Android gains previously Pixel-exclusive Gboard text stickers, more Emoji Kitchen combinations

Gboard is indisputably a top favorite keyboard app among Android users. Its ease of use and outstanding features make it a go-to when needing to compose a message, whether by typing the old-fashioned way or sliding your finger across the letters – a.k.a. Glide Typing.

Gboard also includes many smart features, some recently released, such as “emojifying” a message using a magic wand or double-checking your grammar for you. However, many of the features released for Gboard are usually Pixel exclusives – at least for a while – before they are released to the rest of the Android user base. Thankfully, another one of those features is losing its Pixel exclusivity soon, as announced by Google via a blog post:

A picture is worth a thousand words — but Gboard can now turn your words into pictures, too. Previously available on Pixel phones, custom text stickers will soon be available to all Android Gboard users typing in English-U.S., allowing you to type what you want to say, select a design and share your message with your nearest and dearest.

Emoji Kitchen is also getting a boost as part of Android’s quarterly features updates. For those unfamiliar with Emoji Kitchen, it is a feature of Gboard that combines different emojis and mixes them into customized stickers or “recipes.” You can accomplish this by typing in any two emojis, and Gboard will reveal mashup suggestions you can use.

Today’s update significantly increases the list of Emoji combinations you can use with the addition of 1,600 new mashups. Part of these will be many rainbow-based stickers to celebrate Pride month and several other summer-themed ones to help you more accurately express yourself. So if you struggle to find just the right Emoji at times, this feature is for you. Of course, we’re always happy to see new features roll out to more Android phones to keep the ecosystem as feature-rich as possible.