Why iPhone Emojis Look So Big In iOS 18 (And Can You Make Them Smaller?)

At this stage in the digital era, emojis are a staple of online communication, with the little in-message images appearing everywhere from emails to texts. It's to the point that your emoji use can even say a lot about you according to scientific data. New emojis are added to the already deep library on a regular basis, and existing ones are constantly being tweaked for one reason or another. Apple users specifically might've noticed a pretty sizable change with the release of iOS 18 — the home of the new Genmoji feature — in September. The emoji keyboard has dropped a row from five to four and the emojis within appear a good deal larger than they did under the previous operating system.

As more folks have updated their Apple devices to iOS 18, they've taken note of the enlarged emoji set. The changes seem to have been made for no discernible reason, and a great number of people aren't happy about it. "Omg I hate it too! Just recently [updated] my iOS," wrote u/NoPenalty444 in a thread about the new unnecessarily big and differently displayed emojis. U/Wofflo added, "It's pretty horrible. Bring back the old version. Just looks out of place on a large 14 Pro Max," while u/Successful_Craft_796 said that with each new update, they're becoming increasingly frustrated with Apple and its decisions.

In the midst of all this turmoil, it should be asked, is there any way to revert back to smaller emojis in the old layout?

While there are those who don't mind the updated emoji keyboard, and many who didn't even notice the changes, evidently, it's not a unanimous hit. Clearly, numerous Apple product owners want the old style and size back, and to some extent, regret downloading iOS 18. In the aforementioned Reddit thread, there are those like u/SalemT95 who are looking for a way to revert their emoji keyboard. Unfortunately, no matter how many times one combs through their iPhone, iPad, or other Apple device's settings, there's simply no way to alter the size of the emojis or their keyboard layout.

If this does really hinder your experience of using an iOS-enabled device, then there is something you can try to do. Over on Apple's website, there's a section dedicated to product feedback where users can share their thoughts on the company's latest innovations — good, bad, or otherwise. It's no guarantee that sending in your two cents on the enlarged emojis and their revised keyboard will lead to a quick change, but, if enough people voice their displeasure with them, maybe an update will come down the road that allows for customization in this area.

Until a change comes along, assuming one does at all, iOS 18 will continue to plague users with bigger emojis and an altered emoji keyboard layout. In the meantime, it's at least worth enabling a few other iOS settings as soon as possible to make your device more enjoyable and handy to use.