Recently we had an opportunity to speak with Natalia Lin, the Product Lead at EKATOX SINGAPORE PRIVATE LIMITED about Facemoji Emoji Keyboard&Fonts

Please share with us the backstory of what motivated you to create this app.

In the midst of the digital communication era, particularly as social media continues its meteoric rise, we were beginning to see a trend where younger demographics were seeking new and exciting ways to communicate and express themselves. We decided the best way to tackle this need was to improve one of the foundational elements of mobile communication — the keyboard.

This kickstarted our initial goal of creating a mobile keyboard app that would empower these younger users to communicate in a way that brought them joy. Once we saw how creative these users were with the initial platform and tools we provided them, we worked to ensure Facemoji Keyboard was as much a tool as it was a gathering place for users to express themselves in innovative, dynamic, and fun ways.

What features do you hope to roll out to your app in the future?

We have a few main priorities we are working toward, including making the product even more engaging and building out our Emoji Mix feature so users can combine multiple emoji into a new emoji of their own. Throughout it all, our primary goal is to help users express themselves, and ensure our platform is convenient for user-generated content.

What has been the most rewarding aspect of the creation of this app?

Without question, the most rewarding aspect of creating this app is the user-generated content. It never fails to be deeply creative, innovative, and entertaining in every imaginable way, and seeing what they create helps me feel connected to our user base in a way nothing else can. I love receiving positive comments and feedback from Facemoji users, while also learning how we can continue to improve our offerings for them. One avenue that gives us the opportunity to interact with our users most is TikTok. With 2.3 million followers, we have a direct line to our wide user base and vice versa. It's a wonderful platform through which we can see them communicating creatively and having fun with emoji.

What is the coolest or most innovative feature of your app?

The coolest aspect of Facemoji is how seamlessly it integrates with pop culture and social media trends. Between game mode support for popular games — including Among Us, Roblox, Free Fire, Clash of Clans, and Mobile Legends — as well as 100+ well-known global Ips — including Bumblebee, Om Nom, and Clifford — the app provides avenues for users to engage throughout their day with the hottest games and fan-favorite characters. Facemoji Keyboard also helps users stay at the forefront of social media trends with a DIY emoji feature to create emoji for any distinctive emoji trends that pop up in TikTok comment sections, along with emoji and text art optimized for Minecraft, Demon Slayer, Squid Game, and more.

I would be remiss if I didn't also take this opportunity to highlight Facemoji's endlessly entertaining text art options and keyboard DIY features that allow for customization of the keyboard themes, buttons, colors, tapping effects, and tapping sounds. With all these features and more, the Facemoji community members have what they need to be as trendy and creative as they desire.

What surprised you most in your journey to create this app?

We were surprised to see just how talented our young user base is — they have demonstrated such artistry as they create their own personalized communication methods. When we started this journey, we suspected there was a need for personalized communication experiences, and our users' response confirmed our thinking.

I've said it before, and I'll say it again — communication is one of the most important elements in our lives, especially for younger demographics. Nowadays, keyboards are inextricably tied to self-expression and communication, and it's such an honor to create a platform like Facemoji Keyboard to not only assist with but enhance our day-to-day communications.

Which other mobile apps or technology have inspired you?

We definitely drew a great deal of inspiration from ASCII text art generators, using their basic premise to create text art for our users. Our version of text art uses multiple colored emoji to form an image, similar to pixel art. Users can create different shapes with both emoji and symbols. We now offer 1,000+ emoji text art options, empowering users to simply click and send, without having to create the text art themselves.

Do you have any recommendations or advice for others wanting to create a mobile app?

If I could give any advice to prospective app creators, I would say it is essential to understand your users as much as possible, while remaining open to whatever direction they steer the app's development arc. App development and maintenance requires the ability to trust your users' talent, think from their perspective, and create the features that meet their most essential needs.

How did you decide which platforms to release your app on and do you plan on releasing your app to other platforms?

When kicking off the creation for any app, all developers are faced with the choice between launching it on the web, iOS, and/or Android. We initially gravitated toward Android because we knew it was the platform with the best chances of reaching our desired global audience. We also knew our robust content and DIY features would be a significant value-add to the Android platform as a whole. Since Facemoji Keyboard is a mobile-centric app, we also ensured it made it onto the iOS platform after launching on Android.

While launching an app on either platform brings an array of pros and cons regarding cost, flexibility in the development process, security, user experience, and App Store rules and expectations, we felt it was worthwhile to pursue development for both. Android and iOS have significant market share across the geographies we serve, and we didn't want to limit or hinder our target audience's access to the app.

How is your app different than the rest of the market? Which unique need does it fill?

Our keyboard is not only a tool, but also a content provider and UGC content creation platform — offering a wide range of content, including emoji with special symbols, keyboard themes, stickers, and 1,000+ readily available text art options.

That's not all — Facemoji is a platform and community for users to inspire each other to communicate and express themselves in their own fun and unique way. By sharing their text art and keyboard designs on the app, both users and the Facemoji Keyboard team can keep track of all the top communication trends.

We also offer interactive features on social media apps, sticker and hashtag predictions, gaming keyboards, and the added bonus of fun stickers that fall across the keyboard whenever a certain trigger word is entered.

Further, we are proud to have established numerous IP relationships with Bumblebee, Spiderman, Angry Bird, Sonic the Hedgehog, and Cut the Rope. After working closely with each of the corresponding brands, we created some very fun themed keyboard skins and stickers for users.

All these features and partnerships come together to form a keyboard that provides both functional and emotional value, which is a product offering we're immensely proud of.

For more information, visit: https://ftt.onelink.me/XPjG/FacemojiPR