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Find Nearby Beer by Emoji on Your iPhone

Aug 11, 2016 08:00 PM

Mobile phone displaying a food-related app with icons and search results.

Emojis, for better or for worse, have essentially taken over online forms of communication. And now, thanks to a recently discovered feature in iOS, they are going to change the way you search for nearby places.

The process is actually very simple. Let's say you're looking for a place to grab some beers with some friends. Simply open up Spotlight Search on your iPhone, then type in the beer emoji to get instant recommendations for bars and beer-friendly restaurants in your area. You can do the same for pizza, post offices... whatever!

Mom's Bar & Lounge and Edens Beer Bar listings on a map search.

As of right now, not all emojis are supported, and Spotlight Suggestions need to work in your country.

Enable the Emoji Keyboard

By default, Apple enables the Emoji keyboard in newer versions of iOS. If for some reason you don't have the Emoji keyboard available when you tap on the globe icon, you'll have to add it manually. To do so, check out our instructions for adding new keyboards linked below and make sure to select "Emoji" from the list:

Keyboard settings menu with options for predictive text, language selection, and emoji input.

If you don't like this Emoji keyboard, you can use a third-party keyboard like Gboard, Mimuum, or Word Flow, which have emojis built right in.

Search Spotlight

Swipe down on any home screen page for a Quick Search, or swipe to the farthest left page on your home screen to bring up Spotlight Suggestions. (In the new iOS 10, you can also do a search Spotlight via the Notification Center.) Then open the Emoji keyboard by tapping on the globe icon, or by selecting the emoji list in your third-party keyboard.

Embrace the Emoji

Now simply select the corresponding emoji for whatever you want to search for. We used the beer example already, but we've got some more examples below to give you an idea of the power an emoji holds. You can search for clothing, pizzas, tacos, schools, banks, post offices, movie theaters, train stops, parks, and more.

Spotlight will suggest a few nearby places that match the emoji criteria, with the option to tap on them to view more information or open the Maps app for even more locations. I should also note that, in some cases, an emoji will give redundant results. For example, there are a few different beer emojis, and selecting any one of them brings up basically the same results.

Beer, Cocktails

List of nearby restaurants and bars with addresses and hours in Los Angeles.

Search results for nightclubs in Los Angeles.

Tacos, Ramen, Sushi, Indian Food

Taco restaurant search results in a maps application.

Restaurant listings for Japanese cuisine in Los Angeles.

Sushi restaurant search results in Los Angeles.

Restaurant search results showing options in Los Angeles, including Amar Indian Restaurant and Urban Masala.

Ice Cream, Cake, Candy, Donuts

Search results for ice cream shops in Los Angeles with business hours and reviews.

Restaurant search results in Los Angeles with ratings and hours of operation.

Business listings for Wyland Galleries, Sticky, and Sweet in Los Angeles with addresses and review counts.

Search results for donut shops in Los Angeles.

Diners, Burgers, Pizza, Pasta

Restaurant search results with listings for Birds, Danny's, and Cafe Deluxe in Los Angeles.

Search results for nearby restaurants with hours and reviews.

Pizza restaurant listings on a map search.

List of restaurants with location details and ratings.

Coffee, Smoothies, Restaurants, Grocery Stores

Map search results for restaurants including I Panini d'Amore, Starbucks, and Bourgeois Pig with hours and reviews.

Search results for local markets and juice bars in Los Angeles.

Map search results for grocery stores in Los Angeles.

Clothing, Shoe Stores

Map search results for retail stores in Hollywood, California.

Map search results for shoe stores in Los Angeles.

Banks, Barber Shops, Pharmacies, Post Offices

Chase, U.S. Bank, and Wells Fargo ATM locations in Los Angeles with hours and reviews.

List of local barber shops and hair salons with addresses and hours of operation.

Rite Aid location search results in Los Angeles with nearby healthcare facilities.

Screenshot of a map search showing locations for Multi Packaging Solutions, Guerra Express II, and a US Post Office in Los Angeles.

Movies, Transit Stops, Hotels, Current Weather Conditions

Search results displaying Netflix and Hulu app options.

Map search results for Hollywood and Vermont station listings with Yelp reviews.

Map search results for hotels in Los Angeles.

Weather forecast for Los Angeles, CA showing 65°F with a chance of rain.

Party Supplies, Apple Store

Screenshot of a map search results showing event supply businesses in Los Angeles.

Apple Store locations in Los Angeles and Glendale, California, with hours and Yelp reviews.

This list is quite long, but far from exhaustive. But now you know just how powerful emojis are; They aren't just fun, but can actually help you search for things more quickly, which is super useful when traveling abroad in a foreign country were you might not know the correct word for something using the native language.

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Cover photo and screenshots by Isaac Sahag/Gadget Hacks

The next big software update for iPhone is coming sometime in April and will include a Food section in Apple News+, an easy-to-miss new Ambient Music app, Priority Notifications thanks to Apple Intelligence, and updates to apps like Mail, Photos, Podcasts, and Safari. See what else is coming to your iPhone with the iOS 18.4 update.