While the emoji library keeps growing and growing, you should definitely consider unlocking this secret keyboard on your iPhone for a much wider selection.
Emojis have become as much a part of internet and text communication as words themselves, and people find new and surprising ways to utilize the library of miniature images every single day.
We all have our favorites and regular rotation, from the classic laughing and crying options to the weirder ones that only make sense within your friend group.
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Despite having 3,790 emojis to currently choose from though, it's surprising how stale the Apple selection can become at times.
That's where unlocking this secret keyboard comes in handy - as it allows you to take advantage of a whole new collection of emoticons, many of which you might have seen before but not known how to type out.
As reported by The Sun, activating the Japanese keyboards on your iPhone will give you quick and easy access to the iconic text-based emoticons you're bound to have seen at some point on the internet.
These include expressive entries like this flexing one ᕙ(‾̀◡‾́)ᕗ and this happy dance (〜^∇^)〜, and can be used to display a wider range of emotions - especially those on the exaggerated end.
While you can find dedicated websites that allow you to copy these into your messages, unlocking this keyboard gives you quick access on the fly and saves you from having to drop out and back in again every time.
To unlock these, first you'll want to head to your iPhone settings, then navigate through the following path:
- General -> Keyboard -> Keyboards -> Add New Keyboard
Once you've reached 'Add New Keyboard', search for the Japanese keyboards named 'Kana' and 'Romaji' and add them to your selection.
Then, head to any messaging app or anywhere that you'd use the keyboard and long-press on the globe icon in the bottom-left corner of the keyboard.
Your currently loaded options should then be displayed, with the two Japanese keyboards likely at the bottom. It doesn't necessarily matter which one you choose, although they do have a slightly different path to reach the emoticons.
If you've managed to select the 'Kana' keyboard then there should be a button with the '^_^' emoticon in the bottom-left for you to select. After pressing that, select the downward-facing arrow in the top-right, and the list of emotions will be available to you.
For the 'Romaji' keyboard, you'll just need to select the '123' button in the bottom-left first, then follow the same steps as the 'Kana' keyboard to reach your emotive options.
All you need to do to switch back to English then is long-press the globe icon again, and select 'English' from the option. It might take you a while to get used to switching, but it'll be more than worth it once you get the hang of it.
Once you've unlocked those though, you might want to take a look at these hidden buttons that will make any slow iPhone feel like brand new.