Inserting GIFs from your keyboard is one of the latest trends we're seeing in Android apps. And it makes sense: instead of using a separate app to search for GIFs then sharing them to whatever conversation you happen to be having, you simply switch your keyboard to GIF mode and find what you need. Less jumping around and less friction. And with the latest update to the GBoard keyboard app, GIF insertion is no longer limited to Android 7.1 devices, but can be used as far back as Honeycomb if the app you're sending through supports it.

One of these apps is Slack. In its 2.27.0 beta update, the team chat app has added GIF support in GBoard, letting you insert recently used GIFs, search for new ones, pick whichever you like, and send it to your colleagues.

As you can tell from our AndroidPolice Slack chat, we're all pretty psyched about it. Sure, we could /giphy in Slack before, but that inserted a random GIF that sometimes didn't truly express what we were feeling. It created a lot of awkward and funny moments, so a more customizable approach is definitely better.

Below is the changelog, which only contains the GIF GBoard support and crash fixes (always welcome). You can grab Slack beta by becoming a beta tester and downloading the app from the Play Store from the widget below.

WHAT'S NEW

Slack 2.27.0 Beta Release Notes:
Highlights:
• Support inserting GIFs from Google GBoard
• Couple crash fixes
Slack Developer: Slack Technologies Inc.
Price: Free
3.8
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