‘Hide this from the mums’ beg people as they discover hidden emoji feature on their phones
WHETHER that’s the peace sign, a heart or a thumbs-up, we all have an emoji we love and use all the time.
But as glued as we are to our mobile devices – with Brit kids spending over four hours staring at their phones and tablets – did you know there’s a hidden emoji feature the majority of us haven’t been aware of all this time?
Turns out, phone users can do way more than just adding a few smiley faces at the end of their text – and this discovery is set to seriously upgrade your texting game.
That’s right, according to one savvy phone user, Lauren Murtagh, you can create your very own unique emoji group by simply stacking them up and going as wild as you could possibly can.
This feature of piling different emojis on top of one another means you can craft fun visuals – and the options here are pretty much endless.
How to stack and combine emojis to create sticker art on iPhone
According to Pocket-lint, this feature currently appears to only be available for iPhone users when texting via the Apple Messages app.
To do this, you will need to follow a few steps:
- Open the chat you want to add the emoji sticker to in the Messages app.
- Tap the iMessage field at the bottom of the screen to bring up the keyboard.
- Tap the Emoji button in the keyboard.
- Find the emoji that you want to use and tap and hold it.
- If it’s an emoji with configurable options such as skin color, release your finger, and tap and hold the emoji option that you want to use. Otherwise, keep your finger down.
- Without lifting your finger, drag the emoji into the message field. You should see a green + (plus) icon appear.
- Release your finger.
- After a moment, the emoji will appear as a giant sticker in the message field.
- Tap the blue arrow to send the message, and your giant emoji sticker will be sent.
Once you’ve sent the emoji sticker, it’s time to create the unique visuals by adding more emojis on top – and the best part is that there doesn’t seem to be a limit on how many you can chuck on.
- Send your first emoji sticker using the instructions from the section above.
- Tap the Emoji button on the keyboard again.
- Tap and hold an emoji you want to add to your original one.
- If it’s an emoji with a choice of options such as skin color, let go and tap and hold the option you want to use.
- Drag the emoji into the main Messages window and place it on top of the emoji you just sent.
- When you’re happy with its placement, let go of the screen, and the emoji will be added on top of or alongside your original sticker.
- The person you sent the original emoji to will now see the emoji stack you’ve created in place of the original message.
- Repeat the process with as many emojis as you wish.
The only limit here seems to be your imagination – and iPhone users can even combine the stickers with their very own memoji.
Stunner by the discovery, Lauren took to TikTok to share the little-known phone trick, calling it a ”revelation”.
”POV: You were today years old when you found out you can combine emojis on iMessage,” she said.
In the now-viral video, which has won Lauren close to a whopping 15million views, the savvy woman went wild with the emoji stickers, creating a stunning landscape of relaxed emoji chilling on an island with a drink in their hands.
Lauren didn’t stop there, as she then went in with a few fishes in the ocean, as well as the sun in the sky and two birds flying nearby.
Since being made aware of the game-changer hack, Lauren said she’s been using it ”every day” – and thousands of social media users couldn’t wait to up their texting game.
One chuckled: ”My entire day has turned into sending layered emojis.”
Someone else joked: ”You’ve unleashed a monster in me.”
”Hide this from the moms,” another begged.
”My dad never needs to learn this,” a TikTok user chimed in.
iPhone tricks to try today
Here are some of the best...
- Typing cursor – When typing, hold down the space bar to turn your keyboard into a trackpad, letting you move around words and sentences more easily
- Close all Safari tabs – To do this in one go, simply hold the overlapped squares in the bottom right-hand corner, and press close all tabs
- Delete lots of photos quickly – Hold down on a photo and then drag your finger diagonally in Photos to select lots of images at once, then hit delete
- Convert currency quickly – Swipe down from the top of your Home screen, then tap in the bar and type a currency (like €200) and it will automatically covert to your local currency
- Check if you’re due a battery upgrade – Batteries inside smartphones degrade over time. Just go to Settings > Battery > Battery Health, and check out the Maximum Capacity reading. Generally a battery is considered worn when you’re down to 80% capacity. If you’re below, you can buy a battery swap from Apple
- Move apps around faster – Hold an app until it starts wiggling, then (while still holding) tap other apps, causing them to stack so you can move them around easier