Google may be developing emoji reactions for Gmail that, if released, would make the email platform feel a little more like a messaging app. Some code discovered in recent Gmail updates for iOS and Android mentions that this feature will be coming ‘soon’.Emoji support is coming to Gmail
The feature was first reported a few weeks ago by The Tape Drive, following the discovery of some code in the iOS Gmail app that allows users to react to emails with an emoji, similar to similar emoji reaction apps available on rival platforms such as Outlook. Recently, similar evidence was found in the latest Gmail APK for Android. To give an idea, there are emoji reactions in Outlook as follows:
According to the quote, the APK contains several lines of code that directly refer to emoji reactions. Details are a bit sparse, but one line in the APK code says the feature is “coming soon” and that “you’re among the first Gmail users to get an emoji reaction”—suggesting that Google will likely test the feature on a limited basis before a full public release.Mail users can use emoji reactions directly from the email screen or via the overflow menu, but the latter option is currently disabled. The code also has some limitations that say some emoji reactions cannot be used in encrypted messages, large groups, or BCCed messages. Likewise, there may be number limits for emoji reactions. Google does not officially say whether it is working on this feature, but company spokesperson Madison Cushman Veld ended her statement as follows: “stay tuned 😉,✋📻.”
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