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GIFs are a fun element of online communication. They're great for dramatic reactions or inside jokes. Next time you struggle with what to say on Facebook, use a GIF to get your point across.
You probably never thought you'd be making goofy GIF selfies on your Chromebook, but here we are
Google is bringing a GIF maker to your Chromebook's camera
GIFs have ruled the internet for the past three decades, and while other image file formats offer more colors and better compression, they just can't touch GIF's trump card: animation. People use these eye-catchy animations everywhere, whether expressing their mood, or reacting to a meme on platforms like Instagram or Twitter. If you're tired of using the same GIFs over and over, there are plenty of tools around for making your own animations. Soon, even your Chromebook may be lending its hand to help create your goofiest GIF yet.
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 😒.
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.
Stickers are a lot of fun to use, but animated stickers can also use a lot of cellular data — especially if you use them all the time. The developers of the popular Telegram messaging app have realized this, and version 5.9 introduces a new format for animated stickers specifically designed to use consume less data (and battery life).
GIFs are always fun to mess around with, though forwarding one can sometimes prove more difficult than sending an equivalent image. To address this, Google has just implemented a new "Share GIFs" section in Google Images that makes sharing our favorite clips a bit easier.
Gboard's latest update is out, but there no particularly notable differences have been spotted lurking in the interface. Instead, this update seems to be preparing a couple of changes that will end a year-long run for the Make A GIF feature and bring a couple data privacy options to users.
Instagram nowadays is synonymous with three words: Stories, filters, and ads; and the first two are at the crux of the latest addition we spotted in the app. After allowing you to apply filters à la Snapchat while taking photos and videos for your Stories, Instagram has added the option to use those filters after the fact.
Slowly but surely, Google is adding features to its Android Messages app. The latest change is small but will be quite welcomed for those of you who can always, always find the perfect GIF in any situation or in response to any message.
The V30 may be over a year old at this point, but the Verizon version was updated just yesterday with a handful of new features, including some camera functionality tweaks and additional always-on display modes inherited from the newer G7. The security patch level has also been bumped up to November 2018.
Messaging apps are getting smarter and smarter, but there are several areas where WhatsApp's way of doing things perplexes me a little. For example, the app recently added the option to watch entire videos picture-in-picture inside a conversation, but when you send a link to an image (JPG, PNG, GIF, etc), it doesn't even try to load a preview before sending it. That might be changing though, as we're starting to see hints of WhatsApp offering to download linked GIFs before you send them.
Earlier this year, Instagram added the ability to embed GIF stickers in Stories (and then removed the feature, and then put it back). Now users can send GIFs to each other in DMs, via a new button in the composer bar.
A lot of the stuff we review here at Android Police has genuine utility behind it. Things like phones, Chromebooks, and wearables can enhance your life and your productivity. The BEAM will do none of those things, but it will let you stick a funny meme on your chest for $85, and I call that a win.
Samsung's Always On Display made its debut on the Galaxy S7 and S7 edge over two years ago now. Since then, the company has steadily been adding features here and there, which it's been able to do since the feature itself has its own APK. Always On Display's newest addition is GIF support, which lets you add a little action to the otherwise-dull clock and time.
The company behind Snapchat is rolling out a new feature to its app that allows users to paste animated GIFs onto their Snaps and stories. The new functionality is the result of a partnership with Giphy, and provides users with access to Giphy's enormous GIF database from right within the Snapchat app.
Google's new Motion Photos might have flown under your radar when it was announced last week in the context of the Google Clips, but that's not surprising—there was a lot going on. Since then, we've reached out to Google for more information and, combined with our own hands-on, we've got a good understanding of what goes into a Motion Photo.
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The SwiftKey beta was just updated to fix one of the few oversights in the new GIF support. Now instead of just browsing categories, you can actually search for specific GIFs. So the next time you need to find the perfect animated expression that combines excitement with mild digestive upset, you'll save a tiny bit of time doing it. In addition to GIF search, it also adds support for seven new languages as well as a few other small improvements.
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- The teaser was accurate, and Google Wifi is now up for purchase at both the German and French Google Store. Right now you can pick up one for 139,00 €. The two-pack isn't currently available for purchase, though it is expected to cost 249,00 €. Interested parties can register on a waiting list via the product page.
It isn't officially announced, but earlier today Google posted a teaser GIF about upcoming product availability on their French Google+ page. The meaning of the image wasn't entirely clear since it's just an animation of some buildings growing out of the ground, as a bubble in the center reflects waves around. However, since the filename was "Google Wifi #3.gif," I don't think it's too much of a stretch to make a guess.
The Graphics Interchange Format was initially developed by CompuServe in 1987, and has become a staple of the internet. However, GIFs have some limitations, and many sites have switched to using HTML5 video in WebM or MP4 format (such as Gfycat, Imgur, Twitter, and others).
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Chrome 58 just recently hit stable, which means Chrome 59 has been moved up to the Beta branch. This time around, Chrome is finally adding support for the Animated PNG standard. There are also a few other important changes, so let's take a look.