{{Short description|Virtual keyboard app for Android and iOS}} {{Use mdy dates|date=March 2023}} {{Infobox software | logo = Gboard logo.svg | logo size = 110px | collapsible = yes | screenshot = Gboard screenshot.png | screenshot size = 250px | language = 916 (Android) & 125 (iOS) languages<ref>{{Cite web | url = https://support.google.com/gboard/answer/6380730#zippy=%2Cfind-supported-languages | title = Set up Gboard | website = Google Support | access-date = 2025-08-25}}</ref> | caption = A screenshot of Gboard being used on Google Keep | developer = Google | released = {{sda|2016|05|12}} | ver layout = stacked | operating system = Android 8+{{efn|Including Android TV and Wear OS}} {{clist | title = Discontinued | Android 6, 7 {{small|(2024)}} | iOS 12 {{small|(2023)}} | iOS 11 {{small|(2022)}} | Android 5, iOS 10 {{small|(2020)}} | iOS 9 {{small|(2019)}} | Android Jelly Bean, KitKat {{small|(2018)}} | Android Ice Cream Sandwich {{small|(2016)}} | Android Honeycomb {{small|(2013)}}}} | license = Proprietary }}
'''Gboard''' is a virtual keyboard app developed by Google for Android and iOS devices. It was first released for iOS in May 2016, followed by a release for Android in December 2016, debuting as a major update to the already-established Google Keyboard app on Android.
Gboard features Google Search, including web results (removed since April 2020)<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://9to5google.com/2020/04/09/gboard-google-button-disappears/ |work=9to5Google|title=Google Search button disappears from Gboard on Android|date=April 29, 2020|access-date=August 29, 2020|language=en-US}}</ref> and predictive answers, easy searching and sharing of GIF and emoji content, a predictive typing engine suggesting the next word depending on context, and multilingual language support. Updates to the keyboard have enabled additional functionality, including GIF suggestions, options for a dark color theme or adding a personal image as the keyboard background, support for voice dictation, next-phrase prediction, and hand-drawn emoji recognition. At the time of its launch on iOS, the keyboard only offered support for the English language, with more languages being gradually added in the following months, whereas on Android, the keyboard supported more than 100 languages at the time of release.
In August 2018, Gboard passed 1 billion installs on the Google Play Store, making it one of the most popular Android apps.<ref name="Android Police">{{Cite news|url=https://www.androidpolice.com/2018/08/22/gboard-passes-one-billion-installs-play-store/|title=Gboard passes one billion installs on the Play Store|date=August 22, 2018|work=Android Police|access-date=August 23, 2018|language=en-US}}</ref><ref name="Gboard introduction">{{cite web |first=Reena |last=Lee |title=Gboard, now available for Android |url=https://blog.google/products/search/gboard-now-on-android/ |work=The Keyword Google Blog |date=December 16, 2016 |access-date=January 8, 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |first=Ryan |last=Whitwam |title=[Update: Official] Google Keyboard is now Gboard with v6.0 update—includes integrated search, dedicated number row, multiple active languages, and more [APK Download] |url=http://www.androidpolice.com/2016/12/17/google-keyboard-now-gboard-v6-0-update-includes-integrated-search-dedicated-number-row-multiple-active-languages-apk-download/ |website=Android Police |date=December 17, 2016 |access-date=January 8, 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |first=Adi |last=Robertson |title=Google's great iOS keyboard is now on Android |url=https://www.theverge.com/2016/12/12/13922300/gboard-google-ios-keyboard-android-support |website=The Verge |publisher=Vox Media |date=December 12, 2016 |access-date=January 8, 2017}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.phonearena.com/news/Google-Gboard-keyboard-app-1-billion-downloads_id108061|title=Google's Gboard keyboard app exceeds 1 billion downloads in the Play Store|last=Vasile|first=Cosmin|work=Phone Arena|access-date=August 23, 2018}}</ref> This is measured by the Google Play Store and includes downloads by users as well as pre-installed instances of the app.<ref name="Android Police"/> As of April 2025, the app has been downloaded more than 10B times<ref>{{Cite web |title=Gboard - the Google Keyboard - Apps on Google Play |url=https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.google.android.inputmethod.latin&hl=en_US&pli=1 |access-date=2025-04-17 |website=play.google.com |language=en-US}}</ref> from the Google Play Store.
