Telegram Emoji Suggestions Architecture: Keyword Trie Matching, Colon Delimiter Syntax & Multilingual Dictionaries
You do not have to scroll for an emoji. Type a word into the emoji panel's search and it finds the ones that mean it; type an emoji into the message box and it offers stickers that match.
Both are search, in opposite directions, and between them they make a panel of thirty packs usable.
What you will be able to do
- check_circle Find an emoji by typing what it means rather than by looking for it.
- check_circle Get to a sticker without opening the sticker panel.
- check_circle Search in your own language, and know when that works less well.
- check_circle Use the suggestion row as a shortcut rather than as a distraction.
The row appears above the keyboard as you type and disappears the moment you write anything else — it never gets in the way.
search Two searches pointing at each other
The first is word to emoji. The emoji panel has a search field; typing a word there filters the whole set by meaning, so you never scroll past nine categories looking for a specific face.
The second is emoji to sticker. Typing an emoji into the message box brings up a row of stickers associated with it, drawn from every pack you have installed. Tap one and it is sent instead of the emoji.
The second is the one that changes how the app feels. A sticker collection is unusable by browsing past about ten packs, and completely usable by typing the emoji that matches the mood.
Four shortcuts hiding in the keyboard row
None of them need anything switched on, and three of them are invisible until you know to look.
search Searching the emoji set
add_reaction The sticker row
gif The same trick for animations
visibility_off If the suggestions are in the way
One habit is worth more than the rest: type the emoji, take the sticker.
settings Using both directions
- Open the emoji panel and search The field at the top; type a meaning rather than a name.
- Or type an emoji in the message box The suggestion row appears above the keyboard.
- Tap a suggestion to send it The emoji you typed is replaced by the sticker.
- Send the emoji instead if nothing fits Alone, it arrives large and animated.
- Tidy the source Favourite the stickers you use and archive the packs you do not; the suggestions get better as the collection gets smaller.
This page is search inside the keyboard. The curriculum step is search everywhere else: finding messages, media and people, the filters that narrow a query, and how Telegram indexes what you have without being asked.
Emoji suggestions at a glance
Word to emoji, emoji to sticker, saved animations, and how to quiet the row, on one page. Tap to open it at full resolution.
