How to Dictate Emojis on iPhone

* This article is from our Tip of the Day newsletter. . *

In iOS versions of yesteryear, dictation was limited to text, which meant that you would have to insert emojis manually. With the upcoming iOS 16, you will now be able to use dictation to add emojis. This is the article for you if you’re asking yourself, “How do I dictate emojis on iPhone?”

Related Article: How to Find & Delete Your Siri Search History (2022)

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Why You’ll Love This Tip 

  • Continue using dictation without stopping to type emojis. 
  • Add an emoji just by saying its name into your iPhone microphone.

How to Add Emojis to Text with Dictation on iPhone

Before you can use dictation to send emojis on your iPhone, keep in mind that this feature is only available on iPhones with the A12 Bionic chip and later. This includes iPhones XS, XR, and later models. Also, the feature is only available in the following languages: Cantonese (Hong Kong), English (Australia, Canada, India, the UK, and the US), French (France), German (Germany), Japanese (Japan), Mandarin Chinese (Mainland China and Taiwan), and Spanish (Mexico, Spain, and the US). To learn more tips on emojis, sign up for our Tip of the Day newsletter.

  1. Open any app that allows you to write text, such as Messages. For these steps, we will be using the Notes app.

     
  2. Open a new or previous note/message.

     
  3. Tap the Dictation icon.

  4. Say the emoji name plus the word "emoji." E.g., "Cat emoji" or "Happy Face emoji". Pro tip: If you don't know the name of an emoji you want to insert, you can look it up on a site like Emojipedia.

  5. Tap on the Dictation icon again to disable it.

     

That's all there is to it! Now you can add emojis to any dictated message without having to pause to use your keyboard. Happy emoting! Next, learn what to do if your iPhone dictation is not working.

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Author Details

Kenya Smith's picture

Author Details

Kenya Smith

Kenya Smith is a Feature Web Writer for iPhone Life. She has a bachelor's degree in Strategic Communication and has written articles for two newspapers in her home state of Virginia. She also won first place in non-daily column writing for the 2019 and 2020 Virginia Press Association Awards.