After Google revealed its new emoji support in the first beta of Android O back in March, the redesign took them from “blobs” to a more realistic design similar to the emojis you would see in iOS. On Monday — World Emoji Day — Google took to its blog to officially say goodbye to the old Android emoji while reassuring users blob emoji-themed stickers will be available in Google Allo.
While the blog post pulls out all of the dramatic and satirical stops for the farewell, Google’s Twitter mentions might prove otherwise. After encouraging its followers to tweet the hashtag #BlobVoyage, the thread proves users are genuinely upset about the new redesign and don’t actually want to say goodbye to the “blobs.”
The company explains that the change was extremely necessary in order to provide emojis that were similar in appearance across all platforms — whether it’s iOS, Samsung, or Windows. The new design system — such as the reusable components — also helps make future emojis a lot easier to build keeping them more unified, vibrant, and consistent.
To make letting go of the traditional gumdrop smileys a bit easier, users can still access them in the form of stickers via Allo — one of Google’s messaging apps. Allo features Google Assistant — the AI-powered tool that’s always there to serve you things like appointment reminders or restaurant recommendations — along with Smart Reply, which suggests customized responses to your messages, and a GIF search function.
In March, animated emojis joined the list of features within Allo. After choosing a particular emoji, users animate it by dragging it up and down before hitting send. Among other creative features in the messaging tool are doodling on photos or adding text to it, and adjusting the size of your text depending on the emotions behind it.
Allo’s interface had also been revamped with the addition of landscape orientation along with a monochrome theme. Users can reply to messages directly from notifications on iOS and Android In terms of stickers, users can choose from a variety of different artwork designed by studios from around the globe and independent artists. Google has collaborated with third parties in the past such as Netflix to create a Stranger Things sticker pack and Star Wars stickers in honor of Disney’s Rogue One.
While it’s unclear whether the sticker pack will be enough to cure the sadness people are experiencing from having to say goodbye to the precious “blobs,” it could be enough to fill the void. It might also be Google’s incentive for new users to download Allo and for existing users to send messages more frequently.
