
Gboard: Search, GIFs, emojis and more from your iPhone keyboard - crb
https://googleblog.blogspot.com/2016/05/gboard-search-gifs-emojis-keyboard.html
======
kyrra
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._

~~~
scotchio
"3D" touch for placing the cursor doesn't seem to work either. Probably my
favorite feature

~~~
cloudwalking
Instead you can just swipe the spacebar left or right. It works much better
than the iOS 3D touch cursor movement, which seems to false-negative on my
force touch very frequently (at least half the time, for me).

~~~
grmarcil
Thanks for the hint on swiping the spacebar. I still miss the ability to move
the cursor vertically and select with the trackpad but this at least makes
Gboard usable for me.

I think I had the same false-negative problem you are describing with 3D touch
trackpad, but it seemed to get a lot better for me with the iOS 9.3 release.
Maybe I'm imagining it, but it seemed like there were improvements to whatever
algorithm determines a user's intention for normal vs 3D touch.

On the other hand, maybe I trained myself to their algorithm. It seems like
starting with light contact and increasing pressure is a more reliable trigger
than just going in with firm pressure right away.

~~~
mikeknoop
From my experience, the force touch trackpad cursor only works if you wait 1s
between the last normal touch and the force touch.

------
colinbartlett
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.

~~~
djrogers
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
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.

------
brotchie
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.

------
aaronmoodie
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
Google apps on iOS are a clusterfuck. You should see YouTube, for example.

~~~
tdkl
YouTube is the same clusterfuck on Android as well.

------
Sidnicious
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
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.

~~~
calebegg
3rd party keyboards can't be used on password fields; it's an OS-level
restriction.

------
JamesBaxter
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
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-awe...](http://gizmodo.com/google-now-on-tap-hands-on-contextual-
awesomeness-1707588235) . 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.

~~~
mundo
It has those features indirectly - if i want to text my wife a picture of a
typing dog, i can hit Now On Tap, search for the picture, hit share, hangouts,
wife, and insert a picture of a typing dog, but it isn't rolled up in to the
keyboard app like the IOS Gboard being shown here. (Unless I'm missing
something...)

~~~
sahara
It's also worth noting that regardless of which keyboard or combination of
apps you're using on Android, it's not possible to send an animated GIF as an
MMS attachment without dropping so many frames that the clip becomes
essentially unwatchable.

If you're sending a Hangouts message (Google account to Google account) it
works just fine. Otherwise, even if you roll all your SMS/MMS activity into
the Hangouts app, no dice.

------
koolba
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
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)

------
jastanton
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!

------
Aelinsaar
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).

------
zatkin
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
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
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
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.

------
mootothemax
>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.

------
stormbrew
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
Yes, it's disabled by default.

------
fnbr
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).

------
drakenot
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
you could do that in the space bar

------
Negative1
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.

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

------
brisance
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
Shameless plug

~~~
brisance
No affiliation to Slash. Just a user but surprised that a tech-savvy crowd
here could've missed it.

------
dannysu
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!

------
travis_bickle
Meet the new Google toolbar. GG Sundar Pichai

~~~
jrowley
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
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)

------
cheshire137
I just switched to Microsoft's Flow, but the search and emoji search caused me
to switch to this. Very nice!

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

~~~
free2rhyme214
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.

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

------
partiallypro
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.

------
robk
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

------
clw8
I really hope they incorporate Google Input Tools at some point. Most of the
supported languages only have very poor iOS keyboards.

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

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

