Imagine a world without emojis. Those delightful-looking yellow icons have become so integrated with popular culture that we almost take them for granted. If they weren’t a thing, you’d still be relying on bland “haha” texts to respond to all those funny memes your friends and family send you. That takes the fun out of things, so like any other human being with a phone, you’re probably addicted to emojis. But do you use them well? There’s more depth to emojis on Android and today we’re taking a dive.

Newer versions of Android offer over 3,000 emojis but if the catalogue still feels too restrictive, then Gboard’s Emoji Kitchen feature has got you covered. Suppose you are feeling “sangry” – Gen Z’s favourite slang term for feeling sad and angry at the same time. You could express that using separate sad and angry emojis, but that may not be the best way to convey the emotion. That’s where Emoji Kitchen comes in, fusing those two emotions into a single emoji, which can then be sent as a sticker.

This is just one of the over 15,000 different combinations waiting to be explored. If you are using Gboard, chances are that you’re already seeing Emoji Kitchen. If not, then you’d need to download Gboard, then follow the steps below:

1. Fire up Gboard on any app, tap on the three-dot icon at the top, and head to Settings

2. Navigate to Emojis, Stickers & GIFs, and turn on ‘Emoji Stickers’

3. Bring up Gboard on any messaging app and tap the emoji icon to the left of the space bar

4. Tap on any emoji to see suggestions pertaining to it

Voice typing on Android has improved a lot over the years and now has no problem keeping up with the fastest talkers out there. You can even add punctuation, erase words, and send a message armed with nothing but the power of speech. But perhaps the most underrated feature is the ability to dictate emojis. Once it’s set it up, you can go truly hands-free.

If you are not seeing the mic icon at the top right corner of  Gboard for some reason, just enable it from Gboard Settings > Voice typing > Use voice typing.

Once that’s done, head to any messaging app, fire up Gboard, tap the mic icon, and start dictating. Saying something like “fire emoji,” “smiley emoji,” or “laughing emoji” as you voice type will immediately insert the emoji into the text.

Android’s open nature gives phone manufacturers the freedom to come up with their own emoji styles, and Samsung and Huawei have taken the liberty to do just that. If you own a phone from either of those brands and don’t like the emojis you see, then you’re in luck. Using zFont3 you can not only get iOS-style emojis but also change your phone’s font system-wide.

To get started, download the app from the Google Play Store, scroll to the Emoji section, and select the one you want to apply. Notably, zFont3 also supports some Oppo, Realme, Vivo, Xiaomi, LG, Honor, Tecno, and Infinix devices.

India assumes presidency of two global bodies: All you need to know about G20, UNSC

Zohaib AhmedZohaib writes at the Tech Desk at Indian Express. He firmly believes t... read more