Gboard is one of the most popular and feature-rich keyboards in the Android world but, like any self-respecting Google product, it is subject to constant change: before long, for example, the personalized Mini stickers will be eliminated completely.
We recently talked about the many new features coming to Google applications and we also described the changes that Gboard will undergo to better adapt to the Material You of Android 12. In the midst of all these changes there is another less drastic but somewhat curious one that hangs over the keyboard of the Mountain View house: given the growing popularity of the Emoji Kitchen function, on which Google has decided to focus strongly, personalized stickers Mini will be abandoned.
Introduced in 2018 as a feature to allow users to create custom stickers that match their likeness, Gboard’s Mini stickers served a similar purpose to Bitmoji. A few months later Google had enriched the feature by opening it to third-party Emoji style sticker packs.
Actually, after the initial enthusiasm, the function had been a bit abandoned to itself and indeed towards the middle of 2020 Google had expressed its desire to eliminate the Mini stickers, inviting Gboard users to turn their attention right in Bitmoji.
As you can see from the screenshot below, the words of Google are about to follow the facts: just open Gboard in a compatible app and enter a pack of stickers Mini to read « Notice: the minis will no longer be available soon.
At the specific request of 9to5Google colleagues, Google has made it known that the function will not disappear immediately, but by the end of October. A precise date has not been indicated. The most recent version of Gboard can be downloaded from the Google Play Store.
