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Google Messages is the company’s SMS messaging platform, and it’s been gaining certain features over the years. One feature is the ability to use emojis as a reaction. Now, Google Messages let you react using any emoji.
Google Messages brought emoji reactions back in 2020, but there’s been a pretty annoying issue. There were only seven emojis available (Thumbs up, Thumbs down, Laughing face, Heart eyes, Mad face, Crying face, Shocked face). They cover the basics, yes, but it’s nothing compared to the massive number of emojis out there. It was also a bit annoying that the company kept this restriction for more than two years.
But, Google Messages now let you use any emoji
Fortunately, Google has decided to lift that ceiling. Users on Reddit (via Android Police) spotted this new change recently. If you want to react to a message with an emoji, you’d just need to tap and hold the message that you want to react to. You’d see a bar of seven emojis pop up.
After the update, you’ll still see the bar pop up, but there would be another icon on the far right. When you tap on that “emoji+” icon, you’ll see the standard emoji picker pop up. It’s the same UI that you’d see if you’re typing one into the text field. This means that’d be the same emoji picker that comes with your device’s default keyboard.
For the Gboard, you’ll see the large vertically-scrolling feed of emojis that you can choose from. Above the feed, there’s the search bar to search for that one. On the bottom, you’ll see the 10 categories to quickly transport you to the type that you want.
This should be great news if you love to react to all of your messages using emojis. Just know that this could still be rolling out, so there’s a chance that you won’t see this just yet. You can check the app in the Google Play store to see if there’s an update available. If not, then you’ll just want to wait a couple of days.