Gmail gets a big emoji boost; New categories, recently used tab, and more

tech.hindustantimes.com:

Google has been testing a lot of new features for Gmail lately. Just a few days ago, a blog post by @AssembleDebug revealed that Google is reportedly in the process of adding the option to react to emails using emojis directly within the Gmail platform. New emoji replies would appear alongside the traditional reply button. Expanding its emojis, Google has announced the rollout of an updated and more inclusive emoji picker in Gmail. Here's all you need to know about it.

In a blog post, Google announced that “Starting today, you can access a more complete emoji selection and set emoji skin tone and gender preferences with the modernized emoji picker in the web version of Gmail.”

But what does it mean for users? The emoji selection will now have 9 categories instead of 5. Moreover, it will also bring a new “Recently used” tab where users can pick from recently used emojis instead of having to search them again. With this updated emoji picker, Gmail users can also set emoji skin tone and gender preferences. To do this, simply click on the small arrow on the downright of the emoji and different emoji preferences will appear. Selecting one preference will apply to all the relevant emojis.

There is no Admin control for this feature and it cannot be turned off by the end users.

Google announced that the individual emoji selections will be saved until the settings are updated by the user. These updated features are rolling out starting today and will be available to use over the next few weeks for all Google Workspace customers and users with personal Google Accounts.

In this new setup, an emoji reaction button appears within emails right alongside the traditional reply button. Initially, it provides you with a selection of popular