Emojis have become an essential way for people to express themselves online. The colorful little images help convey tone and emotion in messages. While emojis originated in Japan, they have spread globally and are now standard on most smartphones, including iPhones.
By default, iPhones display emojis in yellow. However, there are ways to customize your emojis and change their color on iPhone models running iOS 14.5 or later. Changing your emoji color can help personalize your device and messages.
In this article, we’ll look at several methods for changing emoji colors on your iPhone. Whether you want red, blue, or rainbow emojis, we’ve got you covered.
Change Emoji Skin Tone
The easiest way to modify emoji color on iPhone is to change the skin tone. Many emoji characters come in 5 skin tone options, allowing you to adjust their color.
To change an emoji skin tone:
- Tap and hold an applicable emoji when typing a message.
- A popup will appear with skin tone options.
- Tap the desired skin tone.
This will insert the emoji in the chosen skin tone. The skin tone will persist across devices signed in with your Apple ID.
Use Emoji Modifier
Another way to customize emoji color is with the emoji modifier. The emoji modifier lets you apply color like red, blue, or green to supported emoji.
To use the emoji modifier:
- Tap and hold an applicable emoji when typing.
- Select the emoji modifier from the popup.
- Choose a color option like red heart or blue heart.
The modifier will change that emoji to the chosen color. Like skin tones, the modified emoji will be applied across your devices.
Download Emoji Apps
In addition to the built-in skin tone and modifier options, you can further customize your emoji colors with third-party emoji apps. These apps replace the system emoji set with their own animated and specially colored ones.
Some top emoji apps to check out include:
- Bitmoji – Replace emojis with personalized Bitmoji avatars.
- MojiLaLa – Select color palettes to theme all your emojis.
- JoyPixels – Provides diverse and inclusive emoji designs.
- Gboard Minis – Mini stickers from Google with customizable colors.
Install one of these apps, allow it to replace your emoji keyboard, and you’ll have access to entirely new emoji sets and colors.
Jailbreak Your iPhone
Jailbreaking your iPhone gives you root access to deeply customize your device, including changing emoji colors system-wide. Jailbreaking is the most flexible option but also the most complex.
Some ways jailbreaking enables emoji customization include:
- Installing emoji packs from Cydia
- Theming emoji with Anemone
- Hacking emoji files with Fileza
Jailbreaking voids your iPhone warranty and poses security risks. Only attempt it if you’re technically adept. Research the current jailbreak state for your iPhone model and proceed at your own risk.
Use Third-Party Apps
As an alternative to jailbreaking, you can also customize emoji within third-party messaging apps. Apps like WhatsApp, Telegram, and Slack allow installing emoji packs with diverse colors and designs.
To change emoji colors in these apps:
- Open WhatsApp/Telegram/Slack settings.
- Go to Chat Settings > Emoji > Get More.
- Browse and download emoji packs.
The emoji packs will then be usable only within that particular app. So your regular iPhone keyboard emojis will remain unchanged.
Change Keyboard Theme
If you want to change the color of emojis displayed on your keyboard, tweak the keyboard theme in your iPhone settings:
- Go to Settings > General > Keyboard.
- Tap Keyboards > Edit.
- Select Add New Keyboard.
- Choose the desired color keyboard theme.
This will re-skin the standard emoji keyboard with colors like red, pink, or white. The color won’t carry over when actually sending the emoji in a message.
Use Website Emojis
When chatting or posting on websites, you can customize emoji colors using the site’s custom emoji set.
For example, on Discord you can:
- Go to User Settings > Appearance.
- Enable Developer Mode.
- Click the emoji button during chat.
- Select any custom emoji with your desired color.
These colored emojis will display when messaging on that particular website. Other users who have the emoji pack enabled will see them too.
Conclusion
Emojis are a fun way to add some flair to your messages. While iPhone emojis default to a yellow color, there are many techniques you can use to customize them in different colors.
A summary of the main approaches covered:
- Change emoji skin tones
- Use the emoji modifier
- Install third-party emoji apps
- Jailbreak your iPhone
- Use alternate messaging apps
- Switch keyboard theme
- Use website emojis
So try out some new emoji colors today and make your messages pop! Just be thoughtful about which techniques make sense for your needs and skill level. With the right approach, you’ll be able to add some extra flair to your iPhone emoji game.
