Emojis are no longer just a thing for texting and will soon be a part of professional emails too thanks to a new update to Gmail. The popular email app now lets you react to emails with emojis, just like other chatting apps.
If this feature gains popularity, it’s likely to expand to iOS and the web as well. Much like how it’s already implemented in your preferred chat app, Gmail will offer emoji reactions for individual messages.
Once you’ve opened a message, simply scroll down, and you’ll spot the new emoji reaction button positioned to the right of the Reply, Reply All, and Forward options. Give it a tap, and a selection of emojis will appear for you to choose from – tap your preferred emoji, and you’re done.
Check out the feature in action.
You’re not limited to Google’s default emoji selection for reactions. By tapping the plus button located at the end of the emoji row, you can add additional emojis of your choice. All reactions to an email will be visible at the bottom, and if you tap and hold on each one, you can see who reacted in that way. If you simply tap (without holding) on an existing reaction, you’ll add more to the same emoji counter.
The party popper emoji triggers a full-page celebration, and Google hints that certain other emojis will possess similar features in the future. Additionally, you have the option to remove an emoji reaction by tapping “Undo” immediately after creating it. This “Undo” option remains available for as long as you’ve configured “Undo Send” for emails in your Gmail settings on your computer.
When using a third-party email client with your Gmail account, each individual emoji reaction will show up as a separate email reply, even if you’ve disabled the Conversation view in Gmail.
It’s important to note that emoji reactions will not be accessible for school or work accounts. Additionally, they won’t be available under the following circumstances: when an email is sent to more than 20 people when it’s sent to a group email list, when you’re in BCC (Blind Carbon Copy), if you’ve already sent more than 20 reactions to the same message, if the sender has specified a custom reply-to address, or if the message is encrypted with client-side encryption.
If you don’t see emoji reactions in your Gmail interface yet, please be aware that it typically takes a few days for Google to roll out a new feature to all users once it’s activated.
