Emojis are an indispensable part of modern digital communication, allowing us to convey tone, emotion and reaction using a simple pictographic icon. These will become even more useful, since they will soon be accompanied by sounds.
What if these emoji could also make sounds during voice calls? This is the weird but fun concept that Google is exploring with a new “Audio Emoji” feature for the Phone app. Evidence of the existence of the Audio Emoji has recently surfaced in an update to the beta version of Google’s Phone app.
Strings of code provide the first details of how it works, describing “tap emoji” that can trigger sounds such as “applause, laughter, sad trombone and others” For “express emotions and moods” during calls. Although we don’t know what the interface of the Audio Emoji will look likeit appears that users will have a button to easily play sound effects during an ongoing voice call.
Also read – Google tests emojis for two-factor authentication in Messages for the web
What emojis will be available?
Thanks to the 9to5Google team’s findings, we even know some of the specific emoji sounds Google tested. This managed to activate six Audio Emoji by default in the beta application: hand clapping, laughing, encouragement/celebration, sad face, drum roll, and obviously, a dropping noise for the famous poop emoji.
Each emoji triggers an animation synchronized with the corresponding audio effect when touched. You read correctly, alongside relatively harmless sounds like clapping and laughter, Google works well at giving you the ability to fart in the ears of your friends and family during a phone call.
For now, the feature is still in beta development, with no word on if or when it will roll out more widely to Pixel phones or across the broader Android ecosystem. This could easily be an internal test that would never see the light of day. But even if Audio Emoji becomes a reality, there is certainly a non-zero risk that toilet noises will quickly transform into a new way for Internet users to make jokes to their friends and to make their parents deeply regret having bought them smartphones.