Google Messages Is Getting Animated Emojis: Here’s How It Works – News18

Google is reportedly testing the ability to send animated emojis using the standard messaging app on Android, Google Messages to make standard messaging livelier and fun, but with certain limitations. 

According to Android Police, animated emojis are functional only when a single emoji is sent by users. However, if users send multiple emojis together or combine emojis with text—the animated functionality does not work.

Google Messages already allows users to send emojis when texting, but the addition of animated emojis will make the app more appealing to users, and bring the experience in line with Apple’s iMessage and others like Telegram. 

For instance, iMessage offers a variety of text bubble effects when sending text messages or emojis, such as celebration, slam, gentle, invisible ink, and screen effects, including echo, spotlight, balloons, and confetti. Additionally, users can send custom ‘Animoji’ emojis by choosing an emoji, character, or their own avatar and using their own facial expressions.

This is most likely Google’s way of introducing a similar experience for Android. The new animated emoji experience, which was first spotted by Reddit user BruthaBeige, builds on the Emoji Kitchen experience, which allows users to combine two emojis to create a hybrid of the two, resulting in strange but amusing emojis that users can send to each other.

Google’s current implementation is reportedly region-specific, with a broader rollout anticipated in the future. It works with most of the accessible emojis on Android.

In other news, Google has also added a new badge/indicator for RCS chats in the Google Messages app, allowing users to differentiate between RCS and standard SMS conversations.