Gboard beta brings subtle functional and design changes to the emoji picker
Edgar Cervantes / Android Authority
TL;DR Gboard's emoji, GIF, sticker, and emoticon picker could soon get a minor design update.
The new emoji picker removes the 'All' page, which lists recent emojis, Emoji Kitchen creations, and GIFs.
It also adds larger emoji, GIF, sticker, and emoticon buttons to the bottom bar and removes the background from the toolbar UI at the top.
After rolling out a redesigned Emoji Kitchen UI in Gboard last month, Google is now prepping an update for the keyboard app's emoji, GIF, sticker, and emoticon picker. The refreshed design is available in the latest Gboard beta and could roll out on the stable channel with a subsequent release.
9to5Google reports that the fresh emoji picker design is available in version 15.3.06.x beta of the Gboard app on Pixel phones and tablets. Unlike the current design, the new emoji picker does not feature an 'All' page listing recently used emojis, Emoji Kitchen creations, and GIFs. Instead, the bottom bar has the 'ABC' option in a pill-shaped button and emoji, GIF, sticker, and emoticon options within larger, rounded rectangular buttons.
Current design with "All" page
Updated design with larger buttons
In addition to the updated bottom bar, the new design removes the background of the top toolbar. Although minor, these changes make Gboard's emoji picker appear more modern. The rounded rectangular buttons are more in line with the Material 3 Expressive design changes set to arrive with Android 16, and they even make the touch targets bigger, which should improve usability.
These aren't the only design changes expected to arrive with future builds of the Gboard app. Google is also preparing to roll out a new rounded key design, which it first started testing this March. We've also spotted evidence of an upcoming gesture that will let users enter symbols by flicking keys.
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