-out lying, or try to MITM and analyze the traffic using something like wireshark, which would be difficult assuming it's properly encrypted.
- csmajorfive 10y ago
HaloZero 10y ago
Anybody know the list of emoji autocomplete? Some things like taco works but boat doesn't.
fnbr 10y ago
I tried to install it, but it's US only. Any idea why that would be? This seems like something that could easily be rolled out worldwide. Is it a language support issue? (i.e. in Canada, they would have to support the French keyboard).
Negative1 10y ago
Very sleek and fast -- loving it! Was on Android for a number of years then went back to an iPhone and this was the #1 thing I missed. For anyone interested, you do NOT need to "Allow full access" to use the general swiping feature of the keyboard. I think that permission is to allow the keyboard to collect data, do searches with it etc... Personally, I don't feel comfortable with that option enabled despite the convenience of virtual keyboard based search. Very smart move by Google, though. Another door opens to get your eyes on those ads.
dannysu 10y ago
I love that you can also slide on the spacebar to move the cursor left or right. I like that feature from Nintype, but Nintype is always not all that stable. If this keyboard proves to be more stable than other slide keyboards (SwiftKey / TouchPal), then it stays!
ricardobeat 10y ago
Couldn't they release it also in English in the rest of the world? :/
banku_brougham 10y ago
Apple really is incapable of providing software this useful. Am I right?
stormbrew 10y ago
I can't use this yet (because it's region locked to the US grr), but can you turn off the search part? I really miss the android keyboard on iOS and swype/swiftkey are just similar enough that I find their quirks compared to it incredibly annoying. No real interest in the search part, though.
- necubi 10y ago
  Yes, it's disabled by default.
deleted 10y ago
[deleted]
robk 10y ago
This seems far less buggy than SwiftKey. Sad as the prediction is SwiftKey is second to none but I have to choice reliability over all else
partiallypro 10y ago
Here's hoping that Microsoft adds Cortana to SwiftKey, this looks pretty exciting, but I don't own an iPhone...and I don't particularly want to use Google services.
brotchie 10y ago
This is a fantastic strategic move from Google. At the moment, in the mobile advertising space, Facebook has the upper hand, with much faster growth and way more DAUs and average daily in-app time. Facebook also threatens Google's search ad rev if they can build a Messenger based personal AI assistant that becomes people's go-to for service and product queries. On Google's Q1 2016 earning call, Ruth Porat described how they were seeing lots of growth in mobile, but a compression in net margin. This was because traffic acquisition costs (TAC) on mobile are higher. Gboard could be a really effective measure to reverse that trend. Gboard gets Google onto the iPhone almost at a "hypervisor" level. Every app with text input (especially Facebook, Messenger, WhatsApp, Instagram) will have Google branding when the keyboard is up and all the features that Gboard brings. Google is doing really well in the AI space as well, so expect to see more intelligent features integrated into Gboard as it matures. Great move.
clw8 10y ago
I really hope they incorporate Google Input Tools at some point. Most of the supported languages only have very poor iOS keyboards.
cheshire137 10y ago
I just switched to Microsoft's Flow, but the search and emoji search caused me to switch to this. Very nice!
brisance 10y ago
Surprised that no one has mentioned Slash keyboard which has been out much longer and has more features. They even won Product Hunt product of the year. They also have an Android app. http://tapslash.com/ http://tapslash.com/
- borkborkbork 10y ago
  Shameless plug
  - brisance 10y ago
    No affiliation to Slash. Just a user but surprised that a tech-savvy crowd here could've missed it.
    - deleted 10y ago
      [deleted]
- maikthulhu 10y ago
  I tried Slash and it's got some neat features, but I could never quite make the switch. I think a lot of my frustration with most third party keyboards is the autocorrect. The native iOS keyboard is kind of scary good at deciphering the shit I managed to punch in, and it seems like Gboard is just as good if not better (someone earlier said "implausibly good"). Every other keyboard I've tried I've started hating pretty immediately. Maybe it's Google's RDF at work, or maybe they just figured out how to leverage iOS autocorrect/suggestions a little better. Either way, I'm hooked. And yes, I know that "good autocorrect" being my biggest complaint, maybe I could type more accurately. But honestly isn't this the point of AI?

