Apps – Android Authority
Emoji is a weird thing on smartphones. Both Android and iOS have their own separate sets of emoji installed as part of the OS. You can see Android’s here and the ones for iOS here. However, many apps include custom emoji, such as Twitter, WhatsApp, and Facebook. Some apps, like Telegram and Signal, use Apple’s emoji even on the Android version of each company’s app. See? It’s all very weird and discombobulated. In any case, there are apps on Android that let you play with emoji, use custom ones, and let you post ones on other apps as stickers. Here are the best emoji apps for Android.
The best emoji apps for Android
Big Emoji
Price: Free with in-app purchases
Big Emoji is indicative of what you normally see with dedicated emoji apps. It contains over 5,000 emoji for use immediately in most apps. The app itself isn’t an emoji keyboard. It sends the emoji as images, similar to stickers. It has all of the standard ones and a few custom ones just for this app. There is also a sticker pack for WhatsApp users as part of the premium version of the app. The app isn’t as convenient as an emoji keyboard, but it’s a nice way to augment what you already have access to.
Bitmoji
Price: Free
Most people who use Snapchat are familiar with Bitmoji. The app creates a series of custom emoji based on how you look. These personalized emoji are mostly usable in Snapchat, but it’s a neat way to express yourself through emoji. Plus, if you do use this in Snapchat, it unlocks Friendmoji where you and a friend can create emoji together. This one is free to use, but you can put your Bitmoji on various merch items and buy it if you want to.
See also: Best texting apps and SMS apps for Android
Discord
Price: Free / $4.99-$9.99 per month
Discord is one of the most unique places for emoji. You can create your own emoji and then upload them to Discord and use them in place of the standard emoji. There are whole Discord servers dedicated to custom emoji. You simply join them, pay for Discord Nitro (monthly subscription), and you can use emoji from any server in any other server whenever you want. It’s a bit of a closed garden since you can’t use them elsewhere. However, as a Discord user, I’ve seen some pretty unique stuff. Discord is also an excellent group chat app and it’s usable for more than just video games.
Emoticon Pack
Price: Free
Emoticon Pack is a simple app, but you can do some cool stuff with it. The app has the usual emoji that you can find almost anywhere. This one made the list for the extras it gives you. The best extra are those goofy text-based emoticons that people use all the time. Simply tap on them and it’ll copy it to the clipboard. You then post it wherever you want. The database is pretty extensive for emoticons so you should be able to find what you’re looking for.
See also: Best Android keyboards for all kinds of typists
Fleksy
Price: Free / $4.99
Fleksy is one of the better third-party keyboards on Android. It also has a pretty standard, but solid emoji keyboard along with a massive number of sticker packs for further customization. Between those features, the free themes, and the functionality, Fleksy is a decent choice for emoji lovers. The app even recommends emoji substitutions when you type words. It doesn’t really add too much new stuff unless you count the stickers. However, it’ll help you get your emoji game going a lot easier than most. Plus, it just works really well.
Gboard
Price: Free
Gboard is one of the top two most popular keyboards on Android and for good reason. It comes pre-installed on Pixel devices and the functionality is just really good. It has an emoji mode like most keyboards and it’ll even recommend emoji in the auto-correct bar when it sees something you can replace with an emoji. Perhaps the best feature for emoji fans is Gboard’s emoji kitchen feature. The app lets you take two emojis and mash them up with the power of Google’s AI. That feature effectively extends Gboard’s emoji game far beyond any other keyboard.
Kaomoji
Price: Free / $1.99
Kaomoji is an emoticon app and not really an emoji app. However, we thought it would be apropos for a list like this. It has a large database of emoticons, many of which you’ve probably seen online. Simply find the one you want, copy it to your clipboard, and paste it wherever you want. Most of these should work in most apps and social networks. The various emoticons are categorized for easy browsing as well. The ads in the free version are a bit annoying, but otherwise Kaomoji works really well.
Memoji
Price: Free
Memoji is similar to Bitmoji but without individual customization. It lets you choose a set of emoji based that looks somewhat sort of like you. Each set has a bunch of moods and conveys a bunch of emotions. They are also quickly transportable to WhatsApp in the form of a sticker pack. It doesn’t have every eye and hair color combination, but it does have enough that it should suit most people. The biggest complaint is that some people can’t find a pack that looks like them, which kind of defeats the purpose.
SwiftKey
Price: Free
SwiftKey is here for much the same reason as Fleksy. It has an emoji keyboard like most third party keyboards. The app also learns the emoji you like most and recommends them to you as part of its auto-correct and predictive text. As a keyboard, SwiftKey is one of the greats. It has excellent predictive text, plenty of themes, and some extras like a number row. As an emoji keyboard, it’s perfectly serviceable and it’s nice to see big names like Microsoft support things like predictive emoji.
Text Converter Encoder Decoder
Price: Free / $0.99
Text Converter Encoder Decoder is here for much the same reason as Kaomoji and Emotion Pack. It gives you access to a bunch of neat emoticon options. That includes decorative text that you really can’t get in a lot of other places. In addition, you can type words into the app and it’ll convert it into alternate-looking text that you can actually use almost anywhere. It’s not quite emoji, but it augments the emoji experience very well. Plus, who doesn’t like having a binary-to-text converter on them all the time?
If we missed any great emoji apps for Android, tell us about them in the comments! You can also click here to check out our latest Android app and game lists.
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