Google I/O is less than a few weeks away, but you don’t have to wait that long to revel in a (definitely) new and (maybe) exciting Android feature.
For whatever reason, Google is now rolling out “audio emoji” to the beta version Phone by Google app, which you can sign up for right now. You can also just wait, seeing as this feature will most likely release to the general public pretty soon.
There are six sound effects to choose from, including a fart noise, which all correspond to existing emoji. You can play the audio emoji directly during a phone call to make an (annoying) impression on whoever you’re talking with.
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If I had to choose an equivalent, it would be to those soundboards that old school radio hosts used to play with during interviews and dead air, with all sorts of quirky sound effects, like a toilet flushing or a sad trombone.
If you’re looking to be that person, well, then you’ll definitely want to take advantage of the new audio emoji on your Android device. Here’s everything you need to know.
While you’re here, check out how to get the Android 15 beta on your phone and how to improve your Android’s reception with these tips and tricks.
What audio emoji are available on Android?
There are six audio emoji to choose from:
- Clapping Hands (applause)
- Face with Tears of Joy (laughter)
- Party Popper (party noises)
- Crying Face (womp womp/sad trombone)
- Pile of Poo (fart)
- Drum (sting/ba dum tss)
While most of the audio emoji are straightforward, the crying face emoji corresponds to the sad trombone noise made as a joke when someone fails at something, and the drum emoji is the rimshot sound effect made after someone tells the punchline to a joke. All of the audio emoji sound effects seem to be very old school, similar to the Wilhelm scream.
How to use the audio emoji during a phone call
You may need to download the beta version of the Phone by Google app. You can sign up here. After becoming a tester, go to the Play Store app, hit your profile photo in the top-right, go to Manage apps & device > Updates available and update the Phone by Google app.
Note: If it doesn’t appear, wait a little bit for the new update. It took a few minutes for it to appear for me after joining the beta tester program.
Now, before I show you how to use these audio emoji, please remember that with great power comes great responsibility, so only use the audio emoji when necessary, or else you risk your friends, colleagues and family members hanging up on you and never wanting to talk to you on the phone ever again. Got it?
OK, to use audio emoji, call someone on your Android, or pick up a phone call, and then hit the new audio emoji button that appears right above your phone dialer buttons (keypad, mute and speaker). After you hit the audio emoji button, it will expand to show you the six audio emoji options you have.
Tap an audio emoji button, like the poop or drum emoji, and the corresponding sound effect will play for a few seconds, along with an equally annoying and low-quality full-screen animation. The sound effect will be heard by both parties, and as someone who’s already been a victim to audio emoji, let me tell you, it’s pretty dang loud and annoying.
This is the animation for the poop emoji.
If you want to disable the feature, go to the Phone app, tap the three-dot menu in the top-right, go to Settings > Audio Emoji and toggle it off. Unfortunately, this only disables the feature on your phone. If someone else has audio emoji enabled on their Android, you’ll still be forced to listen to the sound effects. Sorry, there’s nothing you can do about it, other than hang up.
Pretty simple to use, but at the same time, shouldn’t be used all the time, especially during professional phone calls or more serious conversations. As someone who loves to prank my friends, I can see these audio emoji being overused and quickly becoming more annoying than funny. Imagine dropping a womp womp as your friend cries to you about a breakup?
OK, maybe that is funny.
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