Over the years, Google has added, as well as removed, certain features from its Gboard app. In a recent development, as per a report by 9to5Google, the company has confirmed it will be scrapping one feature from Gboard. Notably, Google is planning to scrap the Bitmoji-like ‘Minis’ custom stickers from Gboard. Moreover, this removal process will happen in a not so distant future. FYI, the Minis stickers feature was introduced by Google for Gboard back in 2018. In order to create a custom sticker, you needed to click a selfie, and based on that, custom stickers were created automatically. These stickers are similar to Bitmoji, and they came with two sticker packs, i.e. Sweet and Bold. Each of the sticker styles had its own artistic style. Based on this, a third sticker style debuted later that year. However, in the time since, the feature was mostly left alone, and did not get any revamp.
The scrapping message from Google is appearing only when you have ‘Minis’ set up
Now, since Google is pulling the plug on the ‘Minis’ feature, it is showing a message to the users. The message reads, “Notice: Minis will be going away soon.“, giving us a clear idea that the feature is on its way out. Do note that this warning message that the Gboard Minis custom sticker is going away is only popping up if you have Minis stickers set up for your Gboard app, and when you are actively using it. Google was considering the removal of this feature for quite some time now. So, this decision is not all of a sudden. It went through a thought process, and as noted by the source, the first information regarding its removal was spotted back in mid-2020. For those who use Minis stickers frequently, there is some additional information provided by Google. The company confirmed that the feature won’t disappear overnight. It will be scrapped sometime around the end of October. Google did not provide any specific date though. Frankly, it wasn’t a popular feature that would affect a lot of Gboard users, but it could be a huge deal for those who made use of it regularly. We could only hope Google brings a revamped version of the Minis feature or something similar to it in the future.
