Thanks to iOS 18.2, Apple Intelligence has almost arrived on iPhones, and based on our own reports, Genmoji is proving to be a success. Genmoji, a set of generative and emojis, is an artificial intelligence-powered feature that combines two emojis to create a personalized one.
I’m not a fan of Genmoji. Maybe it’s the fact that the resulting emoji sport that creepy veneer of all AI-created images; Maybe it’s my Android fanboyism’s natural aversion to Apple… or maybe it’s the fact that I love the Android version of Genmoji.
Yes, Android has its own version of Genmoji, and in true Android fashion, Google actually introduced it long before Apple; in 2020 to be exact. This feature is called Emoji Kitchen, and not enough people have heard of it (maybe because of the strange name).
Emoji Kitchen, like Genmoji, lets you select two emoji and combine them into a new one. A smiling face plus a pineapple equals a smiling pineapple, a crying face plus a cat equals a crying cat, you get the picture.
As a tech journalist, I downloaded Emoji Kitchen as soon as it became available (and even wrote about it in early 2020) and have been using it ever since. I actually love it and use it all the time, and with Genmoji potentially making Android users green with envy, it’s time to revisit this far superior alternative.
How to use Emoji Kitchen on Android
Back when Emoji Kitchen was introduced, you had to sign up for a beta to access it. But now anyone on Android can do it, as long as they use the default GBoard keyboard option. Emoji Kitchen doesn’t work on all messaging apps, but the major ones are supported, including WhatsApp, Instagram, Twitter, Messenger, and a few others.
To use Emoji Kitchen, open the chat log and tap in the message box where you are typing. Instead of typing, tap the smiley icon to the left of the spacebar, which brings up the menu that normally lets you send emoji, gifs, and stickers.
Now choose your first emoji and tap on it. Instantly, in the space between the keyboard and the mail log, you’ll see a section for Emoji Kitchen, offering you some suggested custom emojis (I think they’re based on your most used emoji but I’m not sure). not sure).
To combine two emoji of your choice, find your second choice in the emoji list and tap it. Now the leftmost option in the Emoji Kitchen carousel will be the Custom choice. Tap it and your concoction will be sent to chat as a sticker. Unfortunately, you can’t send them in a message like with standard emoji.
My favorite part of Emoji Kitchen is just playing with emoji combinations, but if you prefer to know what you’re sending, there’s a full list of options available here.
You can also use Emoji Kitchen on other devices
You can also use Emoji Kitchen on a computer, allowing you to quickly and easily create emoji and copy and paste them into chats.
To do this, simply search for “Emoji Kitchen” on Google, then tap “Get Cooking” below the search bar.
A pop-up will appear that allows you to choose from a range of emojis to combine, into a mathematical “X + X = X”. To create an emoji, select the one you want to swap, then tap one from the list below.
Next, to copy and paste your new custom emoji, tap the “copy” button (two overlapping rectangles) below the right emoji to copy it. Paste it into another document or discussion.
Unlock the full potential of Emoji Kitchen
I love Emoji Kitchen because some of its creations look silly. Silly but cute. And isn’t the big advantage of Android emoji over iOS ones that they’re so much cuter? The veritable army of cute new combos is one of the reasons I continue to use this feature.
My favorite is the turtle emoji (some people tell me it’s a turtle but its main name according to the Unicode emoji creators is “turtle”, take that!), with its simple hopeful smile, and about 75% of Emoji Kitchen stickers I use. mash-ups sent these days featuring the turtle. I sent so many to my girlfriend that she made me a gingerbread version of the turtle-alien mix, a kitchen creation that particularly appealed to me.
The point is that the turtle alien emoji was sent because it was situationally relevant to what we were talking about (invasive species of turtles, not alien shelled reptiles), and that’s another aspect that I like in Emoji Kitchen. The ability to combine emoji creates so many situation-appropriate stickers to send that it rarely happens that I can’t find an emoji I’d like to send.
But my favorite thing about Emoji Kitchen, which is also a dig at Genmoji, is that the stickers just look better. This is partly my preference, but also partly that Genmoji are images created by an AI trying to put two emoji together, and that tells the story. Emoji Kitchen, on the other hand, is hand-drawn, which Google has confirmed.
I’m not here to complain about AI, but you can say that Genmoji lacks that human touch, sitting at the bottom of this uncanny valley (alongside half of Apple Intelligence’s other generative tools) while Emoji Kitchen basks in this cartoon cuteness. I just need to show some of Apple’s promotional images to prove this point:
So if you are an Android user, you shouldn’t be jealous that you don’t have Genmoji. You should be happy that you can use Emoji Kitchen instead.
