A recent beta update to the Google Messages app changes emoji-only messages into expressive and delightful animations.
In recent years, Google has found ways to use emoji in fun and unique ways, especially on Android. This is exemplified in the ever-expanding set of Emoji Kitchen stickers offered by Gboard, which combine two emoji to often humorous effect.
The latest way that Google emphasizes emoji comes from the Google Messages app. For those enrolled for beta updates, the app (as of version 20230630) now highlights SMS and RCS messages that only include emoji. Instead of showing the usual message bubble, the emoji now appear directly in the conversation view.
Notably, some emoji highlighted in this way are also animated, adding a bit of flair to the discussion. One of the emoji I often use, “Grimacing,” gains a shifty-eyed animation, while “Loudly-crying” fully expresses the waterworks.
As spotted by my colleague Dylan Roussel, the full collection of supported emoji animations can be found on Google’s official website for the Noto Emoji font. If you send more than one emoji in the same message, though, the animation won’t appear. And, of course, these animations will only appear for your recipient if they’re also using Google Messages.
In the grand scheme, this is a minor change that brings Google Messages in line with other chat apps. It’s quite common for apps like Discord and Telegram to upsize emoji-only messages for emphasis. All the same, I quite like it. What do you think of the new animated emoji in Google Messages? Let us know in the comments.
Dylan Roussel contributed to this article.
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