How to Enable Emoji Icons on iPhone 2.2

You may not heard of Emoji icons (me too!) until the release of iPhone firmware 2.2. Emoji icons are actually picture characters that are very popular in Japan for text messaging. Nearly all mobile phones in Japan have Emoji icons built-in.

iPhone firmware 2.2 also comes with Emoji icons. But it’s only rolled out to iPhone users using Softbank network in Japan. Emoji icons are hidden from other iPhone users outside of Japan. Developer from Ireland, however, has found a way to enable this hidden feature. Now any iPhone 2.2 user can enjoy Emoji icon. The trick is to enable a property value on iPhone to bring out this feature:

You need to edit the file /User/Library/Preferences/com.apple.Preferences.plist on the device -> whether you use a jailbreak to achieve this or merely some iTunes backup editor is up to you.

Add the following boolean key as ‘true’:

KeyboardEmojiEverywhere

Enabling Emoji Icon using Cydia

For jailbreak iPhone user with Cydia installed, you do not need to edit this value manually. Cydia does all the stuffs for you. What you have to do is to open up Cydia and install Emoji under Tweaks section.

After installation, go to “Settings” -> “General” -> “International” -> “Keyboards” -> “Japanese”. Then switch on Emoji to enable Emoji icons.

Emoji icons can be used in most iPhone applications (such as SMS, email, notes, etc).

Note: If your recipient does not have Emoji icon enabled iPhone, the SMS or email with Emoji icons may not be displayed properly. You can refer to this Apple support article for details.

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Tagged as: emoji icons, firmware 2.2, iPhone, jailbreak-iphone

{ 2 trackbacks }

Emoji on iPhone 2.2 « A Place for Dreamers: November 26, 2008 at 9:12 pm
How to: Smilies in comments the iPhone | Imob Friends: March 2, 2009 at 5:33 pm

{ 5 comments… read them below or add one }

1 m goode November 26, 2008 at 7:43 am: I wonder if this icon set is available for the Motorola Krave…That would be awesome. I’ve been a fan of the krave ever since I started working with Motorola because it’s got a clean touch screen and 2 megapixel camera. Check out the full features online at motorola.com/krave. It’s at the top of my list right now.

2 penn November 28, 2008 at 11:41 pm: cool sttuff il try this…im on my way to jail my iphone

3 unlock iphone December 8, 2008 at 9:35 pm: Love your weblog. I have bookmarked it!

4 ansar December 22, 2008 at 9:09 pm: How do i use a backup editor to edit the plist file. I dont have a clue were to start, can someone help?

5 It's Working April 28, 2009 at 2:00 pm: Cool, thank you