Before you are all impressed and shiz, let me confess – Gboard is neither my discovery nor did I download it on my phone. It’s all Mr. N. He has a knack for selling me weird apps, which I obviously buy and use all of two times, keep for three months and delete when my phone cannot save any more selfies. It works like a round clock. But I love it, and him for it. I would probably be using Motorola RAZR V3 in pink if it weren’t for him.
Anyway. Back to Gboard. It is a new keyboard designed by Google, for your cellphones. It has all the features you would need on your fingertips — GIFs, emojis, and Glide Typing — plus built-in Google Search. No more app switching; just search and send, right from your keyboard.
I have been using it for a couple of weeks now, and here’s what I love about it:
- You can customise the keyboard’s background and add your favourite picture, just as you can for your phone’s desktop.
- I no longer feel excluded from the cool gang of emojis. There are lots of new faces, and with words being so pàsse, emojis can do the talking for you.

- If you want to up your communication game, or just annoy people, there are GIFs too.
- You can use facts (or alternate facts!) to substantiate arguments. Google search is now a permanent fixture in Gboard, so all you have to do is type in the keyword, hit search, click on your choice of result and send.

Would I recommend it? Absolutely! It’s extensive, comfortable, customisable and I can finally add Pakistani flag in my instagram bio #goals.