TextExpander isn’t just an amazing way to communicate better and save a ton of time typing. It’s also an amazing way to communicate emoji, photos, and upside down letters better and save a ton of time while goofing off.
Emoji at your fingertips
Instead of hunting for the emoji panel every time you need that perfect reaction, head over to our Public Groups page and subscribe to the Emoji group. Now, wherever you have TextExpander handy, type a colon and the first couple characters of a typical emoji name to expand it quickly; no waiting for popup panels to load or hunting around for the right emoji, guaranteed. For example:
abbreviation - :pizza:
content - ?
and
abbreviation - :thumbsup:
content - ?
and
abbreviation - :expressionless:
content - ?
You get the idea. It’s a super handy group, so be sure to go grab it.
Photo all the things
Did you know TextExpander also supports photos? While we aren’t planning to change the name to PhotoExpander (yet? ??), snippets can include text and/or photos, opening the door to expanding 1,001 words or more!
To create a snippet that includes a photo:
- Open TextExpander and start creating a new snippet by tapping or clicking the (+) button
- In the Content drop-down menu, be sure to choose “Formatted Text, Pictures”
- Go nuts with adding photos
- Be sure to add a good, memorable abbreviation for easy recall just about everywhere you type
Now, admittedly, we’re using this post to encourage all manner of fun and shenanigans. But photo-enhanced snippets are also great for everything from rich-media email signatures to sharing your favorite photo all over the web.
However, there is a caveat. While photos go great with social media, certain apps, such as Twitter’s official app and Tweetbot, don’t support pasting photos into their compose windows. Since TextExpander uses the paste function, if you can’t copy/paste a picture into a window, TextExpander can’t either.
Go fine art with ASCII
For those times when an emoji just isn’t right, but a GIF would be overkill, there’s ASCII art. Hailing from earlier and, in some ways, simpler internet times, ASCII art is a collection of type- and print-able characters arranged to form expressions and actions.
Our favorite is the proverbial table flip:
abbreviation: **flip
content: (╯°□°）╯︵ ┻━┻
But there’s always the often-applicable shrug:
abbreviation: **shrug
content: ¯_(ツ)_/¯
and the now-classic CSI-Miami-inspired “put one’s sunglasses on to make a dramatic and/or bad pun” situation:
abbreviation: **yeah
content:
(•_•)
( •_•)>⌐■-■
(⌐■_■)
These and other great text-based emotions can be yours for the low, low price of a visit to our Public Groups page and a simple tap or click of the Subscribe button.
Upside down (or uʍop ǝpᴉsd∩) and circled letters
Sometimes you need to say it with upside down letters or letters in circles. Fun fact(ish): in lieu of a flashing GIF, these are the scientifically proven(ish) next-best ways to get someone’s attention or your boss’ buy-in.
Head back over to our Public Groups page for one final adventure and subscribe to the “Letters Upside Down” and “Letters in Circles” groups. Give them a look in TextExpander to get a feel for their abbreviations, then use them liberally wherever upside down and circled letters will help make your point.
Go forth and have fun with TextExpander
That should be enough snippet shenanigans to keep you busy for a while. Of course, if there are snippet groups you think we should feature, let us know or submit your own from the TextExpander app. Also, keep up with our tips and stories on Twitter @TextExpander and LinkedIn.
