Emojis have changed the way of expressing emotions. Add emojis to android, we can now tell our heartfelt sentiments and moods that are somewhat difficult to express in words.
Most Android devices are packed with pre-installed emojis (emoji font). However, several methods can also add new emoji designs to your collection.
This article explains how to add or insert more emoji styles and the latest emojis to your Android device.
Check Whether Your Android Device Support Emojis
Today, most Android phones & tablets (Android 4.1 or later) either have emojis pre-installed or support the emoji typing feature.
You can check your device’s current Android version to ensure it.
Note: Even if your Android doesn’t support the emoji feature (older version of Android OS), you can still use a third-party keyboard or messaging/texting app (such as Facebook Messenger, Whatsapp, etc.) that supports emojis.
- Open Settings. Navigate to About Phone-> Android Version.
- Note that, on some Android devices, you need to navigate to Settings-> System. Then you can find the ‘About phone info.
- Under the Android version section, you can see the version(4.0, 4.1, 5.0, 7.0, 10.0) of your Android OS. The number represents the Android OS version.
How To Activate/Enable Emoji Typing On Your Android?
If you cannot use or access emoji fonts on your Android, it may be a situation where your default keyboard doesn’t support emoji files.
You can fix this situation by changing your default keyboard with an alternative option (In this article, it is Gboard.)
- Launch the Settings app on your Android device.
- Navigate to System-> Language & Input (The location of the Language & Input section can vary for different Android brands.)
- Select the Current Keyboard option and set ‘Gboard’ as your default keyboard.
- Go to Manage keyboards-> ‘Gboard’ Settings-> Preferences.
- Enable the features ‘Show emoji-switch key,’ ‘Emoji stickers,’ and ‘Emoji fast-access row.’
- Save the preferences and close the Settings app.
Now you can check whether the previous steps activated the emoji keyboard.
- Open a texting app or social media app of your choice.
- Select someone from your friends list and start a random conversation. Notice that when you access your keyboard by typing in the text field, a smiley face icon or button appears on it.
- Tap the ‘smiley face’ button. This action will open the emoji tab or emoji keyboard.
- Tap on the desired emoji, then select the send or arrow button.
How To Add Emojis To Your Android Device?
There are several ways you can add or update your emoji collection. They are:
- Update your Android to the latest version.
- Generate custom emojis with the Emoji Kitchen.
- Access new emoji fonts through a third-party keyboard
- Importing Emojis from other platforms (iOS, Windows, Facebook, & Social Media Apps.)
Update Your Android To The Latest Version.
Updating the Android version is the most straightforward way to increase the number of emojis in your collection.
For instance, if you update your Android OS to Android 11, you’ll have 117 new additions to the emoji library.
The latest version of Android- Android 12, released in 2021, has an addition of 107 new emoji designs and updated 1000s of previously available emojis.
Follow the instructions below to check which version of Android your phone is currently using.
- Launch the Settings app of your Android.
- Go to About (or About phone)-> Android version.
- Here, you can check the OS version of your Android phone. (On some devices, you may need to navigate to System-> About)
- Tap Check for updates. Check if there is any available update for you to install.
- Select Download & Install. If the results of the check return positive.
- Wait till your smartphone completes the update.
To check whether the update is successful, go to Settings-> About phone-> Android version.
The info under the Android version will change.
Generate custom emojis with the Emoji Kitchen and add emojis to android
You may wonder, what’s Emoji kitchen? It is a Gboard feature that allows users to merge two emojis to create a more elaborated and variant emoji.
E.g., the combination of smiley emoji and heart emoji returns a ‘smiley heart emoji.’
Follow the instructions below to get a merged sticker.
- Launch/open a messaging app of your preference. In this article, the Whatsapp messaging app is used.
- Access the conversation space by tapping on your friend’s name.
- Tap on the text bar. The keyboard (Gboard) will appear on the screen.
- Tap the smiley face icon.
- Select an emoji from the collections. You can now see various enlarged emojis appearing in the blank field above the emoji collections.
- Swipe left & right and select the combination you want to send.
Access New Emoji Fonts Through A Third-Party Keyboard
Your Android may not support emoji fonts if it operates with an older version of Android OS.
Don’t fret if you cannot upgrade your Android version due to low system configuration.
You can still access emoji fonts through third-party keyboards or social media apps.
You can search for third-party keyboards with emojis in Google Play Store.
You can find several popular keyboards in the store with consistent emoji templates & design updates, and technical support from the developers.
Importing Emojis From Other Platforms (iOS, Windows, Facebook, & Social Media Apps)
Each & every major platform has its emoji templates database. While most have something in common, you can still find some emojis unique to that platform.
A font editor is a must to import emojis from other platforms (say iOS).
You can have several choices to choose from when you search in the Google Play Store.
However, remember that there may be a slight discrepancy when displaying emojis of a different platform because of a difference in the root configuration.
Conclusion
Emojis are a great addition to our social life. Expressing emotions like shock, laughter, fear, joy, anger, etc., have been made simple and compact.
With constant evolution, users have more choices and express more emotions. Adding emojis to your Android is an excellent way to diversify the selection of emojis.
Frequently Asked Questions(FAQs)
Can I Add More Emojis To My Android Phone?
The answer is Yes. You can add more emojis to your Android smartphone. Emoji is a category of font and is constantly evolving.
The most common way to add emoji to your collection is to update the current Android version Android developers are continually adding new emojis and updating pre-existing ones.
How Do I Install Emojis On My Android?
Updating the Android version of your smartphone is the simplest way of adding/installing new emojis to the collection.
Secondly, you can create a custom emoji on your own. Many popular emoji creator apps are available for you to install from Google Play Store.
You can also use Gboard’s Emoji Kitchen feature to combine multiple emojis and create a new one.
Why Can’t I See Emojis On My Android?
There are two possibilities why you can’t see emoji font on your Android. First, the current Android version doesn’t support the emoji feature.
You can remedy this situation by upgrading your phone’s Android version. Don’t worry if your smartphone doesn’t meet the system requirement for upgrading to the higher Android version.
You can use a third-party social media app and access the app’s emoji feature. Second, it may be that your default keyboard is not set to Gboard.
How Can I Customize My Android Emojis?
Customize your emojis using Emoji kitchen. The Emoji kitchen is an additional feature of the Google keyboard (Gboard) that allows Android users to merge multiple emoji templates or create a more elaborated sticker version of the emoji. Access the emoji tab from any texting app (Snapchat, Whatsapp, Line, etc.). Select an emoji as the base template. In the upper blank section, different new emojis will now appear, waiting for you to choose.