==Features== Gboard is a virtual keyboard app. It features Google Search, including web results (removed for Android version of the app) and predictive answers, easy searching and sharing of GIF and emoji content, and a predictive typing engine suggesting the next word depending on context.<ref name="iOS launch">{{cite web|url=https://techcrunch.com/2016/05/12/google-launches-gboard-an-ios-keyboard-that-lets-you-search-without-a-browser/|title=Google launches Gboard, an iOS keyboard that lets you search without a browser|last=Perez|first=Sarah|date=May 12, 2016|website=TechCrunch|publisher=AOL|access-date=January 8, 2017}}</ref> At its May 2016 launch on iOS, Gboard only supported the English language,<ref name="iOS launch"/> while it supported "more than 100 languages" at the time of its launch on the Android platform. Google states that Gboard will add more languages "over the coming months".<ref name="Gboard introduction"/> As of October 2019, 916 languages are supported on Android.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://support.google.com/gboard/answer/6380730|title=Set up Gboard - Android - Gboard Help|website=support.google.com|access-date=October 8, 2019}}</ref>
Gboard features Floating Keyboard<ref name = "Digicular" >{{cite web | first = Susheel | last = Karam | title = How To Turn-On & Use Resizable And Floating Keyboard Feature In Gboard | url = https://digicular.com/google-keyboard-floating-keyboard/ | website = Digicular | date = December 1, 2018 | access-date = November 15, 2020 | archive-date = August 9, 2022 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20220809070147/https://digicular.com/google-keyboard-floating-keyboard/ | url-status = dead }}</ref> and Google Translate in Gboard itself.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://support.google.com/gboard/answer/7421372?co=GENIE.Platform%3DAndroid&hl=en|title = Translate as you type - Android - Gboard Help}}</ref> Gboard supports one-handed mode on Android after its May 2016 update. This functionality was added to the app when it was branded as Google Keyboard.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://lifehacker.com/google-keyboard-now-has-a-one-handed-mode-1774293892|title=Google Keyboard Now Has a One-Handed Mode|last=Klosowski|first=Thorin|work=Lifehacker|access-date=August 23, 2018|language=en-US}}</ref> Gboard supports a variety of different keyboard layouts including QWERTY, QWERTZ, AZERTY, Dvorak and Colemak.<ref>{{Cite web |date=July 12, 2018 |title=Gboard, Google's excellent iOS keyboard, picks up Morse code typing in latest update |url=https://www.idownloadblog.com/2018/07/12/board-morse-code-typing/ |access-date=March 15, 2022 |website=iDownloadBlog.com |language=en-US}}</ref>
An update for the iOS app released in August 2016 added French, German, Italian, Portuguese, and Spanish languages, as well as offering "smart GIF suggestions", where the keyboard will suggest GIFs relevant to the text being written. The keyboard also offers new options for a dark theme or adding a personal image from the camera roll as the keyboard's background.<ref>{{cite web |first=Rajan |last=Patel |title=Olá Gboard: new languages, personal keyboards and more |url=https://blog.google/products/search/ola-gboard-new-languages-personal_4/ |website=The Keyword Google Blog |date=August 4, 2016 |access-date=February 23, 2017}}</ref> Another new update in March 2018 added Croatian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, Greek, Polish, Romanian, Balochi, Swedish, Catalan, Hungarian, Malay, Russian, Latin American Spanish, and Turkish languages, along with support for voice dictation, enabling users to "long press the mic button on the space bar and talk".<ref>{{cite web |first=Alan |last=Ni |title=Gboard for iPhone gets an upgrade |url=https://blog.google/products/search/gboard-iphone-gets-upgrade/ |website=The Keyword Google Blog |date=February 23, 2017 |access-date=February 23, 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |first=James |last=Vincent |title=Google upgrades its iPhone keyboard with voice dictation and 15 new languages |url=https://www.theverge.com/2017/2/23/14708578/google-keyboard-gboard-voice-typing-ios |website=The Verge |publisher=Vox Media |date=February 23, 2017 |access-date=February 23, 2017}}</ref> In April 2017, Google significantly increased the amount of Indian languages supported on Gboard, adding 11 new languages, bringing the total number of supported Indian languages to 22.