How To Discover The Meaning of Emojis on Your iPhone

Honestly, emojis are kinda adorable but also a little tiny bit confusing sometimes. Tons of options—nearly 3, 700 of them on iPhone and iPad—and while it’s super easy to slap one into a message, figuring out what they actually mean can be another story. Ever sent an emoji that totally changed the vibe of your message? Yeah, it’s surprisingly common. Luckily, your iPhone has a neat hidden trick that lets you decode emoji meanings aloud without jumping through hoops. This handy feature basically reads the emoji out loud so you know exactly what it’s communicating, which is great when you’re unsure if that smiley is expressing happiness or sarcasm. Plus, with new iOS updates coming, Apple keeps adding fresh emojis—it’s kind of wild how fast this stuff evolves. So, if you’ve ever felt like you’re missing a piece of the emoji puzzle or just want to understand those weird symbols better, this guide is here to help. You’ll learn how to make your iPhone read emoji meanings aloud, plus see a list of the top emoji definitions that everyone is talking about—and some of the latest additions in iOS 26. Trust me, once you get this set up, you’ll be able to interpret emojis faster than ever, whether you’re trying to decode your friend’s ambiguous message or simply want to be sure you’re not accidentally insulting someone with a poorly chosen emoji. Kind of weird, but…it works.

How to Find Out What Emojis Mean on iPhone (2 Easy Methods)

To do this, you need a little prep—turning on one of those built-in accessibility features. The goal is to get your iPhone to actually speak the emoji out loud, so you don’t have to Google every symbol. It’s surprisingly straightforward once you know where to look. The thing is, Apple likes to hide some of these options in the accessibility settings, which makes it a bit tricky to find the first time. But hey, that’s Apple for you—making stuff a little more complicated than it needs to be. Anyway, enabling this feature means your device will read selected text aloud, emojis included, which is a small but powerful convenience for busy folks or those unsure about emoji meanings. Once set up, you just select the emoji in supported apps like Notes and hit the speak command, and boom—instant pronunciation.

Turn On Speak Selection on iPhone

Open the Settings app —> scroll down to Accessibility.
Tap on Spoken Content —> toggle on Speak Selection. This isn’t enabled by default, so you’ll need to turn it on manually. Sometimes, it takes a second or two for the change to kick in.
Optionally, tweak the speaking rate or voice if you want it to sound a certain way. It’s in the same menu, so go ahead and experiment. Sometimes these settings help make the reading more natural or easier to understand.

Why bother? Because this makes your iPhone capable of reading whatever you highlight—including those sneaky emojis. On some setups, the feature might act funky initially, so a quick reboot or toggling the feature off and on again could fix that. Oddly enough, it sometimes works better after a restart or after updating iOS.

How to Make Your iPhone Speak Emoji Meanings Out Loud

Once the Speak Selection toggle is turned on, here’s how to actually get your iPhone to tell you what those emojis mean—using a standard app like Notes. It’s kind of handy, especially for tricky emojis or when you’re just curious whether that smiley is friendly or sarcastic.

Open the Notes app — either create a new note or open an existing one. Doesn’t matter which, but you want the text cursor active.
Tap the emoji icon on the keyboard—usually found next to the space bar or at the bottom left if you’ve got multiple keyboards installed.
Insert the emoji(s) you’re curious about. No secrets here—just pick whatever you want to decode.
Press and hold the emoji(s).A little menu will pop up—choose Select All if you want to read multiple emojis at once, or just tap select if it’s one single emoji.
Tap on the arrow that pops up next to the selection. This is usually part of the contextual menu that appears after selecting text.
Swipe left (or right, depending on your setup) until you see and tap Speak — and watch or rather listen as your iPhone reads the emoji aloud. Seriously, it’s kind of satisfying to hear what your device thinks that emoji represents.

And just like that, your iPhone will announce the emoji’s meaning. Not sure how accurate it is for all symbols, but it’s pretty wild how well it works for most common emojis. Sometimes, on certain iOS versions, the voice might sound a bit robotic or stilted, but it generally does the trick. And yes, on one setup it worked immediately, and on another, I had to toggle a few settings or restart, so be prepared for some trial and error.

Top 50 emoji meanings on iPhone and iPad

If you’re just looking for some quick reference, here’s a list of the most used emojis and what they mean. Because, let’s face it, not everyone keeps up with all the new symbols Apple rolls out every year. Some are obvious (😂 for laughing), but others can be a mystery—like that weird face with a crooked smile or the hand making a peace sign with a twist. Having a quick cheat sheet just makes texting way less awkward.

What Are the New Emojis in iOS 26?

In the latest iOS 26 update, Apple continues to refresh the emoji world with some fresh faces, objects, and symbols. Final approval by the Unicode Consortium for these new emojis means they’ll be rolling out soon, probably in iOS 26.2 or 26.3. Think of it as Apple’s way of keeping the emoji conversation lively and modern.

Here’s what’s new in the batch:

Apple Core
Ballet Dancers
Distorted Face
Fight Cloud
Hairy Creature
Orca
Trombone
Treasure Chest

More than just fun, these additions reflect cultural shifts and new trends in communication. On a personal note, it’s kind of cool to see how emoji design continues to evolve, and it makes messaging a lot more expressive.

Bonus: Emoji Customization with Genmoji in iOS 18

Oh, and speaking of new features, iOS 18 threw in Genmoji—an ultra-unique way to create custom emojis from just text prompts. Basically, you type in what you want, and Apple’s clever AI makes a mini emoji just for you. It’s perfect when the regular emojis just aren’t enough or when you want to make reactions more personal and fun. Imagine blending multiple emojis into a custom picture—seriously, it’s like having your own emoji artist in your pocket.

Looking ahead to what’s coming next? The iOS 18.4 emoji batch includes some fun ones, like new animals, quirky faces, and more. Because, of course, Apple wants us to keep expressing ourselves in increasingly creative ways.

Wrap-up

If decoding emojis felt like a mystery before, these tricks should help make it more straightforward. Turning on Speak Selection and knowing how to select and listen to emojis makes things way less guesswork. Plus, staying updated with new emojis means your conversations stay fresh and fun. Honestly, it’s kind of satisfying to understand what those stickers and symbols are actually saying, and now you can do it without firing up a browser or guessing in the dark.

Hopefully this shaves off a few hours for someone, or at least avoids some awkward misinterpretations. Good luck, and happy texting!

Summary

Enabled Speak Selection in Settings —> Accessibility —> Spoken Content.
Selected emojis in Notes, then used Speak to hear their meanings.
Updated for new emojis in iOS 26, including fun additions like the Treasure Chest or Trombone.
Explored Genmoji for custom emojis in iOS 18—personalized reactions, here we come!