How to use emoji and Tapbacks in iMessage for iOS 10

How do you get 3x emoji, emoji recommendations, emoji reactions, and emojifications? With the new iMessage effects in iOS 10!

Messages in iOS 10 takes emoji to the next level. If that doesn't sound important to you, then you haven't seen the kind of cheers emoji get on stage or the amount of interest they generate on social. They're a big, smiley, thumbs-up deal! If you're on the developer preview or public beta and want to test them out, here's how!

How do you get the 3x bigger emoji in iMessage?

Bigger emoji are better emoji. They let you see all the details and convey all the emotions. If you're running iOS 10, iMessage can now show you emoji at three times the normal size. But only under certain circumstances.

Enter one to three emoji in the iMessage text field.
Tap the Send button. (Looks like an upward arrow)

If you enter more than three emoji, they'll default back to 1x size. If you enter emoji and any other text, they'll default back to 1x size. So, if you really want 3x emoji, you can only send emoji, and you can only send one to three of them in a single iMessage.

How do you get emoji recommendations in iMessage?

If you're running iOS 10, Apple's predictive QuickType keyboard can suggest emoji as well as, you know, regular words. The predictive keyboard has to be turned on in Settings, and can't be hidden.

Start typing in the iMessage text field.
Tap any emoji predictions that show up in the prediction bar. If multiple predictions show up, tap the one you prefer.
Tap the Send button. (Looks like an upward arrow)

Emoji predictions will show up whenever you type something that has a corresponding emoji. For example, "I'm happy" will predict "I'm [smiley face]". "My car" will suggest the "[car]" emoji.

How do you emojify an iMessage?

With iOS 10, "emojification" works similarly to emoji recommendations.

Type an iMessage text field.
Tap the Emoji button on the keyboard.
Tap on a word that's underlined in yellow to replace it with its corresponding emoji.
Keep tapping words underlined in yellow until you've "emojified" everything you want.
Tap the Send button. (Looks like an upward arrow)

With emojification, you can convert as many — or as few — words to emoji as you like.

How do you react with an emoji Tapback in iMessage?

Emoji aren't just for replying in iOS 10, they're also for reacting. Apple calls them Tapbacks. They're similar to Slack or Facebook emoji reactions, and drop right onto any iMessage bubble sent your way.

Touch and hold (long press) on an iMessage sent your way.
Tap the Tapback you want to send: Heart, thumbs up, thumbs down, Ha ha, !!, or ?.

There's no need to hit send, the emoji reaction goes immediately.

What do the new Tapback emoji reactions mean?

Currently, in the iOS 10 beta, the following Tapback emoji are available:

Heart: Like, love, or fav
Thumbs up: Happy, approve, or agree
Thumbs down: Sad, disapprove, or disagree
Ha ha: Laugh, either happily or sarcastically.
!!: Exclaim emphatically.
?: Question.

How do you change the emoji reaction Tapback in iMessage?

If you reply with the wrong Tapback, or you later decide you want a different Tapback, you can easily make the change.

Touch and hold (long press) on an iMessage with the Tapback you want to change.
Tap the Tapback you want to change to: Heart, thumbs up, thumbs down, Ha ha, !, or ?.