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Instagram's emoji shortcuts help you comment in record time

Tell someone their photo is fire without reaching for the keyboard.

If you can't post comments without tossing in at least one emoji to make your feelings clear, you'll be glad to know that Instagram has your back. After months of testing, Instagram has introduced an emoji shortcut bar on Android and iOS that offers quick access to your most-used icons when wading into a post's comments. You won't have to sift through your phone keyboard's emoji selection when you want to heart someone's touching moment or tell them their new look is fire.

You could see an addition like this coming a mile away. Even in 2015, Instagram knew that emoji use was a big deal -- and the widened variety in characters since then has no doubt helped its popularity. Yes, this isn't exactly advancing the art of conversation, but people were going to use emoji regardless. Instagram clearly figures that you might as well streamline the experience.