You know that weird friend of yours who always texts back in emoticons? No matter what the situation, she manages to dig out an appropriate smiley. She’ll spring an emoticon from the depths of a dead conversation. She’ll be swift, silent and deadly and you’ll never have a comeback ever.
She’s the Emoticon Ninja. ヽ(｀⌒´)ﾉ
Well, we have a solution for you. Technically Mashable had the solution, but we’re bringing it to you, aren’t we!?
So, here’s the big news: There’s a hidden emoticon keyboard in your iPhone!!
First of all, let’s clear something up. Emoticons are NOT the same as emojis! Emojis are those smiley faces you get in your phone’s keyboard. They are pseudo-images. Emoticons, on the other hand, are a series of characters put together to make a face, animal or some other funny character.
Not clear?
🙂 – This is an emoji.
🙂 – This is an emoticon.
Emoticons are tougher to make because they need creativity, precision, and passion. That’s why this post will save your life.
¯_(ツ)_/¯
So, here’s how you get to the hidden keyboard.
Go to Settings > General > Keyboard > Add New Keyboard. In the next page you’ll be given a list of dozens of keyboards you can add. Scroll down and select Japanese. Finally, select Kana.
Now open any app that supports typing and bring up your keyboard. Press the “small globe” at the bottom left corner of the keyboard. An emoticon face should now show up in the place of the globe.
Click on that and a whole list of emoticons should be pop-up. We’ve no clue how many emoticons are actually there, but we’re pretty sure that you will never run out of an emoticon again. Ever. Like NEVER. Now go be an emoticon ninja!
Screenshots courtesy of Jason Cipriani/CNET.