One of the best apps of late last year was Gboard from Google. It replaced Google Keyboard and it is a much smarter, faster keyboard for your Android devices and for iPhone, where it debuted originally. Now Google has quietly added a nice new feature to Gboard when you use it within Google Assistant. It provides you with common search phrases just above the keyboard to make interacting a bit faster.
Assuming that you have Google Assistant on your phone (if you have Android Marshmallow or Nougat, you likely do), just long press the Home button on your phone to bring up Assistant. Normally at this point I find it faster just to speak to Assistant to get the information I need but there are times that I can’t do that (I’m in a quiet place for example). After you open up Assistant, note the keyboard icon in the lower left corner. Tap it and that opens up your keyboard so you can type a query.
If you have Gboard installed, you will notice a row of search suggestions directly above the keyboard. Tap those and press enter
Gboard Suggestions in Google Assistant
to get that information back. One-tap searching!
The addition of search phrases isn’t something that is going to set the world alight but it is another way that Google is working to integrate Google Assistant with their other apps and services. This is a small, but handy example.
Gboard is free in the Play Store if you haven’t tried it out.
