The use of emojis has become so ubiquitous that sending plain texts can be interpreted as unfeeling, cold, or downright rude. Apple recognizes this necessity and has made our lives easier by allowing you to instantly replace words with emojis on your iPhone. It will even suggest emojis based on your usage.

Here’s what predictive emojis are and how to use them.

What Are Predictive Emojis?

Predictive emojis use predictive text, a feature that predicts the next words you’ll be using based on your previous conversations, writing style, and even the sites you recently visited in Safari. Similarly, predictive text predicts the emojis you’ll most likely use next in your conversation.

Before using the feature, be sure that you can access the emoji keyboard. Just tap the text field in an app on your iPhone, then tap the globe or the emoji button in the bottom-left corner. If you can’t see it, the emoji keyboard may not be added to Messages yet. To add it:

  1. Head to Settings > General, then tap Keyboard.
  2. Select Keyboards, then tap Add New Keyboard.
  3. Select Emoji.

If it’s on, the predictive function still might be disabled. Go to Settings > General > Keyboard, then toggle Predictive on.

Once that’s done, head back to a text field and start typing again. Predictive text and emojis will appear in the predictive bar above the keyboard as you write your message. Just tap an emoji to add it to your message.

If you still don’t see any emojis appearing, you might not be typing the right words. Try saying something like “happy” or “love” to make a smiley or heart emoji appear.

Related: How to Make Your Own Emoji

If you don’t like the feature, you can turn it off by touching and holding the globe or emoji button, then tap Keyboard Settings and turn off Predictive.

Add Emojis With a Tap

Predictive text uses machine learning to predict what you want to say next, ensuring that you’ll see your favorite emojis exactly when you want them.

This saves you a few seconds of scrolling through the sea of emojis to express yourself. If you’re the type of person who can’t live without emojis, this feature is definitely something you should be using.