If you're a Google Pixel user, you use Google Phone by default, and as a user of any other Android device, you can also download Google Phone from the Play Store. This does exactly what a phone app is meant to do, but it comes with additional features like Call Screen, call recording, spam warnings, and so on.
Google Phone is getting a new feature to enhance it beyond just the ordinary phone call experience, but this one is a bit odd. Google calls them Audio Emoji, and they work exactly how you might have figured out.
Google Phone Now Has Six “Audio Emoji” That Let You Play Sound Effects On Calls
It's hard to figure out ways to make a phone app better. As long as you can type in numbers, save contacts, and have clear conversations with the person on the other end, most people are perfectly fine with that.
However, you can add quality-of-life features like improved caller ID, spam protection, and call screening, all of which are things that Google Phone already has. It seems the Google Phone team was looking for something else to add to the mix, and came up with what is certainly a unique idea, called Audio Emoji. You might have figured it out already, but these Audio Emoji are basically sound effects that you can play on a call by pressing any of the emoji that show up.
At the moment, there are six Audio Emoji available: Applause, Laughing, Party, Crying (which plays a trombone sound), Poop, and Sting (which is that famous “ba dum tss” sound after a corny joke is made). The sound effects will play briefly for both you and the person that you're talking to. I'm not really sure why there needs to be a laughing audio emoji when you can just laugh yourself.
Fortunately, there's a cooldown to using these sounds, so you won't be able to spam them on a call. The feature is currently still in beta, but it should be coming to the release version of the application, likely within the month. It also doesn't seem to be restrained to Pixel devices either.
Audio Emoji Should Make Casual Calls More Fun At The Very Least
I think Audio Emoji is a very gimmicky feature to add to Google Phone, especially as I feel like a lot of people either have their phones to their ears or don't hang around in the Phone app during calls. It certainly will get some use during casual conversations among friends in younger age groups, but I don't really think it does anything to enhance the call experience in the grand scheme of things.
It should make things more fun though, for the people who do happen to use it once or twice and forget about it for the rest of existence. But I promise that if I say something funny on a phone call and someone responds to me with the laughter Audio Emoji, I'll just assume that I am a lot less funny than I seemed to fool myself into thinking.
