iPhone: About using the Emoji keyboard
Symptoms
- Mail or SMS may display special picture characters
- Mail may display squares, equal marks, or a diamond character with a question mark
- SMS messages may display squares or equal marks
Products Affected
iPhone 3G
Resolution
Starting with iPhone OS 2.2, Japanese customers can create and view messages with Emoji picture characters, as shown below. Ths option is off by default. See Additional Information below to turn it on.
In certain instances, the Emoji picture characters may not display as expected:
Not all customers can create and view Emoji picture characters. Emoji picture characters can only be sent from an iPhone running OS 2.2 with a SoftBank email account and a SoftBank SIM. Viewing Emoji picture characters on an iPhone requires iPhone OS 2.2 or later and a SoftBank SIM. Emoji picture characters cannot be sent from an iPhone with a different SIM or an iPhone running OS 2.1 or earlier.
You can also view Emoji picture characters if the message is viewed on a Japanese mobile phone that supports Emoji picture characters.
Notes
- If another email account is used to view a message that contains Emoji picture characters, you may see "=" instead.
- If iPhone OS 2.1 or earlier is used to view a message that contains Emoji picture characters, you may see squares instead.
- The ability to send or receive Emoji picture characters is server dependent and could be inactive at different times due to the need to update the SoftBank and other service provider's servers simultaneously.
Additional Information
Sending SMS messages between SoftBank and other Japanese mobile carriers is not currently supported.
To enter Emoji picture characters for the first time, turn on the Emoji keyboard by tapping Settings > General > International > Keyboards > Japanese and setting Emoji to ON (requires OS 2.2 with a SoftBank SIM). When typing, tap the Globe icon to switch keyboards. For more information, see the iPhone User Guide and search on Emoji.
Important: Information about products not manufactured by Apple is provided for information purposes only and does not constitute Apple’s recommendation or endorsement. Please contact the vendor for additional information.