[BUG] Emojis are not displayed consistently

[vanontom]

Code of conduct

• I have read and agree to adhere to the Code of Conduct

Self-training on how to write a bug report

• I have learned how to write a bug report

Is there an existing issue for this?

• I have searched the existing issues

Current Behavior

Emojis are displayed differently in various parts of the UI.
On the home screen, the "correct" (modern) one is shown.

When messaging, the "incorrect" (older?) version is shown.

Expected Behavior

Consistent emojis (modern).

Steps To Reproduce

1. Write and send a message emojis (any, with text or without). 😺
2. Notice the emoji is funky (in the message, plus different from kb picker).
3. Notice the emoji is not funky (ok!) in other areas of UI (main page, matches kb picker).

Android Version

Android 16

Session Version

1.32.1

Anything else?

Tested HeliBoard and Gboard keyboards.
Session on Windows displays all consistently.

[ThomasSession]

Thanks for the report. We do already have a ticket open regarding emojis. The reason they appear different is that some are dictated by your system and the ones inthe messages are from a local file.
We have an open PR that reworks all the emojis here: #1053
It is still open unfortunately because the new emoji picker from Android does not have a search.

[vanontom]

Ah, thanks for the explanation! I think I did see that PR linked when searching for "emoji" issues (but wasn't sure if it would fix this). Happy to know this is already being worked on.

It is still open unfortunately because the new emoji picker from Android does not have a search.

Does this mean it could be implemented without emoji search? (Reminds of HeliBoard, which just added emoji dictionary, was annoyingly unsearchable before.)

[ThomasSession]

Yeah that PR fixes the emoji looking different on your phone (they will look different from system to system though, so you will see your version of it, while an iOS device will see the apple version).
The only way to have everyone see the same emoji inside Session is to keep the local set of images but that comes at different cost, like the resolution as is the case now, or some parts of the app using the system display, like inside the message input box which is text only.

Yes that PR has technically been ready to go for one year but the cost is that the emoji picker has no search bar so you have to manually scroll to find what you want, which isn't ideal...