Smilies, emoticons or emoji…no matter how you call them, they are essential when trying to add some kind of emotion to text messages. How the emoji look like on your Android device depends on its user interface. HTC, Samsung and LG use their own designs that differ from the original Google emoji.
Especially if you come from a Nexus device, having to deal with these weird looking smiley faces on other devices can be annoying. For example, I upgraded from a Nexus 4 to an LG G2 and I hated the LG emoji. Thankfully, if you have a rooted device, you can easily change the look to the original Google (or iOS) design.
Switch to the original Google or iOS emoji
You can either change the emoji manually or with the help of an app:
Emoji Switcher app
Note: This app requires root access. If you don’t know what that means, read this and this.
All you need to do here is to download the app on Google Play, launch it and select the emoji you want to use. You can choose between Google, LG G3, Samsung Galaxy S4 and iOS. After rebooting your device, you’re should be able to use the new set of emoji.
Doing it manually
Note: Again, your device needs to be rooted. I recommend that you only use this method if you know what you’re doing or the app didn’t work (please check if you have root access). If you’re afraid that something could go wrong, make a Nandroid backup.
Here are the steps you need to follow:
- Make sure you have an Android file explorer with root access. I recommend using Root Explorer.
- Download the font zip file of your choice:
- Extract the font file and copy it to /system/fonts/ on your device, replacing the original NotoColorEmoji.ttf file. If you want to be on the safe side, rename the original file to NotoColorEmoji_OLD.ttf or something similar.
- Change the font file’s permission to rw-r–r– (see screenshot below).
- Reboot your device and start using your new emoji!
If you run into any troubles or got questions, please let me know in the comments!