Google seems to be testing new Gboard functionality that will make you use its built-in search function more. According to the source, the Google logo, which is placed in the top-left portion of the keyboard, will transform once it finds content that is relevant to what you’re typing at the time. It is also noted that such tests started back in July, but some additional content just surfaced, along with screenshots of the new functionality, which you can check out in the gallery down below.
That being said, the aforementioned logo will transform to a smiley face once it finds relevant content. So, for example, it may find some stickers that it thinks you’ll like, and that are relevant to what you’re currently writing, and once you tap that smiley face, you’ll be able to see them in the main portion of Gboard. As an example, you can write ‘dog’ and you will be offered some dog stickers and GIFs once you tap on that smiley face. In previous iterations of this feature, instead of the aforementioned smiley face, Google used its logo with a circle around it to indicate that it found something or you, but it seems like that approach did not work as well as the company had hoped, and the smiley face replaced it, probably to be more visible to users.
Some of you may find this feature handy, even though you could already use Gboard’s search field to find such options, the keyboard will do that automatically or you based on your writing, as soon as this feature comes your way. Do keep in mind that you cannot install a beta version of Gboard, or anything of the sort in order to access this feature. This feature had rolled out to a small number of users who reported what we talked about in this article, and it is still unknown as to when will Google push this feature out to everyone.
