Giphy’s new iOS keyboard puts all the GIFs at your fingertips

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giphy
It's pretty exciting.
GIF: Giphy

If a picture is worth a thousand words, a GIF must be worth… well, a lot more. And they’re only getting more popular, which is why you need Giphy’s new keyboard for iOS, which puts all the GIFs you could ever need at your fingertips.

Believe it or not, the GIF format was first introduced in 1987, and the latest iteration — the one we’re all using today — was released in 1989. GIF images certainly aren’t new, then, but they are more popular now than they ever were.

That could be because loading a GIF today takes just a second, while in the early days of the internet, it was quicker to just watch a movie than view a GIF on dial-up.

Giphy, one of the largest and most popular sources of ready-made GIFs, has been available inside Facebook Messenger for a while on iOS. But you can now share GIFs just as easily inside other iPhone and iPad apps using the free Giphy keyboard.

Called Giphy Keys, the keyboard suggests awesome GIFs based on the words and phrases you type. Recently-used GIFs are available in their very own section so you can use them again without searching — as are those you’ve marked as favorites.

Giphy keys on iPhone.
Giphy Keys on iPhone.
Photo: Giphy

You can also search for GIFs by category, and there are dozens to choose from, like animals, anime, celebrities, emotions, and gaming. There’s also a fun 8 ball feature, which lets you type a question and get an answer in GIF form.

Once you’ve found a GIF you like, just tap and hold it, then copy and paste it into your message. You can use the GIFs almost anywhere, but bear in mind that not all apps will display them correctly.

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