Skip to main content

GIF almost anywhere with Giphy’s new keyboard and sticker maker

Giphy wants to make it easier to say it with a GIF, from any app. On Tuesday, December 11, Giphy launched an iOS app update that brings a new GIF keyboard and, for iPhone X users, the option to create stickers.

Recommended Videos

The keyboard brings GIFs into any iOS app that supports multimedia, Giphy says. After updating the app, tapping on the globe in the corner of the keyboard allows users to change the keyboard language to Giphy. With the GIF keyboard activated, users can add GIFs from more apps than those natively supported by the GIF platform, as long as the app supports multimedia. While Giphy previously had a separate app for a GIF keyboard, the update allows users of the Giphy app to add GIFs from the keyboard without a second app.

Of course, a Giphy keyboard can’t be organized like a traditional QWERTY keyboard. The Giphy keyboard includes a search section, along with a section for trending GIFs and a designated spot for user-saved favorites. Inside the keyboard, users also have the option to select from the camera roll, to add text, layer stickers or add filters.

The app update also brings a tool for creating animated stickers without leaving the app or even without leaving that new GIF keyboard. For the iPhone X and above, users can tap on the “add GIF” icon and select the sticker option. The app will then record a video to turn into an animated sticker, with a transparent background.

The company says the latest update is a result of the Giphy’s larger mobile development team, after acquiring TapSlash in January 2018. Tap Slash was known for a Slash Keyboard and the small company’s five team members are now part of Giphy. “As always, Giphy continues to push the envelope of short-form content and how we converse,” the company wrote in a post. “This increasingly versatile flagship app goes beyond just being a utility, search engine or creation tool alone — rather, it’s a robust Swiss army knife powering visual communication for the messenger generation.”

The update is available as of Tuesday for the iOS app. The keyboard is available with iOS 11 and up, while the creation tool requires iOS 12 and the iPhone X or above devices.

Hillary K. Grigonis
Hillary never planned on becoming a photographer—and then she was handed a camera at her first writing job and she's been…
If you aren’t already using the Apple Sports app, you need to
The Apple Sports app running on an iPhone 16.

Friends, we are well into the best time of the year: football season. The Lions are off to an incredible start, the Vikings look dangerously good, and I'm continually amazed by how bad the Browns are.

The 2024 season has been a lot of fun. Not only have the games been entertaining, but I've also had a much better time following the latest plays and scores on my phone. After begrudgingly using the ESPN app last year and the year before, I decided to go all-in on Apple Sports this year — and I couldn't be happier. If you have an iPhone and aren't already using Apple Sports, this is your reminder that you absolutely need to.
A clean, simple, and ad-free interface

Read more
The iOS 18.2 beta, with new Apple Intelligence features, is here
iOS 18.2 update notification on an iPhone.

Apple has just rolled out the first beta of iOS 18.2, merely a day after seeding a release candidate version of the iOS 18.1 build. The latest beta brings some of the biggest Apple Intelligence features to the table.

The first one is ChatGPT integration. When users bring up Siri and ask it a question the assistant can’t handle, the request will be offloaded to OpenAI’s ChatGPT. “Users are asked before any questions are sent to ChatGPT, along with any documents or photos, and Siri then presents the answer directly,” Apple says.

Read more
Tim Cook wants you to know he’s confident in Apple’s AI future
Apple's September 2023 event Tim Cook

If you own an iPhone 16 series, you likely purchased it to be among the first to use Apple Intelligence. However, a month after the latest iPhones were released, this highly anticipated AI suite from the largest company in the world has not yet been released to the public. Tim Cook thinks the wait will be worth it.

In a long-ranging interview with The Wall Street Journal, the Apple CEO defends his company’s speed at which it is introducing AI into its products. He also sees a bright future for Apple Vision, even though the first product in a likely series of alternate reality devices, the very expensive Apple Vision Pro, has largely failed to catch on with most users.

Read more