Would you use a Google keyboard on your iPhone?

By Trevor Mogg March 23, 2016

google keyboard for ios — Mishoo/123RF

If you’re an iOS user who still hasn’t found a keyboard that perfectly suits your typing style, Google may soon be able to help.

The Web giant has been prepping a mobile keyboard for the iPhone and iPad “for months,” The Verge reported Tuesday, though there’s been no official word on the matter from the company itself.

Google is apparently hoping its keyboard, if it gets released, will lead users to Google Search, which continues to be the company’s main revenue driver via ads shows as part of results. It plans to do this by including “a variety of search options,” including a logo button that’ll take you directly to its homepage, The Verge said.

The keyboard, which employees at the company have supposedly been testing for some time, could also include individual buttons for pictures and GIF searches, both of which would likely be powered by Google image search.

And as with Google’s Android keyboard – though unlike Apple’s iOS offering – there’ll be the option to slide your finger between letters while the software predicts your words.

Apple introduced third-party keyboard support with the launch of iOS 8 in 2014, a welcome move that led to a flurry of options landing in the App Store. Android users, on the other hand, have long had plenty to choose from if the stock offering fails to deliver.

It certainly makes sense that the Mountain View company is cooking up a keyboard of its own for iOS. Google already offers well over 50 apps for Apple’s mobile operating system, and so a keyboard – one that could lead to even more cash coming its way –seems like a no-brainer for the business, though of course the big challenge will be getting people to use it.

Topics

Contributing Editor

Not so many moons ago, Trevor moved from one tea-loving island nation that drives on the left (Britain) to another (Japan)…

Mobile

You don’t want to see this warning on your Google Pixel phone

Someone holding the Bay blue Google Pixel 8 Pro.

It's summertime in the U.S., so it's getting hot. When that happens, keeping yourself and your mobile devices cool is important. With that in mind, Google is developing a new message that will be displayed on Pixel phones when they overheat.

As 9to5Google discovered in fresh code, Google will no longer show a basic message warning when a phone may be overheating. Instead, it plans to post: "Phone needs to cool down: You may experience slower performance. Try avoiding direct sunlight or close any battery-intensive apps."

Mobile

You’ve never seen an iPhone like this before

Your Apple iPhone has a camera, my iPhone has a camera, so everyone’s iPhone must have a camera right? Wrong, as an image posted to Reddit shows.

Originally uploaded to the “Mildly Interesting” subreddit (somewhat ironically, given it's actually very interesting), it’s a photo of an aging and somewhat battered Apple iPhone. But before you think you are looking at the startup logo on the screen, it’s actually the back of the phone, and it’s missing the camera entirely.

Mobile

5 phones you should buy instead of the Google Pixel 8a

The Google Pixel 8a's screen.

Everyone loves a bargain, and it's hard to argue that the Google Pixel 8a is anything but. With a flagship processor and one of the best phone cameras around, the $499 smartphone has the specs to make it a steal. But Google hasn't just crammed great hardware into the phone, as it also has one of the cleanest implementations of Android 14, all of Google's current AI roster, and an incredible seven years of software updates to boot. It's a cheap phone that can go the distance, and one we are more than happy to recommend.

But it's not perfect. The battery is a little weak, as is its charging ability — and the less said about the cheap-feeling plastic body, the better. So even though it's a strong phone, there are a number of alternatives that could pull your eyes away from Google's latest midrange phone.