284 points by crb 10y ago

The App Store page addresses my immediate concern with giving Google access to every single thing I type on my phone: > What Gboard sends to Google: > When you do a search, Gboard sends your query to Google’s web servers so Google can process your query and send you search results. Gboard also sends anonymous statistics to Google to help us diagnose problems when the app crashes and to let us know which features are used most often. > What Gboard doesn’t send to Google: > Everything else. Gboard will remember words you type to help you with spelling or to predict searches you might be interested in, but this data is stored only on your device. This data is not accessible by Google or by any apps other than Gboard.

chickenfries 10y ago
So it's like using Google? It also stores data to help with spellcheck and autocorrect like any other keyboard? I'm honestly confused what you're trying to point out. (edit: my mistake, I thought you were raising privacy concerns, not saying that your concerns were assuaged)
- elsherbini 10y ago
  I believe GP was saying that the quoted text made them no longer concerned.
  - colinbartlett 10y ago
    My concerns were indeed assuaged. Generally I am overly cautious but I trust Google enough when they say the data isn't transmitted to them.
    - chickenfries 10y ago
      Oh, I apologize. I thought you were being critical but I see what you're saying.
djrogers 10y ago
What I'd like to know is if anything searched for is tied to my google account. Even if this keyboard doesn't require you to log in, Google can get your user info from any other google app you are logged in to (gmail, maps, etc)...
- bobwaycott 10y ago
  I'm not sure why you're being downvoted for this. It's one of my concerns, as well. The idea of inviting Google into my text messages, which is a far more private and unfiltered place than my Google searches in a browser, makes me a bit uneasy. The parent's notice that it wasn't transmitting everything one types is helpful. I send a lot of GIFs, so this would only make my workflow faster, but I don't want to have everything I do with a keyboard tied to my Google account because I'm using a keyboard. It makes me a bit sad to recognize that my first thoughts and reactions to many Google announcements these days—even silly and playful ones—is to start ticking off and formulating potential vectors for identifying and collecting things about me that can be turned into juicy bits for advertisers.
- untog 10y ago
  I have to assume that it is. Search results are personalised in the browser, I assume they'll want to do the same here too.
- Cenk 10y ago
  As far as I can tell there is no way to log in to the keyboard, and the searches from the keyboard are not showing up in my search history.

JamesBaxter 10y ago

It's very odd to me that Google would release this on iOS first. I understand the value of iOS market share but when you have your own platform... I think this looks really good, doesn't seem to be in the UK App Store yet or I'd have installed it already.

skrowl 10y ago
Android has had these features for a long time. Google published their own keyboard (with glide typing / etc) in June 2013 - https://plus.google.com/+android/posts/caeWaRkUyrE https://plus.google.com/+android/posts/caeWaRkUyrE , but glide typing keyboards have existed on Android for many years before that. The searching existing on-screen context / inserting relevant data is actually MUCH better on Android in the form of Now On Tap, which came out with Android M around this time last year - http://gizmodo.com/google-now-on-tap-hands-on-contextual-awesomeness-1707588235 http://gizmodo.com/google-now-on-tap-hands-on-contextual-awe... . It has the added benefit of looking at what's on your screen to figure out what you want vs the new iOS keyboard where you have to click the G, then type in whatever you were interested in again. This app is basically just trying to cram as much as they can into the keyboard, since they can't offer an option like Now On Tap on iOS due to Apple restrictions.
- JamesBaxter 10y ago
  But the advantage of not having to switch apps is still missing on Android. I don't think it's "cramming it in" when that's the main benefit of the system.
  - skrowl 10y ago
    Now on Tap is available anywhere in Android (even when you don't have a keyboard / input area displayed) by just holding down the home / circle key. There's no switching of apps required.
    - spinchange 10y ago
      NoT doesn't allow you to copy the SERs back into the previous app/keyboard context does it? It seems like at least one app "switch" is still required to share what you just looked up, because it takes you out of the app to present the search results.

