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The latest update to Google’s keyboard app Gboard for Android is rolling out and it is bringing a lot of new features.  With the update, version 7.2.9 for those keeping score at home, will allow users to create their own GIFs to share with others.  The feature requires that you give Gboard access to your camera and when you do, it will fire up the selfie camera on your phone to record about 3 seconds of video.  It then uses the video to create the short animation and will allow you to add filters to it as well.

The new feature is found when you open up Gboard for Android and then tap on the emoji icon (the smiley face) then tap on the GIF option.

Google’s Family Link, the app that allows parents to setup, manage and monitor their children’s accounts on Android devices has had a big expansion today.  All 28 European Union countries now have the app available to them in their local Google Play Store.

For those that aren’t familiar with it, Family Link allows parents to create an account for their children on Android devices (and Chromebooks too) that can restrict access to certain types of apps, limit their device screen time, and even put the devices asleep at a certain time.  It is all part of Google’s effort to keep kids safe online but also as part of digital wellbeing by not being in front of their screens all the time.

It has been a long time coming but Google Photos is finally going to give you the ability to mark photos in your library as favorites.  The new features, which the Google Photos team announced via Twitter, is a cloud-side update and will be rolling out to all accounts throughout this week.  Once you have it, you will be able to view a photo and will see a small star icon as you view that photo.  Tap that star, that photo gets marked as a favorite.

As part of this feature, there will now be a new Favorites album in the menu and in your Albums view in Google Photos.  That way you will be able to quickly find them in your library.

As most readers will know, Chromebooks generally come with a small amount of built-in storage.  The assumption, of course, is that you will be leveraging Google Drive for the bulk of your storage needs as well as USB drives that you attached to your Chromebook.  Chrome OS makes these solutions easy to access all from within the Files app.

But how much storage do you have left in your Google Drive account or on that USB drive you’ve plugged in?  Fortunately it is very easy to find out this information right from within the Files app in Chrome OS.  In this How To, I’ll show you how to quickly see the storage available on any drive on your Chromebook.