Google has expanded its emoji reactions feature, initially launched for personal Gmail accounts over two years ago, to now include all Workspace users by default starting February 9th. Users can access the emoji reactions through a smiley face icon next to the Forward button in emails. They can select from a variety of emojis to respond to emails, and the reactions will be visible to other Gmail users at the bottom of the email thread. Recipients using different email providers will receive a notification that the sender ‘reacted via Gmail.’
For emails sent to multiple recipients, the reactions and the number of people who reacted with each emoji will be displayed. Users can also hover over each emoji to identify the reactors. However, the emoji reaction option is not available for all emails, such as those sent to group email lists or exceeding 20 recipients or reactions to the same message.
Although Google introduced emoji reactions as an opt-in feature for Workspace users last April, this default rollout aims to streamline email communication and add a touch of expressiveness to professional conversations. Users may still prefer traditional text replies over emoji reactions, despite the convenience of using emojis for quick responses.
Source: The Verge