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If you use Gboard on your Android device, you’ll find it hard to customize your emoji packs. This customization involves selecting the skin tones and gender of various characters within the collection. With a new update, things are getting easier and with just one edit, users can customize the entire pack of emojis available for usage.
Google took to its blog to announce this design improvement coming to Gboard emojis. Now, by changing the gender and skin tone of one emoji, all other emojis will switch to the user’s pick. This change fixes many issues that users have had to endure over the past years.
Users will be able to access this new feature with an update that is rolling out to the Gboard app. Google is bringing this upgrade to Gboard emojis after learning how users interact with these various emojis while texting. Many users worldwide will benefit from this change, as it’ll help them represent themselves better while texting others.
Recent research by Google prompted a vital change to Gboard emojis
Gboard is the official keyboard on Android devices, and it comes with a lot of emojis. However, there is a need to understand how users interact with these emojis to better serve them. Google recently researched to understand how Gboard users interact with certain emojis while texting.
For this research, Google had to involve 2,000 participants consisting of the five skin colors available on Gboard. This research threw more light on an issue that users have been facing for a very long time. Most participants in this research were more likely to use their actual skin tone and gender for emojis while texting.
Previously, to achieve this, users had to change the skin tone and gender on each emoji. However, with this update, users only have to change their skin tone and gender on just one emoji, and it’ll extend to the rest. Making this change one for all will take away the stress of having to change the skin tone and gender of all emojis individually.
Also, the research shows that the majority of the 2000 participants are more likely to use emojis that represent them with friends, family, and in private contexts. However, when texting colleagues, and strangers, and in public contexts, these participants are less likely to use emojis that represent them. Only about 24% of participants regularly swap between various skin tones for their emojis.
From the data collected after this research, it became clear to Google that users want to use emojis that reflect their skin tone and gender. With this information, Google is making it easy for users to customize Gboard emojis. You’ll get this improvement in an update to the Gboard app that is currently rolling out.