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Here's How To Add Cute Smiley Faces Like ( ◠‿◠ ) & ( ╹◡╹ ) To Your Texts

by Brianna Wiest

Whether you're a new iPhone user or you've been an Apple aficionado since their phones first came out over 10 years ago, it's safe to say that most users assume they know how to master their devices... but there's always more to be discovered. According to a new report, there's a simple way to use the hidden iPhone keyboard that actually gives you even more emoticons — and hundreds of them at that.

Though there are already over 2,800 emoji installed on your phone, according to Business Insider and Refinery 29, some super savvy users noticed that if they installed a particular foreign keyboard, they would actually be able to access a series of emoticons.

For those who are fuzzy about texting culture in the early to mid-2000s, emoticons are what device users had to rely on to send images and smiley faces before the graphic emoji were released. (You'll probably recognize them as the series of symbols and punctuation marks that, when combined, make faces and other images to truly spice up your texting game.) If nothing else, your friends will be impressed by your texting acumen if they imagine you're actually typing out the emoticons symbol by symbol... hey, they don't actually have to know either way.

Here's how to get the keyboard for yourself:

Start At Your Settings Icon

First, open up your settings icon. From there, you're going to select the "general" option.

Select "Keyboard"

Next, you're going to select the "Keyboard" option, because you're actually going to be adding another foreign keyboard to your phone.

Open Up Your Currently Installed Keyboards

There are a lot of options you can customize for your keyboards, but what you're going to do is select the top button where it says "Keyboards," and next to it there should be a number indicating how many boards you already have installed.

Add A New Keyboard

From there, you should be able to see which keyboards you already have installed (this is also where you can make edits to them if you need or want to). Beneath your already installed keyboards, you'll see the option to add a new keyboard. Select that.

Select Japanese

The keyboard that you're going to be installing is a Japanese one — but you're going to need to select from two options.

Choose "Kana"

After you select "Japanese," you'll be presented with two different versions. You want the "Kana" version.

Viola! Time To Text

Open your keyboard as usual to start a new message. From there, select the "world" icon at the bottom that indicates other keyboards. This is also where you typically access your emojis.

Once You're At The Emoji Page, You'll See The Kana Option On The Bottom Lefthand Side

Once you have opened your alternative keyboards and you see the emojis, you'll see at the bottom left corner there's the Japanese symbol for the Kana keyboard. Select that.

Scroll Along The Top For Different Emoticons

At the top of the keyboard, you'll see that there are different icons and symbol combinations. For example, ^_^, ^^, and (^.^) are common ways to express indifference, skepticism, or love (the lattermost emoticon represents a kiss).

And there you have it. From now on, the Kana keyboard and emoticon option series will be accessible to you unless you decide to turn it off. To do so, you would follow the same steps, except when you open up your preexisting keyboards, you would swipe left on "Kana" to prompt the "delete button."

It may be simple, but adding a few more emoticons to your friend group's texting vernacular is cool, and offers a little bit of a throwback feel. What's not to <3?