Google Docs, an online word processor from part of the free, web-based Google Docs Editors suite offered by Google, which also includes Google Sheets, Google Slides, Google Drawings, Google Forms, Google Sites, and Google Keep, gives users the opportunity to create and edit documents online while collaborating with other users in real-time.
The feature accessible through an internet browser as a web-based application is also available as a mobile app on Android and iOS and as a desktop application on Google’s Chrome OS.
There is more to these functionalities as Google in an announcement post, has said Google Doc will now be laced with emoji reactions that allows users to respond to texts with just a simple symbol instead of a full written document. The Alphabet Inc owned company also announced that the feature will support all the emoji available in the latest release, including gender-neutral options and sillier symbols like melting face and biting lip.
Google in a sample gif released gave an inclination of how it would appear, with the emoji reaction feature coming in as a third option alongside “Add Comment” and “Suggest Edits” when users highlight text. It also allows its teeming users to type to search the emoji catalog, with the company averring that these responses provide “a less formal alternative to comments.” A look at what the new emoji feature will be can be seen from the sample below.
Emoji reactions in action.Image: Google
The use of Emoji as a form of reaction has grown very popular in recent times, as it is seen as a staple of modern software, with numerous messaging apps like iMessage, Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp and of recent Telegram latching on the finesse and style of the feature. Microblogging platform, Twitter is also set to latch on it’s with the launch of its limited test. Emoji reactions makes chatting fun and stylish and it is not surprise that various chat apps find a way to infuse these feature to satisfy the cravings of its users.
Google Docs, a more serious application than the casual chat apps will now have the benefit of the Emoji reactions feature with the service currently undergoing a big overhaul, as Google Doc expands from being a word processor into more of a a remote working collaboration tool.
The company in the announcement says the emoji reactions will be on by default and cannot be disabled, with Google now rolling out for rapid release domains, but it will be available to most Google Docs users after April 20th. Even though they will be available for “Google Workspace Essentials, Business Starter, Business Standard, Business Plus, Enterprise Standard and Enterprise Plus” subscribers, but not more basic tiers like Enterprise Essentials.
Aside the Emoji reaction feature, other new Google Docs features announced recently include markdown support, a new pageless layout, and the ability to seamlessly draft emails from a document.
Ayoola Faseyi, an Abuja based Journalist with interest in Technology and Politics. He is a versatile writer with articles in many renowned News Journals.
He is the Co-Founder of media brand, The Vent Republic.
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