Apple's new iOS 10 features predictive emoji, and you're going to love it

We are one agonizing day away from Apple's iPhone 7 announcement and just a few weeks from the phone's release date. Apple will also reveal the official release date for its new operating system, iOS 10, which was announced in June. iOS 10 has actually been available for beta-testing for months, released early so developers can spot bugs and so techies can geek out.

iOS 10 has some issues, but there are a few features I really love. I previously wrote about the Bedtime app, which comes with a lovely new set of alarm tones, and the GIF search in the Messages app. But the feature I've been using the most is the predictive emoji tool, which finds you the right emoji when you type specific terms. It's like a full emoji thesaurus — useful when you don't want to bother swiping through every page of icons to find the perfect one.  

It's pretty easy. You have to turn on the keyboard's QuickType function in your phone's settings. Then, just start writing. 

It works on Twitter, Slack, Messages and virtually every other app that uses the keyboard. (Strangely, Notes appears to be an exception.)

Along with Messages' (fun but limited) GIF search and the (awful, clunky, counterintuitive) sketch tool debuting in iOS 10, texts are going to start looking a lot livelier in the coming months.