Emoji Reactions

Quickly respond to a message with an emoji instead of typing.

The emoji picker opens when you choose React on a message. It shows a large searchable grid of emoji; you can search by description or category, tap one to select it, and confirm to attach it to the message. Your reaction then appears on the message bubble, where anyone can tap it to see who reacted.

Overview

Control	What it does
Search field	Filters the grid as you type, matching the emoji's description and its category.
Emoji grid	The full emoji set. Tap one to select it.
Selected outline	The emoji you picked is outlined in green; every other tile has a plain outline.
Save button	Confirms the selected emoji as your reaction.
Cancel button	Closes the picker without adding a reaction.

Getting Here

1. In a conversation, press and hold a message.
2. Tap React in the message-actions popup — see Message Actions (Long-Press).
3. The emoji picker appears over the conversation.

note

React is offered on every message, whatever its type, as long as the conversation itself is still open. In a conversation that has been closed, removed, or disabled, long-press does nothing at all, so the picker cannot be reached.

React to a Message

1. Scroll the grid, or type in the Search field to narrow it down.
2. Tap the emoji you want. Its tile gains a green outline.
3. Tap the save button. The picker closes and the reaction is attached to the message.

What you do	What happens
Tap an emoji	It becomes your selection and gains the green outline.
Tap the same emoji again	The selection is cleared and no emoji is outlined.
Tap a different emoji	The selection moves to the new one; only one can be chosen at a time.
Tap save with a selection	The reaction is saved and the picker closes.
Tap save with nothing selected	The app shows "Please select icon" and the picker stays open.
Tap cancel	The picker closes and no reaction is added or changed.

Search the Grid

Search looks at two things for each emoji: its plain-language description and the category it belongs to. That means you can search either for what an emoji shows or for the family it comes from.

1. Tap the Search field and type.
2. The grid narrows as you type, ignoring capital letters.
3. Clear the field to bring the whole set back.
4. Tapping an emoji closes the keyboard so you can see more of the grid.

tip

Searching by category is a quick way to reach a whole family at once, while searching by description is better when you know roughly what the emoji looks like.

One Reaction Per Person

You can have one reaction on a message at a time. Reacting again replaces your previous emoji rather than adding a second one. Other people's reactions are unaffected — a message can carry reactions from many people at once, and the bubble shows the most recent emoji together with the total count.

Layout Notes

The grid reflows for the screen it is on, with wider spacing on a tablet and in landscape, and tighter spacing on a phone held upright. Rotating the device while the picker is open rearranges the grid in place, and your selection is kept.

How This Connects

• Where the emoji come from. The grid is built from an emoji list bundled with the app, so it needs no connection and never has to load. The descriptions and categories that search matches against come from the same list.
• What happens when you save. Your reaction is stored on your device against that message, replacing any earlier reaction of yours, and then sent to the server in the background. The bubble updates straight away.
• Shared with other screens. The reaction shows as a chip on the bubble in Chat View, and tapping that chip opens Who Reacted, which lists every reactor with the emoji they used.
• Using reactions as acknowledgement. Because reactions are recorded per person and are visible to everyone in the thread, a single agreed emoji is a fast way to confirm that an instruction has been read — the sender can open the reactor list and see exactly who has responded, without a stream of one-word replies.
• Chats and incidents. Reactions work the same way in a conversation opened from an incident's Comms tab, which makes them useful for confirming receipt of a tasking without adding traffic to the thread.
• Offline behavior. The picker works offline and your reaction is recorded locally right away. It is uploaded automatically when the connection returns, so other people see it after the next sync.

Troubleshooting

If this happens	What to do
"Please select icon" appears	Tap an emoji so it gains the green outline, then tap save.
Nothing is outlined after a tap	You tapped the already-selected emoji, which clears the selection. Tap it once more.
The picker will not open	Long-press does nothing in a conversation that is closed, removed, or disabled.
Search finds nothing	Search matches description and category. Try a broader word, or clear the field and scroll.
Your reaction replaced an earlier one	That is expected — each person can have one reaction per message.
Your reaction is not visible to others	It is stored locally until it syncs. Reconnect and give it a moment.

Related Pages

• Message Actions (Long-Press)
• Who Reacted
• Chat View

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