The latest Gboard beta is now rolling out and with it are a number of improvements to the marquee search feature. Built-in search gets a revamp with more actions on cards, multiple search results, and quicker access to GIF search.
Searches within Gboard will now yield multiple results. While this was already the case for some queries in the previous version, more terms will now bring up a carousel of cards. However, the new interface in version 6.3 does remove the carousel of search suggestions.
When searching for locations, Gboard use to display results as vertical list. Now, locations are displayed as cards with shortcuts to quickly place a phone call, start directions, or open in Maps. The latter shortcut is also available on other types of searches and opens up the corresponding link in Chrome.
To better telegraph the fact that users can quickly share results when chatting, Gboard now features an explicit share button. Previously, it was not obvious that users could tap on a card to insert the URL or result into a text chat.
Meanwhile, the field for web searches has been combined with GIF lookup. The bottom row of controls to return to the keyboard or backspace now features a tab to switch between web and GIF search. This new design is much faster than first having to first press the symbol icon. Hopefully, Google will integrate emoji search in the future.
On the emoji front, users can now search for them by drawing. The emoji search bar features a new icon at the very right that takes users to a sketch pad. Suggested emoji will show up above as you complete your drawing.
Google might have accidentally uploaded a dogfood variant as the version number is officially: 6.3.15.157483061-dogfood. Additionally, there is a dog paw icon on the space bar.
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