What you need to know
- “Audiomojis” were spotted in the code of the Google Phone app’s latest beta, detailing sound-based full-screen reactions while on a call.
- The code highlighted six audiomojis users may receive first, such as “sad, applause, party popper, laugh, drum roll, and poop.”
- The feature for the Phone app is quite similar to the “Screen Effects” Google rolled out for Messages earlier in February.
It looks like Google has made progress with a new form of “emoji reaction” for the Phone app.
According to TheSpAndroid, a new “Audiomoji” reaction was spotted in the Google Phone app’s latest beta version 124 (via Android Police). The tipster stated various code files discovered during the deep dive point toward the app’s upcoming “sound reactions” feature. It was discovered that users could soon have screen effects with sound when on a call with another person.
The app’s code showed six audiomojis:
- Sad
- Applause
- Party Popper
- Laugh
- Drum Roll
- Poop
Meanwhile, the tipster adds this “sound reaction” feature, which would function similarly to emoji reactions in Google Messages. This is likely due to the audiomojis producing a cute or funny animation whenever sent to another person.
Lastly, TheSpAndroid isn’t entirely clear where Google plans to implement this feature — and to what capacity. They state the code doesn’t offer much information, possibly because most of it is still missing. Moreover, where and how these animations may appear is unknown. It’s currently speculated that Google could offer them via the caller screen, or it could only be “available to users with the ‘Call Screen’ feature.”
The post states that sound reactions in the Phone app were first teased back in September. This was during the app’s version 114 beta and only offered the project’s internal codename and basic strings of code, which any further tinkering caused it to crash.
Google Messages started rolling out “screen effects” for certain words and phrases earlier in February. The company stated sentences like “I love you” and “It’s snowing” would trigger a full-screen effect on your display when in chat. “Reaction Effects” were a part of that update, bringing a similar effect to your screen when using one of the ten most popular emojis.
