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Gmail has been the most popular email client for years. It creates a seamless virtual environment with other Google apps, such as Calendar and Meet. It is pre-installed on Android devices and sleek new Chromebooks, which makes Gmail an accessible email client.
GIFs are animated images. You could say they're a hybrid of videos and photos. You may have sent or received a couple of them while texting on social media. They're one way to spice up conversations and be more expressive when stickers or emojis don't have the energy you want. However, some social apps and media players don't support them. On Instagram, you can only post animated GIFs in comment sections. The best way to work around this setback is to convert them to a video format.
Google Chat gets GIF support to help you cope with the loss of Hangouts
The transition is still not going okay, though
The killing of Google Hangouts has been a tough one. Google has been trying to kill Hangouts since Google Allo and Google Duo were announced in 2016, which means Google has been going at it for at least 5 years. Right now, though, it's been trying to get Hangouts users moved over to Google Chat. And users of Hangouts are... not exactly in love. In an attempt to make them feel a little bit more at home, Google Chat is now rolling out support for GIFs.
Viber adds GIF creation features to help make chats more fun
Boomerang, slow-mo, and super speedy modes included
Viber has been releasing a bunch of new features and upgrades lately, from increasing its group call limits to letting users save notes and to-dos. Now the messaging service has launched a GIF creation tool on iOS... with Android to follow in the coming weeks 😒.
Facebook acquires Giphy, plans to fully integrate GIFs into Instagram
Unclear how much was paid in cash or STONKS
Facebook has acquired GIPHY, a social platform centered around GIFs. Axios is reporting from sources that the company paid $400 million in the deal.
It's incredible how feature-packed Gboard has become over the years with integrated stickers, GIFs, Google Search, clipboard management, and much more, so Google is trying to make some options more accessible. At the moment, the company is testing a function that gives people GIF and sticker suggestions when they add emoji through the keyboard.
Microsoft is bolstering its PC-to-phone bridging app, Your Phone, with the release of the latest Windows 10 Insider Preview — in fact, it's the bulk of the changes touted in this preview version. For build 18908 (20H1), fast ring insiders will be able to try out new accessibility tools and messaging features with more Android devices. Oh, and there's a new logo, too, but that's just the start of things.
Support for Tenor GIFs was recently added to Google's SMS messaging app, allowing you to easily add a GIF into your chats by tapping on the + and then 'GIF search.' Google really wants to encourage you to use this, it seems, as it's now offering suggestions for GIF searches based on your conversations.
The European Parliament voted in favor of reforming the (admittedly due to be adjusted) copyright law in Europe. By itself, the new law isn't that controversial and will actually help creators and journalists get their fair share of income from big online players like YouTube and Google News. But don't put your torchlights and pitchforks down just yet. The directive might lead big platforms to implement upload filters to catch copyright infringement before content is published — which could possibly kill GIFs and memes.
Third-party keyboard app Fleksy has picked up a couple of new features, one of which is practically essential to the touch-typing experience. As of version 9.7.6, users can now hold down on the space bar and slide their finger left and right to adjust the position of the cursor in the text field. Other keyboards, like Gboard, have had this feature for some time.
Messenger Lite, a stripped-down version of Facebook's popular Messenger chat client, has limited features by necessity; Facebook engineered the app to be optimized for budget devices and slow connections. While the simplicity can be refreshing compared to the bloated messes many Facebook-owned apps are becoming, it can also be constraining — but Facebook announced today that Lite is getting new tricks to bring it closer to its feature-rich older brother while maintaining its relatively light footprint.
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After tests popped up throughout the summer, Gboard has now officially announced it is using on-device AI to provide suggestions for stickers, GIFS, and emoji based on what users are typing. It was always possible to search for such content through the keyboard, but this feature brings up suggestions automatically, alerting users via the Google button on the upper left hand side of the keyboard. Additionally, Google's keyboard app gained support for 37 new languages, including new variants of Russian and Arabic, as well as several indigenous North American languages.
The latest Gboard update landed a couple of days ago with "Minis" sticker packs, a feature developed originally for the Allo messenger. However, as the story often goes with Gboard, there's still more to be seen with a teardown. There are the first hints about clipboard integration and some kind of hotkey support for Chrome OS. Follow-ups are also here for a previously spotted floating keyboard and the morse code input introduced earlier this year.
Google's AI Experiments are fun ways for the company to show off its advances in machine learning while also collecting additional data to further its research. It's got a new one out today: Move Mirror watches you move through your computer's webcam (with permission, that is) and uses AI trickery to match your pose against a database of tens of thousands of photos.
Gboard added the option to use your phone's camera to create custom GIFs in May. The tool came with a few fun effects to apply over the clips, too, like question marks to express confusion and mock "breaking news" chyrons. An update today brings a few new GIF effects and custom text overlays, as well as more practical improvements like support for additional languages.
Sometimes words just aren't enough when sending messages. That's when you resort to emoji, stickers, and (in extreme cases) GIFs. It's getting easier to create GIFs with the latest beta update to Gboard. All you need to do is open the GIF section, and you can make your own custom GIF with the camera.
Google has acquired Tenor, one of the big players in the GIF game. In a blog post, Google said that Tenor will continue to operate as a separate brand while Google invests "in their technology and relationships with content and API partners."
One of the Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL's highlight features was Motion Photos. It's not something most of us really care about, and it's something I quickly disabled, but it can be fun for those with little ones. In keeping with one of our teardowns from about a week ago, Google has added the option to export a Motion Photo as a GIF to the Google Photos app.
A fresh round of updates to the Google Photos app began rolling out this week. Aside from a few small tweaks to wording, you're probably not going to see any noticeable changes as a result of installing the latest version, but as is often the case, there are at least several topics to cover in a teardown. We can look forward to counting up Likes on our shared photos, easier sharing of Motion Stills, and of course, the wider rollout of Google Lens. Also making a return appearance is Austin's infamous mysteryer feature.
Instagram updates its app pretty often, with new features coming thick and fast. Recently we've seen the addition of an activity status for direct messages and support for Android's direct share menu. Not resting on their laurels, the developers now have another new treat for everyone, in the form of new GIF stickers that can be added to your stories.