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Gboard for iOS now supports Google Maps, YouTube, and drawing pictures

Gboard for iOS is today adding a few handy new features for iOS users. In its latest update, available now through the App Store, Google is adding integration with Google Maps and YouTube, along with a fun new option for “artists.”

Gboard’s new integrations with Google Maps and YouTube are designed for convenience. We’re constantly copying and pasting information from messages and emails, and locations are a big part of that. While Android can pick up locations as addresses and give you the option to open them in Maps on Android O, iOS can’t do the same. That means you have to highlight the address, copy it, paste it into Google Maps (or Apple Maps, bleh), and start your navigation.

With this Gboard update, iOS users can simply send a link to their location that opens directly in Google Maps on a recipient’s phone.

Whether you’re coordinating a rendezvous point at the park or dinner plans at a nearby restaurant, meeting up with friends and family has never been easier. Just tap the G button then “Maps” to share your current location or a local address.

The same applies for YouTube. Directly from Gboard, users can search for anything on YouTube and toss that link into their message. Both of these new features show up in Gboard as tabs alongside standard Google Search.

Along with those, Gboard for iOS is also adding a new drawing mode called “Ink.” Much like Apple’s own feature, Ink for Gboard gives users the option to create their own images and send them, all without leaving the currently-open application.

For you artists (or doodlers!), you can now use our new Ink feature to draw and share your creations right from your keyboard. Just tap on the emoji button followed by the pen icon and get to to work!

Three new languages have also been added to Gboard for iOS in this update: Arabic, Hebrew and Farsi. All of these features are exclusive to the iOS version of Gboard, and it’s unclear if they’ll be coming to Android anytime soon.


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Avatar for Ben Schoon Ben Schoon

Ben is a Senior Editor for 9to5Google.

Find him on Twitter @NexusBen. Send tips to schoon@9to5g.com or encrypted to benschoon@protonmail.com.


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