You can finally search for emojis in the Messages app on iOS 14

News
By Joe Wituschek
published

Emoji hero iPhone
Emoji hero iPhone (Image credit: iMore)

What you need to know

  • Apple has added an emoji search field to iOS 14 and iPadOS 14.
  • Users will be able to quickly search for an emoji in the Messages app.
  • The feature has been on macOS for quite some time now.

Everyone who has wanted to find their emojis faster in on iPhone and iPad can now rejoice.

Reported by MacRumors, Apple has quietly added the ability for users to search for an emoji on iOS 14 and iPadOS 14. The feature has existed on macOS for quite some time now, but the company is now bringing the emoji search bar to the iPhone and iPad for the first time.

In the Messages app, users will find a new search field at the top of the emoji keyboard. They can then type a word that describes the emoji that they are looking for in order to quickly find and use that emoji in their conversation.

"A new search field for the emoji keyboard lets you search for the perfect emoji. Enter a commonly used word or phrase such as "heart" or "smiley face" and you will be presented with the corresponding emoji to choose from."

Emoji search has long been requested on iOS as many other apps on the platform have the feature (Slack, Facebook Messenger, etc). While the Favorites section had been helpful to quickly find the emojis you use most frequently, searching for a specific emoji that didn't fall into your favorites has been increasingly time-consuming as Apple has continued to expand the number of emojis that were available.

Emoji search will be coming to iOS 14 and iPadOS 14 this fall.

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Joe Wituschek
Joe Wituschek
Contributor

Joe Wituschek is a Contributor at iMore. With over ten years in the technology industry, one of them being at Apple, Joe now covers the company for the website. In addition to covering breaking news, Joe also writes editorials and reviews for a range of products. He fell in love with Apple products when he got an iPod nano for Christmas almost twenty years ago. Despite being considered a "heavy" user, he has always preferred the consumer-focused products like the MacBook Air, iPad mini, and iPhone 13 mini. He will fight to the death to keep a mini iPhone in the lineup. In his free time, Joe enjoys video games, movies, photography, running, and basically everything outdoors.