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Apple’s Animoji feature, which allows you to create cute animated videos of different animals and creatures to send to your friends, has been one of the most popular features since the release of the iPhone X in 2017. With the TrueDepth camera system used in iPhone X, XR, XS, XS Max, 11, 11 Pro and 11 Pro Mac devices, Animoji can mimic your facial features and head movement to create an audio message under the guise of a specific character. Animoji has now evolved into Memoji, which allows you to design characters that look like you and use them in a similar way. In this article, we will show you everything you need to know about using Animoji and Memoji on your iPhone.
How to Record an Animoji
To record an Animoji, all you need is a Face ID-enabled iPhone, including the X, XR, XS, XS Max, 11, 11 Pro or 11 Pro Mac, and the Messages app.
- Open the Messages app on your iPhone.
- Add the recipient’s details to the To field.
- Tap the apps icon (the A next to the text input bar).
- Choose the monkey icon from the collection of icons at the bottom of the screen.
- Scroll through the Animoji options on the left until you find one you like or select New Memoji on the left to create your own custom Memoji.
- Hold the phone up and look straight at it.
- If your face isn’t visible, you will see a yellow box. Place your phone so that your face aligns with the box.
- Notice how the character reflects your head, mouth, and face movements.
- Tap the red button to record your message (with audio).
- You can record for up to 30 seconds. If you want to record a longer message, you’ll need to merge some clips into an app like iMovie.
- Press the red square to stop recording. If you reach the time limit, the recording will stop automatically.
- You can listen to the recording before sending it. If you don’t like what you’re recording, you can delete it by tapping the trash can icon.
- Tap Replay to listen to the recording again.
- If you want to see what your recording looks like with another Animoji, just select one, and the recording will play again with that Animoji.
- When you’re ready to send, tap the up arrow or Animoji itself.
- When you play an Animoji before sending it, the audio will also play. However, once it’s sent and in the message thread, audio is disabled by default for both you and the recipient. You can tap the speaker icon to turn on the audio.
How to Save an Animoji
If you don’t want to send an Animoji right away and want to save it for later or for other purposes, you can save it to your Photos app.
- Before creating your Animoji, start an SMS conversation with yourself. In the To: field, type your mobile number or the email address you set up for iMessage.
- Create your Animoji following the instructions above.
- Send the Animoji to yourself.
- Now find the Animoji in your message thread and press and hold it until you see the options for copy and save.
- Tap on Save. The Animoji video will now be saved to your Photos app.
You can share an Animoji video on social media using the following steps:
- Create your Animoji following the instructions above and save it to your Photos app.
- Open the Animoji video in Photos.
- Tap the share icon.
- Scroll through the list of sharing options until you find the icon for your preferred social network.
- Tap that icon and select Post to upload the Animoji video to your social media account.
How to Send an Animoji Sticker
If you don’t want to send an animated recording, you can just send an Animoji sticker, which is essentially a photo of you as an Animoji character.
- Open the Messages app on your iPhone and add the recipient’s details to the To field.
- Tap the apps icon (the A next to the text input bar) and select the monkey icon.
- Choose an Animoji/Memoji and look at the iPhone and pose.
- Touch the Animoji until it appears in the message field above.
- Hold and drag the Animoji to the message field to automatically send the Animoji sticker to the recipient.