A couple of months ago, it was reported that Google was working on a keyboard specifically for iOS devices. Now, the keyboard has officially been released, which Google is calling the Gboard. 

Apart from being designed by the same company responsible for Android, this keyboard has a few nifty tricks, namely the addition of a built-in search, as well as the ability to send GIFs along with the usual text and emoji. 

As such, results from web searches can be pasted in the text box and shared with a contact. This function has particularly strong application when sharing map and location data, as well as information extracted from an official website. Added to this is word tracing, akin to the flow feature found on Swiftkey. 

The new keyboard is available for free download from the App Store in certain regions (not in SA just yet), and in combination with iMessage could turn out to be a very powerful messaging tool. See it in action in the video below.