The world's first Māori emoji app is here with Emotiki being launched just in time for Christmas. Keen emoji users can now replace the common smiley face with more than 200 Kiwiana icons.
The long awaited Emotiki are now live at your fingertips.
Project Manager Eru West says, "Emotiki was conceptualised about 18-months ago and it has been in development for around nine months so it's been a bit of a process. So far since its launch today, we've had a few hundred downloads."
Created by Te Puia in Rotorua, the free app can be downloaded for Android and iPhone devices. It features Māori and kiwi icons including tiki, people, nature, creatures and tools.
"We really wanted to bring it onto your smartphone to help you communicate in your Māori language or in the fastest growing language these days which is emojis."
While users are excited about the app, some have expressed disappointment that it's more a sticker pack given it's not an emoji keyboard useable through txt.
"Our key thing was to get it out before Christmas at least get people to see it, to get familiar with it, and over time we're definitely going to improve the functionality and integration with keyboards, social media and the like."
Upcoming social media competitions will give users the chance to suggest new icons to add to the Emotiki library.