











Six months after landing on iOS, Gboard has arrived on Android. Gboard is Google's mashup of a keyboard with Google Search, and, on Android, it replaces the default keyboard app, previously called "Google Keyboard." We're also moving from Google Keyboard 5.2 to Gboard 6.0—there's a new rev of the base keyboard software in here with a bunch of nice non-Google features.

The basics of Gboard haven't changed since its debut on iOS. There's now a Google logo on the keyboard that, instead of typing into the text field, lets you type into Google. You can run a quick search from inside any app, and the results replace the letter keys once you run it. From there, you can tap on a result to drop it into your text field. I've found it's mostly handy for quick fact checks or planning out your day with someone. If you're discussing grabbing a late dinner, you can quickly check what time the restaurant closes without leaving your keyboard.

There's also—finally—emoji search on Android. Just tap on the emoji button, and above the usual emoji interface there will be a search field. You no longer have to scroll through several tabs and pages to find the emoji you're looking for.

The keyboard also has a gif search, which will drop an animated image right into your chat window.

There are also a few nice general keyboard updates, which you'll find in the keyboard settings (that's Settings -> Languages & Input -> Virtual Keyboard -> Gboard). There's now an option to have the number row permanently on-screen for every text field, which was a big user request. There's also support for multiple languages in the auto correct system, so bilingual users can mix and match languages and get proper suggestions for both.

Gboard replaces the old Google Keyboard, so it should eventually be available here on the Play Store. At the time of publishing, however, Google hasn't updated the listing. It should roll out to everyone with the Google Keyboard installed in a few days, but for now the impatient can grab it on the third-party site APK Mirror. There are all sorts of horror stories about downloading Android apps from third-party sites, but APKMirror checks the cryptographic signature of a new version against the previous version, which ensures the app is from Google and wasn't tampered with. So go ahead, annoy your friends with some gifs.