Messaging apps have been adding new features to facilitate better interaction among people are working from home or are under COVID-19 lockdown. Platforms have increased the number of participants in video calls, made screen sharing easier and have added interactive tools for chatting.
Facebook Messengers is now taking things one step further with the introduction of Soundmojis. As the name suggests, Soundmojis are emojis that will have sound effects attached to them in order to enhance the quality of interaction between people online. Facebook has called Soundmojis "emojis that could talk".
Facebook has stated that Soundmojis would let users send short sound clips in a Messenger chat. These clips can range from generic sounds like clapping, crickets, drumroll, and evil laughter, to specific audio clips from TV shows, movies and web series. Users will be able to send audio clips of their favourite dialogues from various media using this feature.
"We're launching an entire Soundmoji library for you to choose from, which we'll update regularly with new sound effects and famous sound bites. Each sound is represented by an emoji, keeping the visual emojis we all love in play while bringing sound into the mix," notes Facebook.
Facebook is only rolling out this feature on iOS phones, Android users will have to wait before they can use Soundmojis. iOS users can access Soundmojis by heading to the Messenger app, starting a chat and then tapping on the emoji they want to send. iOS users will then have to select the loudspeaker icon. From here users can preview and send Soundmojis.
In June, Facebook Messenger had rolled out the Quick reply bar. This feature enabled users to instantly reply to a message. Using the Quick reply bar feature, users will be able to respond to media sent to them without separately opening the photo or video.
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