<ref>{{cite web |first=Andrew |last=Martonik |title=Google dramatically improves support for Indian languages across Translate, Gboard and more |url=http://www.androidcentral.com/google-dramatically-improving-support-indian-languages |website=Android Central |date=April 25, 2017 |access-date=April 27, 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |first=Abhishek |last=Baxi |title=Google improves support for Indian languages in Google Translate, Gboard, and more |url=http://www.androidauthority.com/google-improves-support-for-indian-languages-in-google-translate-gboard-and-more-766986/ |website=Android Authority |date=April 25, 2017 |access-date=April 27, 2017}}</ref>
In June 2017, the Android app was updated to support recognition of hand-drawn emoji and the ability to predict whole phrases rather than single words. The functionality is expected to come to the iOS app at a later time.<ref>{{cite web |first=Nick |last=Statt |title=Gboard for Android now recognizes hand-drawn emoji and anticipates your next phrase |url=https://www.theverge.com/2017/6/12/15743130/google-gboard-android-update-keyboard-emoji-ai |website=The Verge |publisher=Vox Media |date=June 12, 2017 |access-date=June 14, 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |first=Roger |last=Cheng |title=Google's Gboard smart keyboard gets new bells and whistles |url=https://www.cnet.com/news/googles-gboard-smart-keyboard-gets-new-bells-and-whistles/ |website=CNET |publisher=CBS Interactive |date=June 12, 2017 |access-date=June 14, 2017}}</ref> Offline voice recognition was added in March 2019.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://ai.googleblog.com/2019/03/an-all-neural-on-device-speech.html|title=An All-Neural On-Device Speech Recognizer|website=Google AI Blog|date=March 12, 2019 |language=en|access-date=August 22, 2019}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://techcrunch.com/2019/03/12/googles-new-voice-recognition-system-works-instantly-and-offline-if-you-have-a-pixel/|title=Google's new voice recognition system works instantly and offline (if you have a Pixel)|website=TechCrunch|date=March 12, 2019|language=en-US|access-date=August 22, 2019}}</ref>
On February 12, 2020, a new feature "Emoji Kitchen<ref>{{Cite web |last=Williams |first=Jack |title=Emoji Kitchen |url=https://emojikitchen.pro/ }}</ref>" was introduced that allowed users to mash up different emoji and use them as stickers when messaging.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://techcrunch.com/2020/02/12/googles-gboard-introduces-emoji-kitchen-a-tool-to-mash-up-emojis-to-use-as-stickers/|title=Google's Gboard introduces Emoji Kitchen, a tool to mash up emojis to use as stickers|website=TechCrunch|date=February 12, 2020|language=en-US|access-date=February 13, 2020}}</ref> Grammar correction was introduced in October 2021, first on the Pixel 6 series.<ref>{{Cite web|date=October 29, 2021|title=Gboard on Pixel 6 series gets a grammar correction feature|url=https://www.xda-developers.com/gboard-grammar-correction-feature-pixel-6/|access-date=October 29, 2021|website=xda-developers|language=en-US}}</ref>
In September 2025, an AI writing tool was added to Gboard,<ref>{{Cite web |title=What's new on Android. |url=https://www.android.com/intl/en_us/new-features-on-android/featured/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250924235306/https://www.android.com/intl/en_us/new-features-on-android/featured/ |archive-date=2025-09-24 |access-date=2025-12-09 |website=Android |language=en-us}}</ref> which can edit the tone, grammar and conciseness of text, as well as add emoji<ref>{{Cite web |title=Use writing tools with Gboard - Gboard Help |url=https://support.google.com/gboard/answer/16515540 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250930152840/https://support.google.com/gboard/answer/16515540 |archive-date=September 30, 2025 |access-date=2025-12-09 |website=support.google.com |language=en |url-status=live }}</ref>.
