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Memoji App Turns Selfies Into Emojis


Memoji App Turns Selfies Into Emojis
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If you are a fan of emojis, you might enjoy Memoji. The new app turns photos of faces into emojis. If your friends are fans of emojis, you can turn their photos into emojis, too.

But if your friends are not fans of emojis, you can still turn their photos into emojis. Maybe then they will learn to like emojis!

Memoji is a free app for iPhone that turns photos of faces into emojis. The app lets users choose from 11 different emojis, including happy, sad, cool, love, and even a rainbow unicorn.

A Memoji app for Android is in development.​

Memojis can be saved as photos, GIFs and videos. The app lets users save these to their phone and share them on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and other social media sites. Users also can send them directly to their friends in Facebook Messenger, text messages and email.

How to use memoji

To use Memoji, first download it free from the iTunes App Store. Open the app and give it permission to access your photos.

Tap the photo icon in the upper left corner of the screen.

Memoji Choose Photo
Memoji Choose Photo

Choosing a photo

Choose from photos on your phone that show faces. The app does not recognize all face photos. If the app does not recognize a face in the photo you choose, try a different photo.

The app only recognizes photos of human faces. If you try to use a photo of your dog or cat, you will get a message that suggests you try again with a human face.

You can have fun with photos of friends using Memoji.

If you choose a photo of a group of friends, only one face in the photo will get the emoji.

Turning the photo into an emoji

Under the photo you will see the 11 different emojis you can use. Swipe through to choose your favorite.

Tap on the emoji to add it to the face in the photo. You can choose from:

  • Laugh until you cry
  • Angry
  • Kiss
  • Devil
  • Laughing
  • Sad crying
  • Rainbow unicorn
  • Feeling ill
  • Love
  • Sad
  • Cool

After you tap the emoji, the face in the photo will change according to the emoji you choose. The face moves to a smile, frown or something else.

An image might be added such as tears, sunglasses, or a unicorn horn. For some emojis the facial expression changes without an image being added.

Memoji Cool
Memoji Cool

Keep tapping different emojis until you find one you like.

Saving and sharing the memoji

When you have chosen your favorite Memoji, you can save it and share it with others. Tap the arrow icon in the upper right corner of the screen.

You will see choices of format for saving the image as a GIF, video or image. GIF may be the most fun, but you can choose based on how you want to share the Memoji.

Memoji Unicorn
Memoji Unicorn

After you choose the format, sharing and saving options will appear on the screen. You can save the image to your phone, share it to your social media accounts, add it to a text or email message, assign it to a contact and more.

A label that gives credit to the app is included in the lower right corner of the image or video. As of now, the app does not let you remove the label.

I’m Caty Weaver.

Carolyn Nicander Mohr wrote this report for VOA Learning English. Caty Weaver was the editor.

Do you like emojis? Will you try Memoji? Which emoji is your favorite?

Share your thoughts in the Comments Section below or on our Facebook page.

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Words in This Story

emoji -n. a small digital image or icon used to express an idea, emotion, etc., in electronic communication

unicorn ​-n. an imaginary animal that looks like a horse and has a straight horn growing from the middle of its forehead​

GIF ​-n. an animated image generally meant to convey an emotion or state of mind

access -v. permission or the right to enter, get near, or make use of something or to have contact with someone

icon ​-n. a small picture on a computer screen that represents a program or function​

swipe ​-v. move one's finger across a screen to activate a function​

ill -adj. not well or healthy : sick or unhealthy

smile ​-n. an expression on your face that makes the corners of your mouth turn up and that shows happiness, amusement, pleasure, affection, etc.

frown ​-n. a serious facial expression that usually shows anger, displeasure, or concentration​

tear ​-n. a drop of liquid that comes from your eyes especially when you cry​

sunglasses ​-n. glasses with dark lenses that protect the eyes from the sun​

format ​-n. the way in which information is stored in a computer file

option ​-n. the opportunity or ability to choose something or to choose between two or more things​

label ​-n. a word or phrase that describes or identifies something or someone​

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