Google Working on a Keyboard App for iOS: Report

Google is said to be working on a keyboard app for iOS devices. The Mountain View giant is being said to do so in order to put its search engine "in a highly used" part of the interface and also increase the number of Google searches on the platform.

The Verge, citing people familiar with Google's plans, reports that the keyboard for iOS will incorporate various search options and has been in development for months now. Google is said to add more features to its keyboard for iOS devices to distinguish itself from the stock iOS keyboard.

Some of the features that the Google's third-party keyboard is said to include are gesture-based typing alongside image and gif searches. The report says that the keyboard will have a distinct Google logo to do a regular search right from the keyboard. It adds that the image and gif searches will be also powered by Google's image search. The keyboard is said to be visually different from the one seen on Android, which features voice search but no text and image-based search. As of now, there is no word when Google intends to release the keyboard for iOS.

The report says that the Google's new keyboard for iOS has been going through internal testing with employees for months now. It adds that Google's aim here is to boost searches from mobile, a burgeoning segment that its been focusing. It will be interesting to see if Google can come up with a competent offering, as most other third-party keyboards on iOS have suffered from performance issues on Apple's mobile platform.

We can expect Google to reveal its new keyboard for iOS at its I/O 2016 developer conference that will be held in Mountain View, California on May 18 through May 20 later this year.