Sidnicious 10y ago

I just installed this. It's a really good keyboard: responsive, and "glide" typing and corrections work implausibly well. I haven't tried the search features yet, but it's winning me over from the stock keyboard.

genghisjahn 10y ago
Security would be an issue, but I'd really like to be able to have a lastpass button that allowed me to copy passwords without leaving the app.
- nacs 10y ago
  Most apps that have a "Share" button (like Safari) can use the official Lastpass addon to auto-fill usernames/passwords without having to leave the app. There's no need to copy-and-paste the passwords either since it fills the form field for you.
- calebegg 10y ago
  3rd party keyboards can't be used on password fields; it's an OS-level restriction.

koolba 10y ago

Wow this is a really interesting way to make inroads into chat apps. Plus since it's at the keyboard level it transcends to all installed apps. Anybody familiar with the iOS APIs for this to know if it's an "always on" type of thing? i.e. can they use this to track everything typed everywhere as long as the keyboard is enabled or does it require the "G" button like in the pic?

colinbartlett 10y ago
If you grant a keyboard "Full Access" in iOS (which is required for network access) then it does indeed have the ability to transmit everything back to a host. But Google says they do not do that: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11683215 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11683215
throwanem 10y ago
The on-screen keyboard belongs to the app, which therefore knows about anything you type with the keyboard, and in theory could transmit that information to Google. I'd be amazed to see that get past App Store review, though.

aaronmoodie 10y ago

Really great keyboard, but I don't agree with the decision to replace San Fransisco with Roboto. The weight and position of the type is off on the keys, and it makes the keyboard feel less native than it should.

unlinker 10y ago
Google apps on iOS are a clusterfuck. You should see YouTube, for example.
- tdkl 10y ago
  YouTube is the same clusterfuck on Android as well.
- Artistry121 10y ago
  I use YouTube daily on my iPhone with Red and it is incredibly feature dense and useful and because of good search pretty quick too. It does seem crowded but I have difficulty imagining a better solution and really like the App.
WWKong 10y ago
It does not feel native. But after some usage the native keyboard will feel a bit out of place.
tjl 10y ago
They've made the conscious decision to use their Material design and Roboto in all their iOS apps. This is funny because in their Android UI documents they stress that you should stick with the OS style. But, they do exactly the opposite on iOS. It's one of the reasons why I use the Google apps as little as possible. I doubt I'll use this keyboard. I have an iPhone 5 so screen space is limited and I don't want to waste it on a big Google logo in my keyboard. Plus, I can't see that I'll have much use for it.
7Z7 10y ago
Good news for you. John Gruber reviewed Gboard and one of his complaints in regard to the UI stylings was that "they should have gone the whole way and used San Francisco for the typeface, too." To which Rajan Patel replied: >"@daringfireball ..[we should go all the way w/ design]..

Aelinsaar 10y ago

I just gave this a try, and I have to say, I'm impressed. I'm a very good touch typist on a keyboard, but I'm nothing special on a touchscreen. This definitely ups my accuracy, even in quick bursts (I realize it's not in the title, but the overall keyboard is much more responsive, it's not just the added functionality).

jastanton 10y ago

Interesting one thing the keyboard is missing is the ability to switch to dark theme for some parts of iOS and some apps. It makes it look out of place an awkward in some contexts. I imagine this is some system level limitation in API. Other then that its quite good! I could really see this as new way for me to use Google more often. And Im loving the swipe to text!

kyrra 10y ago

I've been using this keyboard on and off for a few months and overall really enjoy it, but is not without its downsides. Pros: Glide is really well done if you like it. I'm not a glide person (and haven't taken the time to get used to it), so it's nice you can disable it if you'd like. Emoji auto-suggest is pretty fun, I've been tempted to use it in emails but avoided it for now. :) The dictionary it populates from your commonly used words is fairly aggressive (which I like), so it picks up on unique words quickly (and it is easy to clear/reset this list at any time). Being able to send people animates gifs with ease over txt message or whatever service is pretty fun. Overall it's pretty easy to type on, just takes a little getting used to compared to the default iOS keyboard (finger detection differs slightly), but I'm able to type just as fast on it. Cons: Most of my issues are really due to the API limitations Apple has in place. This keyboard is disabled on password fields (as are all 3rd party keyboards). There is no voice dictation (siri or Google's). You have to paste in images from the search (the keyboard can't auto-insert images for you, but text only search results can be auto-pasted with "share"). Landscape mode on an iPhone 6s takes up lots of screen real estate. The opinions stated here are my own, not necessarily those of Google.

