Patience, Android fans: You'll get Google's Gboard features, too
The new keyboard app for iPhones and iPads gets search, GIF and emoji abilities. Google promises it hasn't forgotten devices powered by its Android software.
- Shankland covered the tech industry for more than 25 years and was a science writer for five years before that. He has deep expertise in microprocessors, digital photography, computer hardware and software, internet standards, web technology, and more.
Those with Android-powered phones sometimes have enjoyed the fruits of Google's labor earlier than those with iPhones -- the Chrome browser, for example, or the ability to store Google Maps for offline use. But people with Apple's iOS-powered mobile devices were the first to get Gboard, the search-enabled, emoji-rich, GIF-infused keyboard that Google released Thursday.
Relax, Android users: You apparently won't be left in the cold forever. Google is "working on the best way to bring the same functionality to Android right now," said Bri Connelly, a Google product manager involved with Gboard, in a comment to ProductHunt on Thursday. It's not clear how long Android users will have to wait. Google didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.
Connelly also said multilingual support will arrive "soon" for those who don't just speak English. "It really comes down to the fact that keyboard layouts/dictionaries take a while to get right," she said.
Google's apps like Gmail, Google Docs, Google Maps and YouTube are often big hits on Apple devices, and Gboard followed suit. It rose to the top of the App Store's popularity chart, though it subsided Friday. And Connolly tweeted a photo showing that more than 200,000 people were using Gboard.
This article also appears in Spanish. Read: Paciencia, 'fandroids': ya pronto les llegarán las funciones de Gboard