What you need to know
- Google appears to be rolling out a new update for Gboard.
- Gboard will now display a wand that can automatically insert a series of emoji into your text.
- The feature apparently works in two ways and can insert emoji after text or between words.
- The feature doesn’t appear to be widely available yet.
Google has added plenty of fun features to Gboard, making it one of the best keyboard apps on Android. Now, Gboard is reportedly rolling out with a new feature that will make your text even more expressive, thanks to the help of a magic want and some emoji.
Users have spotted (via 9to5Google) a wand icon that occasionally pops up where the mic icon usually sits on Gboard. When tapping the wand, it will populate your text field with a series of emoji that may relate to your text. 9to5 points out that a previous description for this “Emojify” feature indicates that it will “add emojis within a sentence or replace all text with emojis.”
Yet, while the feature doesn’t appear to be widely available as of yet (it hasn’t appeared on any of our devices or 9to5’s), Android Police managed to activate the feature on a phone. According to their use, tapping the icon once will populate a series of emoji after your text. However, tapping it twice will place emoji in between your words.
It’s a cute feature for those that enjoy using emoji and follows closely after Google introduced custom stickers in Gboard. Of course, there’s always Emoji Kitchen, which is also a fun feature to mix and match emoji with.
It’s unclear how widely this feature is rolling out, considering even our apps don’t appear to have the function enabled. It may only be a matter of time before it arrives for more people. Until then, you’ll have to insert your emoji manually.
