Gmail Has Introduced Emoji Reactions, Here’s How It Works

We get so many emails through our inboxes these days that it almost makes you wish you could shoot over a thumbs-up react, and move on. Well, Gmail has introduced a function that lets you do just that by offering the option of replying to emails with an emoji reaction in-app.

The emoji response functionality works on the Gmail app on Android devices only and has not been rolled out to web browsers or other devices that aren’t running Google’s software. In any case, for those of you who are able to have a play with this new feature, here’s a look at the details.

Here’s how it works:

• Open the Gmail app on your Android phone or tablet
• Open the message you want to respond to
• Below the message tap Add emoji reaction
• Select the emoji you want to use (you can find more options by clicking the More + button)
• The selected emoji will appear at the bottom of the email.

Now, some tips from Google about using this feature. If you want to know who reacted to an email (assuming it’s part of a group), you can tap and hold the emoji reaction. You can add emojis to any message in the thread by tapping More and then Add reaction in the desired email.

Similar to the undo send function on Gmail, if you want to remove an emoji reaction, you’ll have limited time to do so, depending on your settings.

There are also a couple of reasons you might not be able to send emoji reactions, such as if you’re using a work or school account, if a message has more than 20 recipients, if you’re in BCC, or if you open the email with another provider (such as Apple Mail or Outlook).

Emoji reactions may warrant an “[Name] reacted via Gmail” email in your inbox, but this will usually only happen if you’re running an outdated version of the app or have your conversation view set to off.

This feature will no doubt be a miracle cure for anyone who dislikes having to respond to every email with a simple “thanks” or “OK”. Now you can just heart-react and move on to the rest of your unread emails.

Lead Image Credit: Gmail/iStock