With emoji making their way into the Museum of Modern Art, it’s safe to say that the little smiley faces and assorted symbols have taken a greater place of importance in our daily communication. But are we using these small, decorative tools to the best of our ability? Or could we emoji better?
According to a Google press release, less than three percent of all those beautiful emoji and stickers are ever used. The company wants new app Allo to help incorporate a more creative and widespread use of emojis. During a conversation, you will be able to tap the Smart Smiley button to bring up a list of suggested emoji for you to use. If you’re thinking of grabbing dinner you’ll see food emoji you might not have thought of picking out — and maybe swaying you towards trying a restaurant you might not have thought of at first. Or your arguments about the best Harry Potter film might bring about suggestions from Google’s new Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them sticker set. The predictive creativity of Smart Smiley is a big success, says Google: the tool has apparently boosted those low initial emoji-use numbers during their tests by a factor of ten!
Also included is a tool that will help you get your hands on sticker packs that your friends might use when chatting with you, but you don’t have on your own phone. So when that perfect sticker pops up to symbolize life, the universe and everything — at least on that particular Wednesday night when you’re craving a John Carpenter movie and some Chinese takeout — you’ll be able to get your hands on said sticker with a single click.
Of course, rather than more emoji features, some users still wish that Google would add more security features to chat app. As previously reported by Digital Journal, Google caused frustration when the app was released without end-to-end encryption. At least the company has supplied an easier way to depict your frustrations
As pointed out by Engadget, the app is only available in English currently, so stay tuned for further releases.
