Unleash your creativity: Google Meet adds nearly 4,000 emojis for reactions in video calls

What you need to know

• Google Meet's reactions are currently limited to just nine emojis, but that's changing with an update.
• Google is adding support for the full emoji library, meaning all of the nearly 4,000 emojis available can become reactions.
• There are some limitations that come with the expanded Meet emoji library. Notably, iOS users won't be able to use it until "a later point in time."

Google Meet is bolstering its in-call communication features, including emoji reactions. The platform is used for video calls, virtual meetings, and video conferencing, but offers far more ways to communicate than just video and audio streams. There's also a chat function for when users don't want to unmute, and emoji reactions that give the speaker quick acknowledgement without interruption.

Previously, Google Meet only offered limited support for emoji reactions — providing just nine in all that could be used for in-call reactions. They covered the basics, like thumbs up or down, but Google Meet is now adding support for the full emoji library. It'll allow Google Meet participants to spice up their calls with more variety for emoji reactions. For context, here are the original nine:

• Confetti 🎉
• Clap 👏
• Crying 😢
• Face with open mouth 😮
• Heart with sparkles 💖
• Laughing 😂
• Thumbs down 👎🏻
• Thumbs up 👍
• Thinking face 🤔

Google says Meet users can now utilize the "full emoji library" for reactions. That opens up user options significantly, as the Uncode Consortium's official Full Emoji List v17 includes nearly 4,000 individual emojis. All of these can now become reactions in Google Meet, as long as you're on Android or the web. Google Meet users on iOS will get the expanded set of reaction emojis "at a later point in time," per the blog post.

Who can use expanded emojis in Google Meet?

Google Meet users on iOS aren't the only ones to miss out on the larger set of emoji reactions. Livestream viewers on Google Meet won't be able to access the expanded emoji set, but can view and display them when they appear as reactions.

The expanded set of emojis is available by default, although they can be limited by Google Workspace administrators and the meeting host. Additionally, people using Meet Rooms hardware won't be able to send emojis from the expanded set. Both users of Meet Rooms and the iOS app will be able to see the wider field of emojis sent by others, but won't be able to send them.

Google is slowly rolling out expanded Meet emojis to Workspace customers. The administrator controls for this feature is appearing now, as of Nov. 6. However, the emoji reaction options won't appear for end users until Nov. 19th for those on rapid release domains or Dec. 9 for those on scheduled release domains.