SINmoji: Give messages a Singapore touch

Described in the Apple App Store as being “the ONLY and best, most shiok, Emoji-Singlish transformer keyboard in SG, JB, and some say World!”, SINmoji is a Designed-in-Singapore iOS app that is targeted at livening up your chat and messages.

The SINmoji keyboard is compatible with a wide array of messaging apps, such as WhatsApp, iMessages, FaceBook, WeChat, Line, and so on.

SINmoji is a Designed-in-Singapore iOS app.

The origin of SINmoji

How did the idea of the quirky SINmoji app originally come about?

Said Johnny Ixe, Developer of SINmoji, “Emoji is the new language of the iPhone and mobile generation. As Singaporeans, we love emoji and Singlish. So why not combine these, by having Emojis that speak Singlish. We thought that is a great idea.”

Targeted at all Singaporeans who use messaging apps, Ixe hopes that the SINmoji app will help everyone to express themselves better when communicating with their friends. He said, “Emoji lovers can now express themselves better in Singlish, which we think is more efficient than English.”

Testing out the SINmoji app

Recently, the developers gave me the opportunity to test out the SINmoji app.

I had the chance to test out SINmoji.

The SINmoji app is rather easy to set up and activate. Upon downloading, you are presented with a clear set of instructions on how to activate the app – by simply setting up a new keyboard onto your iPhone or iPad. And then you are good to go.

Easy to set up and fun to use

It is also quite easy to switch over to the SINmoji keyboard for typing; this process is not unlike changing from the stock Apple keyboard to the standard Emoji keyboard and vice versa.

The amount of Singlish phrases available is pretty substantial, with many of them catering to various aspects of standard Singaporean life, including many favourite Singaporeans past-times such as eating, sleeping and shopping.

For example, if it’s lunch-time and you are starving, you can use SINmoji to express yourself. Or if you are feeling sleepy at work after a heavy lunch, you can also use SINmoji to communicate your mood as well.

SINmoji works with a variety of messaging apps such as Telegram.

New SINmoji stickers are also being added regularly and the developer takes customer feedback into account in terms of the requesting of new SINmojis.

At present there are more than 70 SINmojis currently available for use.

It’s also quite cool to browse through the SINmojis – the cartoonish designs of the various emojis are all quite cute and funky, in addition to the Singlish phrases being meaningful for many Singaporeans. I think they are a great way to liven up online messages and bring a smile onto the message recipient’s face.

Limitations of SINmoji

Summed up Victorialsr, a user who had commented on the Apple App Store, “It’s a good app for us Singlish folks.”

However it is a little bit irritating though, that a two step procedure is required to get the SINmojis into my messages; you first have to copy the emoji you want by clicking it on the keyboard and then you have to paste it into the actual message. It may have been better if this was a more simplified single-stage process – much like the FaceBook or Line stickers.

I also feel that SINmoji could be improved too, if the emojis could be added to the end of a sentence, just like in the form of Apple’s stock emoji keyboard. At present they appear in the messages in the form of an image or photo, which recipients may have to download before they can see, depending on their messaging settings.

Overall, SINmoji is a cute and funky app.

Agreed SirenBelle3328, who had commented in the Apple App Store, “It is like sending an attached photo to the chats… It’s not sent or used like the traditional emoji… as part of a sentence…”

Added 121t, also commenting on the Apple App Store and who had shared the same sentiments, “I bought the app thinking that it can be incorporated to be part of a sentence… It’s an individual emoji by itself using the copy and paste method…”

However according to Ixe, this is an issue that can’t really be helped, due to the limitations in the iOS platform. He said, “This is a platform limitation of iOS.”