> Make a custom emoji keyboard
I use emojis a lot, but few apps help me type them in without using the Character Viewer. How can I make a custom keyboard containing those emoji?
There are two good ways to do this: create an Input Source, which is quick but requires a different way to produce the emoji, or you can make a complete custom keyboard.
Input Sources are used for languages such as Chinese where each “character” is produced by a series of keystrokes. To use these, you’d switch to your source using Ctrl+[spacebar], then type a few characters, which you’ve set to generate one of your emoji, such as “egrin” for , then switch back to your regular keyboard with Ctrl+[spacebar] again. Your keywords and their emojis are defined in a simple text file, the Input Plug–in, which Apple explains at bit.ly/ ml187inputsource.
Designing a new keyboard layout is a bigger job, but allows you to access each emoji from a key combination, such as Opt+g producing instead of the © sign. The best app to do this is the free Ukelele from SIL at bit.ly/ml187ukelele.
With Ukelele, create your keyboard using its “New from Current Input Source” command to start with a replica of the layout you’re using. You can then drag and drop emoji from the Character Viewer window onto each key you want to customize, particularly those using modifier keys such as Opt and Ctrl. Ukelele can then install your new keyboard, which you can switch to using the Keyboard menu in the main menu bar.