Google’s new iMessage reactions are finally available to all users, but they’re not perfect. The reactions, which are available in the Messages app on both iOS and Android devices, let you respond to messages with a variety of emoji and GIFs. But some users have complained that the reactions don’t always work as intended. For example, when someone sends you a message with a smiley face, the reaction might not show up in your Messages app until after you’ve sent the message. And if you try to send a reaction that includes an emoji that’s not supported by your device, Google will give you an error message. Google has acknowledged these issues and is working on fixing them. In the meantime, users can workaround them by using third-party apps like EmojiOneX or GIF Keyboard. ..
We first learned that Google was fixing the annoying way Android and iPhone interacted with these reactions a while ago. Now the company is rolling it out to Google Messages users in beta form, as reported by 9To5Google. That means we’re one step away from the emoji reaction feature reaching all Google Messages users.
Oddly, Google didn’t use the symbols that match the exact reaction on iPhone. For example, the heart reaction is changed to the face with heart eyes, which sends a slightly different message than the heart by itself. Even more confusing is the exclamation reaction, which is switched to the Face with Open Mouth.
This maps the reactions to the same ones used in RCS, but it’s still an odd choice since changing the emoji alters the point an iPhone user may have been looking to make with their reaction.
If you’re in the Google Messages beta, the new conversion feature is enabled by default, so you don’t have to do anything to get it up and running.