==Reception== {{Update|section|date=July 2022}} In 2016, ''The Wall Street Journal'' praised the keyboard, particularly the integrated Google search feature. However, it was noted that the app does not currently support integration with other apps on the device, meaning that queries such as "Buy Captain America movie tickets" send users to the web browser rather than an app for movie tickets installed on their phone. ''The Wall Street Journal'' also praised the predictive typing engine, stating that it "blows past most competitors" and "it gets smarter with use". They also discovered that Gboard "cleverly suggests emojis as you type words". It was noted that there was the lack of a one-handed mode (a feature added in May 2016 for Android), as well as a lack of options for changing color or the size of keys, writing that "If you're looking to customize a keyboard, Gboard isn't for you."<ref>{{cite web |first=Nathan |last=Olivarez-Giles |title=Review: Gboard Adds Google's Search Box to iPhone Keyboards |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/review-gboard-adds-googles-search-box-to-iphone-keyboards-1463058321 |website=The Wall Street Journal |publisher=Dow Jones & Company |date=May 12, 2016 |access-date=January 8, 2017 |url-access=subscription}}</ref>
==Criticism== Gboard has received criticism regarding privacy, data collection, and user interface changes. While Google states that Gboard does not transmit the actual content of users' keystrokes, independent analyses have shown that the app collects and sends metadata, such as: device information, app usage statistics, and unique device identifiers to Google servers.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-05-22 |title=Is it possible to spy on keystrokes from an Android on-screen keyboard? |url=https://www.kaspersky.com/blog/prevent-android-keylogging-and-ime-spying/51281/ |access-date=2025-04-24 |website=www.kaspersky.com |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Newman |first=Lily Hay |title=How Google's Android Keyboard Keeps 'Smart Replies' Private |url=https://www.wired.com/story/gboard-smart-reply-privacy/ |access-date=2025-04-24 |magazine=Wired |language=en-US |issn=1059-1028}}</ref> Google also states that voice input is processed directly on the device, however using the "Fix" feature (to correct dictated text), sends the voice input to Google servers for processing.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Use advanced voice typing features - Gboard Help |url=https://support.google.com/gboard/answer/11197787}}</ref> Additionally, using the integrated search feature requires transmitting user input to Google.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Search Google & send results from your keyboard - Gboard Help |url=https://support.google.com/gboard/answer/9058099}}</ref>
Design updates have also attracted negative feedback, particularly changes to the keyboard's layout and key shapes. For instance, a redesign introducing more rounded keys was widely criticized by users for reducing typing accuracy and limiting customization options.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-03-06 |title=Gboard for Android gets a fresh new look, but beta users aren't loving it |url=https://www.digitaltrends.com/mobile/gboard-for-android-gets-a-fresh-new-look-but-beta-users-arent-loving-it/ |access-date=2025-04-24 |website=Digital Trends |language=en-us}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Gunther |first=Cory |date=2025-03-07 |title=Google's Gboard Keyboard Update Isn't Popular with Everyone |url=https://www.howtogeek.com/google-gboard-beta-key-redesign/ |access-date=2025-04-24 |website=How-To Geek |language=en}}</ref>
==See also== * Microsoft SwiftKey
==Notes== {{Notelist}}
==References== {{Reflist|30em}}
==External links== * {{Google Play|com.google.android.inputmethod.latin}} * {{iTunes Preview App}} * [https://support.google.com/gboard/answer/6380730#languages&zippy=%2Cfind-supported-languages List of supported languages]
{{Google LLC}}
Category:Google software Category:2016 software Category:Android (operating system) software Category:Android virtual keyboards Category:Input methods for handheld devices Category:IOS software