Google adds quick access emoji bar in Gboard for Android

New Delhi: Technology gaint Google has rolled out a quick access emoji bar in Gboard beta version, which would be available to all Gboard Android users in the coming months.

"We’re rolling out a quick access emoji bar to Gboard beta today, and to all Gboard Android users in the coming months. Soon you’ll be able to send not just one, but five red-hearts when you want your friend to know how much you wish you could be there for them,"  Jennifer Daniel,  Creative Director, Emoji wrote in a Google bog.

The new emoji shortcuts bar in Gboard will appear right above the keyboard. With the emoji bar, users would be able to quickly use multiple emoji without having to switch to the dedicated emoji page on the keyboard.

In the current Gboard version, the users need to tap on the emoji icon next to the spacebar in order to open the emoji page.

Last year, Google said, it sent a proposal focused on introducing more empathetic expressions and finding opportunities to bring equity to the keyboard to the Unicode Consortium, the nonprofit organization that maintains emoji standards and guidelines.

"We’ll see some of those efforts released this fall with a slightly smiling face, an emoji of two people hugging, a man in a veil, a woman in a tuxedo, and a person feeding a baby," the blog said. 

"Other emoji will be added as well—hit that piñata or bang on the long drum to celebrate. Send an anatomical heart when the love is so real, so raw. Or perhaps you’ll identify with one of the new animals, like a super cute bison, an eager beaver or a polar bear that just needs a little love. There are also new food emoji, like a tamale (nom nom), a boba tea sure to make you thirsty ("black milk tea, boba, 30 percent sugar please") and even a teapot for those who felt the “hot beverage” emoji was simply not “tea time” enough," the blog said.

Google further added that additional characters across nature, activities and beyond will launch later this year, including a stump of wood (sure, OK), a magic wand (ta-da), and a woolly mammoth (better late than never, I guess). Along with other emoji approved by Unicode, these 117 new emoji will be available with the release of Android 11 in the fall.