In early 2020, Google began testing a new emoji mashup feature that suggests a few funky stickers each time you try to insert a regular emoji in Gboard. The option later rolled out under the official Emoji Kitchen moniker and has been relatively the same ever since. Now, we're seeing a whole bunch of fresh mashups made possible by a new combo system that lets you pick any (well, almost any) two emojis and get a sticker out of them.
Emoji intensification
The first time we noticed this option, we were trying to send multiple versions of the same emoji. Say you pick the starry-eyed face, you should get a few options in the mashup strip on top of the keyboard. Type it again and a new sticker option appears to the left, with a small vertical separator to distinguish it from the other suggestions. This one is an intensified version of the emoji. In the case of the starry-eyed face, each of the two stars become a small face with starry eyes, in an inception-like effect. In the cowboy's case, you get a human shape made of cowboy emojis with boots.
The combinations are all quite ridiculous. The blown head gets its eyes twisted, the smiling purple imp becomes red, the huffing face exudes two bigger air puffs, the zipped-mouth face gets its eyes closed as well, the pile of poop becomes an ice-cream cone of poop (or chocolate, depends on how you see it), etc...
Emoji combinations
This same feature allows you to combine two emojis of your liking — as long as they're supported by the kitchen feature. Simply type the two emojis and the combination will show up on the left of the suggestion strip.
A flu face that pukes and sneezes, a sick face that has fever and cold sweats, a bacteria-infested poop, a pumpkin moon, a spy who won't tell a thing, a heartbroken but celebrating face, an innocent nerd, a disapproving face with a raised eyebrow,... just think of a combination and you'll find the result is even quirkier than you expected.
Animals, things, more
The feature doesn't just support faces, but also a few animals, food items, things, and other random emojis. Doubling a panda gets you a parent and kid panda, doubling rabbits multiplies them into a happy loving family. Similarly, two red peppers make for a fiery sticker, and two cacti result in a desert.
But you can also think of other combos. A nerdy turtle, a cowboy rabbit, a panda cat, a tree on fire, a cloud with snow, a rainbow heart, a pineapple tornado (why not?), a birthday cake and balloons, a diamond crown, a queen bee, and countless other combinations are possible.
I've seen some disturbing things
This ability to combine any two emojis is fun, but it can also result in mashups that really shouldn't exist. A hotdog dunked in coffee? A confetti of spiders? A flying poop balloon? Why not all of the above? And why not a pig eating a hotdog, a spider avocado, or a cloud raining fire? Yikes.
And I'll repeat this until someone at Google listens, there's still no dog emoji support. What in the cat-loving hell is that?! How come the emoji kitchen supports at least a dozen other animals but no dogs? That's just a load of bull-shit.
Trying all of these combos is the perfect way to start your weekend early. So if you have a few hours to waste, I suggest you grab your phone and try them out. They're supported in a few messaging apps such as WhatsApp, Telegram, Google Messages, Google Voice, and others.
The new mashups are live for us in v9.9.12 beta of Gboard, which began rolling out on the Play Store a few days ago. You can also get it from APK Mirror.
Thanks: Nick Cipriani, Anthony Maki