refrigerator 10y ago
Not trying to be aggressive here, genuinely curious - is it necessary for you to say "The opinions stated here are my own, not necessarily those of Google."? Would you get screwed over for saying this kind of stuff without the disclaimer?
- kyrra 10y ago
  I prefer to be clear here and disclose my conflict of interest (since I work there) and that I speak for myself only. I'm not sure if it's required that I put it, but I prefer to be clear when it's topics related to Google. Most companies I've ever worked at (like Cisco) are very explicit that you can't talk at all about stuff your company does (unless you are a VP or granted permission to talk on their behalf). You will see many Googlers talk on forums like this and they don't need permission, but are doing so on their own without the explicit permission from the company. Google seems to be open about letting us speak publicly about stuff our company does, but that we aren't speaking on their behalf. I feel it needs to be made explicitly clear to anyone reading it that it's my own opinion.

kennydude 10y ago

Interesting how they don't use Hangouts for iOS in the screenshots huh...

free2rhyme214 10y ago
Not really. More iOS users, like myself, use iMessage 10X more than Hangouts. Actually since Telegram came out I haven't really used Hangouts at all.

travis_bickle 10y ago

Meet the new Google toolbar. GG Sundar Pichai

jrowley 10y ago
Woah, I forgot Google toolbar existed. What time to be alive - you'd go over to {insert technologically incompetent relative}'s house and each time there'd be a new toolbar installed.
- travis_bickle 10y ago
  Yeah, young enough to just barely recall it :) Anyways, this is again a nice strategy, or better call it data grab. (Although, I haven't use GBoard)

drakenot 10y ago

I wish that Apple would still allow the force-touch trackpad feature on 3rd party keyboards. I've gotten so used to having it that it makes it difficult to consider using any other keyboard other than the stock one.

zhongjin 10y ago
you could do that in the space bar

mootothemax 10y ago

>Get it now in the App Store in English in the U.S. What a shame. I know plenty of people here in Poland who have their phone languages set to English for convenience. Let alone the English speakers in other English-speaking lands - I guess I can understand local English variants presenting a few minor issues, at least.

WiLLGuys 10y ago

That's amazing. However, what a big pity, I can't used it in China.

zatkin 10y ago

When I installed this, it wanted me to "Allow Full Access", which then came up with a pop-up from iOS saying: "Full access allows the developer of this keyboard to transmit anything you type, including things you have previously typed with this keyboard. This could include sensitive information such as your credit card number or street address." This seems pretty sketchy.

notatoad 10y ago
I'm not sure how this keyboard could work any other way - the whole value prop is that you can search from the keyboard, and it would be pretty hard to send your search queries to google if it couldn't send the things you type to google. the app store description is pretty clear on what it actually sends to google, and it's actually less than what most keyboards send - swype, the standard google keyboard on android, and i think most others send everything up to their respective servers so they can sync personalized predictions across devices, this keyboard only sends the queries that you explicitly ask google to search for.
- fuzzywalrus 10y ago
  That seems antithetical to the Apple statement about "This could include sensitive information such as your credit card number or street address." Anyway to confirm the only keystroke that google can access are the ones submitted to its search query?
  - notatoad 10y ago
    Apple only has one permission level for keyboards that send stuff over the network: full permission. There's no way to determine what exactly they send using apple's keyboard permissions API, and apple doesn't know what they send. They just know it's a keyboard that can send anything you type over the network, and warn you accordingly. You have to either trust that google isn't flat-out lying, or try to MITM and analyze the traffic using something like wireshark, which would be difficult assuming it's properly encrypted.
csmajorfive 10y ago

HaloZero 10y ago

Anybody know the list of emoji autocomplete? Some things like taco works but boat doesn't.

fnbr 10y ago

I tried to install it, but it's US only. Any idea why that would be? This seems like something that could easily be rolled out worldwide. Is it a language support issue? (i.e. in Canada, they would have to support the French keyboard).

