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For years now, I've been using an Android smartphone. The last iPhone I owned was the iPhone 5s (it was gold), and ever since then, I've jumped from OnePlus to Google Pixel, and the Pixel 10 Pro XL is, without a doubt, one of the best Android phones I've ever used. I love its cameras, the sleek design and gorgeous finish, and the smooth operating system, amongst other things. I also love the GBoard, and swiping across with my thumb to type one-handed.
But recently, I've stumbled upon an underrated feature which I honestly can't believe I haven't been using all along — and that's Emoji Kitchen. I primarily use WhatsApp for texting, and WhatsApp's built-in emoji selection is fine, but I stumbled upon Android's version of it when I accidentally swapped between English and emojis via the globe-shaped button. And I thought to myself, "Well, this is what I'm using from now on."
But what exactly is it, for those who aren't aware? And how does it work? Does it use generative AI? I've been cooking up some funny emojis for the past few weeks, and that's what's made me read up more about Emoji Kitchen. Let me show you why you need to be using it too, if you aren't already.
How Emoji Kitchen works
Emoji Kitchen isn't a new innovation per se — it's been around since its initial release in February 2020. Every subsequent Android release (16 being the latest) has improved Emoji Kitchen in one way or another. The foundation of Emoji Kitchen lies in human expression, and the fact that the standard array of emojis doesn't cover the entire spectrum of human emotion.
When Emoji Kitchen launched in 2020, there was a limited set of emoji combinations, focusing primarily on face emojis. It continued expanding thanks to constant updates to the Android operating system, and users could combine two emojis together to come up with something funny. A pumpkin 🎃 and a ghost 👻 would create a pumpkin-themed ghost, for example.
Since then, Emoji Kitchen has come leaps and bounds. There are thousands of combinations available, and it's easier than ever to conjure up a funny (or appropriate to the conversation) emoji. All I need to do is type out an emoji and Google will suggest hundreds of possible combinations. Or I can tap on the Emoji Kitchen, input any emoji I like, and et voilà! It's so easy.
Who knew technology could make you laugh so much?
One of the things I absolutely love about Emoji Kitchen is just how unhinged some of the combinations are. A moon-themed whale 🐋? Sure. The crescent moon throwing up 🌛? Why not. A person's head blowing up and flowers coming out of it instead of gray and white matter 🌸? Of course. While I don't find myself using all of the Emoji Kitchen combinations in my day-to-day life, I can't deny the fact that they're a belly full of laughs — and no one has laughed more at them than my partner and I have.
My partner and I live together so we don't text a lot, but we do exchange a fair number of WhatsApp messages to, from and while we're at work — you know, the usual. My partner and I are also a couple of silly geese, and we'll burst into laughter over the stupidest of things. The other day, we were texting about tooth problems, and out of nowhere, I received an emoji of a... goat munching on a tooth 🐐.
I stared at the screen, puzzled. "Why is this goat eating a tooth? Why does it look so happy? How did this come about?!" Turns out all my partner had done was insert the tooth emoji into the message box and Google had the genius idea of suggesting a goat chomping on a molar emoji 🦷.
And you know what? It was hilarious. I burst out laughing while on the bus back home, and everyone turned to look, and I didn't care. In that moment, it was the single funniest thing I had ever seen in the entirety of my existence. We haven't stopped sending each other unhinged, whacky emoji combos ever since that happened.
Wait, does it use generative AI?
Once I'd gotten over the initial excitement of the expansive world of Emoji Kitchen, I suddenly thought to myself, "Does it use AI to create these emojis?" I've said it before and I'll say it again: I'm an AI skeptic, and for many reasons, I don't like generative AI. Given how fast Emoji Kitchen is at generating weird emoji combinations, I was concerned gen AI was at play — but turns out it isn't (for now).
Emoji Kitchen's charm lies in its use of handcrafted combinations, which is unlike Apple's Genmoji. According to various sources, Google's Emoji Kitchen utilizes combinations designed by human artists. Yes, it's someone's job to draw an octopus 🐙 holding paperwork with each of its arms — and honestly, what a fun job that must be. Given that Emoji Kitchen was founded to enable humans to express themselves better, I for one am extremely happy that the combinations themselves are designed by artists at Google.
But this, of course, doesn't mean that Google won't use AI in Emoji Kitchen in the future. The official Emoji Kitchen website states: "Future versions might incorporate AI to suggest combinations based on the context of conversations." While it hasn't happened yet, and I don't know when it will, we'll cross that bridge when we get there. For now, I'm content and overjoyed with the power of creation (and laughter) at my fingertips.
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