It’s a free download from Einar Andersson & Tor Rauden Källstigen that includes an installer and everything. In other words, you can pretty much double click your way to emoji bliss. And once you’re done, maybe you could ping Jason Chen and remind him that I don’t need to see that little poop guy every time he forgets his Lactaid. [Emoji for iChat via TUAW]

I’m not even going to try to decode what the latest turn means, in terms of App Store policy and the efficacy of Apple’s vetting process, so here’s what matters to you, the guy who desperately wants to be able to utilise the same emotio-visual shorthand as Japan’s schoolchildren: Emoji is back!

The timeline of their return is confusing. When Apple issued their purge order back in February, the apps did seem to get pulled. But it looks as though a few apps with hidden Emoji-enabling abilities (type a number here, press this button, press another, check your keyboard settings, etc) started popping up just a few days later. But more brazen apps, including some that we’ve seen before, show release dates dotted throughout March. So I guess they’re allowed? Dunno! I somehow doubt Apple would deign to make a public announcement about lifting a ban on an esoteric half-feature that only works in very specific circumstances. —Thanks, Corey!

Here it is, summarised by one of the guys who makes TypingGenius:

As of today, Apple has informed us that they are now removing any trace of emoji from the App Store. This means:
– All new apps related to emoji will be rejected in the review process
– Existing apps that do not provide additional functionality will be pulled from the App Store (e.g. Emotifun, iEmoji pulled already)
– Existing apps that DO provide additional functionality (e.g. Typing Genius) will be required to provide an update to Apple immediately

Not included, at least by our tipster, is an official explanation for the sudden emoji crackdown. They’re fun! However, a case can be made for keeping phones like this within regional standards. I mean, how many of the tens of thousands of people who installed these emoticons on their phones did so with the full knowledge that around here, only up-to-date iPhones could even receive them? This confusion, I’d guess, is what Apple is trying to avoid, though they may be acting with a heavy hand.

The TypingGenius guy says that his crippled update hasn’t been processed by the App Store’s High Council, or whatever, and that it won’t remove previously installed unlocks. It’s a nice promise, but in the long run this pretty much looks like the end of the road for (non-jailbroken) emoji fun. —Thanks, Gary!

So here’s Jason and I talking about our daily routines. My day goes something like this: morning set with egg and pillowy Japanese white bread, then onto a nice onigiri/sushi/beer lunch, a snack at MacDo, my evening meals I take in a steaming bowl with strawberry shortcake on the side, then, after my post-prandial cig, a quick visit to my man uptown, where a sack of money is exchanged for an intravenous ride on the white dragon (a cure for indigestion if anything). Sleep, glorious sleep.

Then Jason’s all like: yeah, I am awoken, weeping, by my Arab medical staff. After my morning feats of strength, I say goodbye to the wife and have breakfast, dining on monkey brains, cake (me too!) and beer. Then I rocket over to see what’s popping in the baby-changing area (over 18 not allowed), which also happens to be a handicapped bathroom. After some currency conversions and a quick check of my 3G signal strength (it is OK, and NEW), off come the suit and tie and on goes the bikini, when the real fun begins.

Emoji support is built into iPhone software 2.2, but to unlock them to actually be able to type, you either need to perform a hack or two (with limitations) or buy an app to unlock them. This is the easiest and cheapest one we’ve seen so far. [Typing Genius - iTunes]

Japanese site iPodTouchLab found out that if you import a specially formatted vcard.vcf address book file with the proper Emojis already inside, you’ll be able to type out Emojis a chunk at a time, and delete the ones you don’t want. It’s a gimpy way of doing it, but it’s free. Instructions from WinandMac follow:

Step 1. Download the vcard.vcf here.

Step 2. Import it to your address book program. If you are using Windows, you may want to do it on iPhone directly. Send the vcard.vcf file to yourself. Open in on iPhone’s Email.app, click the vcf file and import all the contacts.

Step 3. Go into “Settings” > “General” > “Keyboard” > “Japanese Keyboard”. Enable the QWERTY keyboard.

Step 4. In notes or any other program you want. Type “emojia”, “emojii” or “emojiu” to select those :) icons.

Step 5. Happy Emoji!

If you want to enable Emoji the “correct” way, where you can pick and choose which emote you’re typing one character at a time, you can actually go and download Touch Dial Emoji, an app in the App Store that enables this for $US5. Or, you can just jailbreak your phone for free, and enable it yourself via a Cydia app.

And yes, anybody with the newest 2.2 firmware can view these, you just need to run through this process if you want to send them. [Win and Mac via Simonblog]

You need to edit the file /User/Library/Preferences/com.apple.Preferences.plist on the device -> whether you use a jailbreak to achieve this or merely some iTunes backup editor is up to you.

Add the following boolean key as ‘true’: KeyboardEmojiEverywhere

Then merely go to the Keyboards section of the Settings app, hit Japanese, and turn on Emoji. Will work for any text field/view in the OS, including on websites, AND including the titles of items on SpringBoard (e.g. if you save a bookmark to the home screen).

The easiest way to do with will probably be to run your iPhone as an SFTP server, which is as easy as installing a package or two on your jailbroken phone. After that it’s just a matter of editing the config file and emoting to your friends, again and again, via creepy little icons. [Steve Troughton-Smith via MacBlogz, Image from MacRumors]