Negative1 10y ago

Very sleek and fast -- loving it! Was on Android for a number of years then went back to an iPhone and this was the #1 thing I missed. For anyone interested, you do NOT need to "Allow full access" to use the general swiping feature of the keyboard. I think that permission is to allow the keyboard to collect data, do searches with it etc... Personally, I don't feel comfortable with that option enabled despite the convenience of virtual keyboard based search. Very smart move by Google, though. Another door opens to get your eyes on those ads.

dannysu 10y ago

I love that you can also slide on the spacebar to move the cursor left or right. I like that feature from Nintype, but Nintype is always not all that stable. If this keyboard proves to be more stable than other slide keyboards (SwiftKey / TouchPal), then it stays!

ricardobeat 10y ago

Couldn't they release it also in English in the rest of the world? :/

banku_brougham 10y ago

Apple really is incapable of providing software this useful. Am I right?

stormbrew 10y ago

I can't use this yet (because it's region locked to the US grr), but can you turn off the search part? I really miss the android keyboard on iOS and swype/swiftkey are just similar enough that I find their quirks compared to it incredibly annoying. No real interest in the search part, though.

necubi 10y ago
Yes, it's disabled by default.

deleted 10y ago

[deleted]

robk 10y ago

This seems far less buggy than SwiftKey. Sad as the prediction is SwiftKey is second to none but I have to choice reliability over all else

partiallypro 10y ago

Here's hoping that Microsoft adds Cortana to SwiftKey, this looks pretty exciting, but I don't own an iPhone...and I don't particularly want to use Google services.

brotchie 10y ago

This is a fantastic strategic move from Google. At the moment, in the mobile advertising space, Facebook has the upper hand, with much faster growth and way more DAUs and average daily in-app time. Facebook also threatens Google's search ad rev if they can build a Messenger based personal AI assistant that becomes people's go-to for service and product queries. On Google's Q1 2016 earning call, Ruth Porat described how they were seeing lots of growth in mobile, but a compression in net margin. This was because traffic acquisition costs (TAC) on mobile are higher. Gboard could be a really effective measure to reverse that trend. Gboard gets Google onto the iPhone almost at a "hypervisor" level. Every app with text input (especially Facebook, Messenger, WhatsApp, Instagram) will have Google branding when the keyboard is up and all the features that Gboard brings. Google is doing really well in the AI space as well, so expect to see more intelligent features integrated into Gboard as it matures. Great move.

clw8 10y ago

I really hope they incorporate Google Input Tools at some point. Most of the supported languages only have very poor iOS keyboards.

cheshire137 10y ago

I just switched to Microsoft's Flow, but the search and emoji search caused me to switch to this. Very nice!

brisance 10y ago

Surprised that no one has mentioned Slash keyboard which has been out much longer and has more features. They even won Product Hunt product of the year. They also have an Android app. http://tapslash.com/ http://tapslash.com/

borkborkbork 10y ago
Shameless plug
- brisance 10y ago
  No affiliation to Slash. Just a user but surprised that a tech-savvy crowd here could've missed it.
  - deleted 10y ago
    [deleted]
maikthulhu 10y ago
I tried Slash and it's got some neat features, but I could never quite make the switch. I think a lot of my frustration with most third party keyboards is the autocorrect. The native iOS keyboard is kind of scary good at deciphering the shit I managed to punch in, and it seems like Gboard is just as good if not better (someone earlier said "implausibly good"). Every other keyboard I've tried I've started hating pretty immediately. Maybe it's Google's RDF at work, or maybe they just figured out how to leverage iOS autocorrect/suggestions a little better. Either way, I'm hooked. And yes, I know that "good autocorrect" being my biggest complaint, maybe I could type more accurately. But honestly isn't this the point of AI?