iPhone users left in shock after just discovering a brand new way to use emojis

Emojis basically feel almost as old as time now, even if they've only really been in common use for a decade and a half or so.

We're all used to scrolling through the dozens of pages of options trying to find the perfect reaction, or working out whether the sport we're thinking of is mainstream enough to merit its own emoji.

This week, though, people on social media have been freaking out as they realise that the iPhone has a whole way to apply emojis in conversation that they didn't know about - stickers.

@SinktheKraken4

Or, the revelation in question is not so much the sheer existence of stickers, but rather how easy it is to apply emojis as stickers to your conversations.

It turns out that iPhones have a shortcut built-in that lets you drag and drop emojis out of the list directly into new messages and even onto those you've already sent and received - this will apply your chosen emoji as a sticker in apps that support it (meaning mostly Messages).

As you can see in the video above, you just tap and drag the emoji you want, and let go over the space you'd like to apply your sticker, placing it down.

@VorosTwins

This drag-and-drop system works in different ways in other apps, too. In most apps, you can drag and drop emojis into the text bar anytime you're typing - although this is rarely faster than just tapping on the emoji to add it.

So, if you're a big WhatsApp user, for example, this might not save you all that much time.

If you're making a post on X (formerly Twitter), you can drag and drop an emoji into the post and it'll attach as a pretty large image under the post - not quite the elegant solution you might hope for, but this could be useful for making a really emphatic response.

Getty/Anadolu/Contributor

The feature is clearly at its best in Apple's own in-house apps, though.

Being able to slap any emoji onto a message you've received, and potentially cover it in loads more, opens up loads of opportunities for fun and mischief, especially if you have a bunch of group chats on Messages.

These stickers currently won't really translate for those using Android phones to talk to you, though, as Apple's messaging standards don't mesh perfectly.

Thankfully, there are plans to bridge this gap so that multi-platform chats are more seamless than ever in the near future.