The list of official Google apps available in the Play Store has grown by one today, as the company just added its Google Keyboard app to the shop's virtual shelves. As the name suggests, Google Keyboard gives users the stock Android 4.2 keyboard, complete with features like Gesture Typing, Voice Typing and support for both smartphones and tablets. The app is 15MB in size and is compatible with Android devices running OS version 4.0 or higher.

While users of Google's Nexus hardware have access to this keyboard out of the box, owners of skinned Android devices are typically given a keyboard that comes as part of their manufacturer's custom overlay. Those users have always had the option of downloading third-party keyboards from the Play Store, but getting access to Google's official Android keyboard wasn't as easy. That's changing today, and although it's kind of surprising that it took Google this long to release the stock Android keyboard into the Play store, I'm glad to see that it's finally happened. Google Keyboard can be found at the Google Play link below, and if you've got a compatible Android device, it may be worth checking out.

Via Droid-Life, Google Play: Google Keyboard