Add flair to your conversations and clean up those reactions everyone’s getting tired of seeing
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Emojis and GIFs are great for reactions and conveying emotion, but new emoji offerings arrive slowly and there are only so many of them. GIFs offer lots more options, but you can’t always find the right one to capture exactly how you’re feeling. If you’re looking for something that’s much more personalized to yourself and your friend groups, you need to check out stickers on your iPhone.
Stickers are a much more personal option that are a lot of fun to use in the Messages app (and elsewhere) on your iPhone. If you haven’t tried these custom “stickable” images yet, you’re missing out. Any photo or video from you or your friends can become a hilarious reaction image. And they’re easy to set up, with no photo editing skills required.
You can easily create stickers using your own photos, including animated stickers from Live Photos. A perfectly timed sticker can be funny in a group chat, great for inside jokes or inventing new memes between friends. After you make a sticker, it stays saved to your library for quick reuse later. And managing your stickers is simple too; you’re free to remove any you aren’t happy with or no longer use. Chances are that when you start using stickers, your friends will too, which means more amusing chats for everyone.
How to make stickers on your iPhone
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There are two possible routes when you want to create a new sticker: through the Photos app or in the Messages app. For the former, open Photos and find a picture that you want to build a sticker from. The best sticker candidates are images that have a clear subject in the foreground, like a person, animal, hand, or object.
After tapping to view the picture you want to build from, press and hold on the element you want to turn into a sticker. You’ll see it shine for a moment, then a tooltip menu will appear next to it. If this doesn’t happen, try a different element that’s more pronounced against the background (or another photo). Choose Add Sticker to save the sticker to your library. Repeat this to craft as many stickers as you like. You can sometimes even make multiple stickers from the same image. And if you select a Live Photo, your sticker will be animated (toggle off the Live option at the top-left to disable this if you’d rather it stay static).
If you prefer, it’s also possible to create stickers from the same menu you access them from. Open a conversation in the Messages app, select the + (Plus) icon to the left of the area where you type, and choose Stickers. There, hit the + (Plus) icon in your list of stickers. This opens your photo collection with a key difference from earlier: elements that can be converted into stickers appear highlighted without you having to press on them. Tap one, followed by + (Plus) at the bottom, to add it to your library.
Sending and managing stickers on your iPhone
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The Messages app is the best place to use stickers. Open the same + (Plus) menu mentioned above to see all the ones you’ve made so far. To manage them, press and hold one, then select Rearrange from the tooltip. This puts the stickers into a “jiggle mode” similar to when customizing the iPhone’s Home screen, allowing you to drag them around or tap the – (Minus) button to delete them in bulk. On the same tooltip menu, select Add Effect to jazz your stickers up a bit. You can pick from a few options like Outline and Shiny; some of these even react as you turn your iPhone, looking like a holographic trading card.
To send a sticker, tap it from your library. This adds it to your message draft just like when you attach a photo. For more fun, press and hold a sticker from your library to “peel” it, then drag it onto the conversation to “stick” it there. Try this to mess with texts and images in funny ways: have your pet photobomb your beautiful landscape shots, use your friend’s goofy face as a reaction, and whatever else you can think of.
Keep in mind that stickers are designed to work in iMessage conversations (those with blue bubbles). They should send in RCS chats with Android users but likely won’t show the “peel and stick” option properly. SMS conversations have strict size limitations, meaning stickers might appear blurry.
Other ways to use iPhone stickers
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Messages isn’t the only app compatible with your stickers. They’re usable in other messaging apps like WhatsApp; just tap the Emoji button at the bottom-left of your keyboard and choose the Stickers tab. You can’t “stick” them on messages like in iMessage, though. Stickers are also available in any iPhone app that features Markup mode. For example, try opening an image in the Photos app, tapping the Edit (sliders) icon at the bottom, then selecting the Markup (marker) icon at the top.
Once you’re in Markup mode, tap + (Plus) on the bottom toolbar and choose Add Sticker. You can move stickers around, change their size, and make copies. Be sure to save the edited image once you’re done. Other apps where Markup is available include Mail and Notes. If you’re feeling uninspired, tons of iPhone apps offer their own sticker packs. Inside the Stickers menu, you’ll see icons for emoji (any emoji can double as a sticker), custom Genmoji, Memoji, and compatible installed apps. On my phone, for instance, the American Airlines, Wikipedia, and Taco Bell apps offer their own stickers. Choose Edit at the far right to rearrange your sticker packs, following Get Sticker Apps on the App Store at the bottom if you’re interested in more.
Your created stickers sync to all devices using your Apple account, so try them out on your iPad and Mac too! They’re a great way to make your reactions more personal. There’s no wrong way to use them, so create a bunch and give them a try.
