Giphy Keys is a free iOS keyboard from the gif-obsessed website. This is made with the intention to make texting a little bit funnier. There are also other GIF keyboards around, but what makes Giphy Keys unique is that this one uses Giphy’s vast and popular database that is constantly growing up, so there’s many GiFs to choose from when you text.
Actually, there is GIF search integration in apps like Facebook Messenger, but the process isn’t always as fast or accurate in finding what the user wants. Now, without GIF search integration, the users would have to leave a conversation to find a suitable GIF, and that’s where Giphy stands out.
A GIF for every reaction
There is, indeed, a GIF for every reaction, and Giphy Keys makes it easier to look out for the perfect one to reply on a conversation.
On the surface, when the users first download Giphy Keys for iOS, it won’t look different at all from a normal keyboard. It sports a sleek, monochrome gray-and-black theme. On the App, there are six playful icons that are located above the Giphy keyboard to find quickly the perfect response GIF.
Also from left to right, the functions include search, a selection of common phrases and emotions, which icon is an upside-down smiley face. It also has other categories like animals and memes that use a spaceship icon, favorites sorted inside a heart icon category, recently used with an hourglass and random that uses an eight ball. As we could see, it’s not too different from the conventional keyboard.
The Key is in customization
What makes Giphy Keys to become more unique and where it stands out above the competition is the 8 Ball feature. What does it do? It “creates” your own GIFs to share instantly quickly.
Jillian Fisher, who is the Giphy’s Director of Mobile Products stated that there are a ton of third-party GIF keyboards out there and they actually power a lot of them, but in terms of the user interface (UI), they have noticed that a lot of them are really similar in that it’s all GIFs right there under your thumb — and that’s a great thing, but the intention is to switch in and out of your keyboard.
“It’s a pretty frustrating experience, especially if you have more than one keyboard app installed, we wanted to avoid that situation where you feel like you’re trapped in that keyboard,” said Fisher.
Source: Fast Company