How to put an emoji from the iPhone in Instagram on Xiaomi: 3 working ways

Are you tired of Xiaomi's standard Instagram emojis that look different than your iPhone friends? It's not just aesthetics that make it so that sometimes different emoji sets show you a curve and your emojis turn into black squares. The good news is that you can replace your emojis with iPhones without having a superuser license.

In this article, we have 3 proven methods (including the easiest one through third-party keyboards), comparing their pros and cons, and answering frequent questions. All the instructions are relevant for Xiaomi, Redmi and POCO smartphones on MIUI 12-14 and HyperOS. If you are a user of Instagram* (or its analogues like InstaPro), these methods will work for you.

⚠️ Important: One method requires changing system files, which can cause messaging malfunctions. We tested all options on the Xiaomi 13 Pro, Redmi Note 12 and the other two. POCO F5. If you have a different model, check compatibility in the comments.

Why are Xiaomi and iPhone emojis different?

The fact is that Apple uses its own emoji font (Apple Color Emoji), and Xiaomi uses a standard set from Google (Noto Color Emoji), the difference is noticeable to the naked eye:

• 👍 Like: on the iPhone – yellow with shadow, on Xiaomi – flat green.
• 😂 Tears of laughter: Apple’s eyes are closed, Google’s eyes are squinted.
• ❤️ Heart: on the iPhone – with a gradient, on Xiaomi – monophonic.

Instagram (like other social networks) loads emojis from servers, but the display depends on the system font of your smartphone, so even if you see an iPhone smiley in the feed, when you send it, it turns into a “native” one for your Xiaomi.

There is also a technical side: emoji fonts are stored in.ttf or.otf files in the system folder. /system/fonts/. You can replace them, but that requires root rights or workarounds.

Method 1: Install the keyboard with an iPhone emoji (the easiest)

If you don’t need to change your emojis throughout the system, but only on Instagram, install a keyboard that supports Apple Color Emoji.This method does not require root rights and works on any Xiaomi smartphone.

Best options:

• 📱 Gboard with emoji theme: Install Gboard from Google Play. Open keyboard settings → Topics → Select a theme marked iOS or Apple. Activate Show iOS-style emoji (if any).

Kika Keyboard:

iPhone Emoji

SwiftKey:

⚠️ Note: even with this keyboard, the emoji you send will be displayed to the recipients in their system style. 😍, Your friend on Samsung is the standard Android version.

Method 2: Replace system fonts without root (for advanced)

This method is more complicated, but it provides a complete replacement of emoji in all applications, including Instagram, WhatsApp and Telegram. Suitable for Xiaomi on MIUI or HyperOS without root rights, but requires unlocking the bootloader.

Instructions:

1. Unlock the bootloader through the official Xiaomi tool (can take up to 7 days).
2. Install Magisk for temporary root access.
3. Download iFont or Emoji Switcher for Magisk: https://github.com/vincentlaucs/EmojiSwitcher/releases
4. In Magisk Manager, go to Modules → Install from Storage → select the downloaded file.
5. Reboot the phone. It's done! Now the emojis have been changed throughout the system.

🔹 Pros: Emojis are changing globally, including notifications and browser.

⚠️ Cons:

• Risk of "bricking" when you make an error (especially on HyperOS).
• Some banking applications may block access due to Magisk.
• After the MIUI update, you will have to repeat the procedure.

Method 3: Manual editing of system files (root only)

If you already have root rights, you can replace the fonts manually, which is a method that gives you maximum control, but you need to be careful.

Step-by-step:

1. Download the archive with Apple Color Emoji fonts (e.g., GitHub).
2. Use Root Explorer (or FX File Explorer) to access the folder: /system/fonts/
3. Create a backup of the original files (e.g. NotoColorEmoji.ttf).
4. Copy the downloaded files (AppleColorEmoji.ttf, AppleColorEmoji@2x.ttf) to /system/fonts/.
5. Change the access rights to 644 (rw-r----).
6. Reboot the phone.

⚠️ Note: if after the replacement, the emoji began to appear as empty squares, then:

• 🔹 Font files are corrupted (check their integrity).
• 🔹 Lack of file rights (should be 644).
• 🔹 Conflict with another Magisk module (disable all font-related modules).

💡

Before replacing the fonts, make a full backup of the system through TWRP. If something goes wrong, you can restore the phone in 10 minutes.

Comparison of methods: which one to choose?

To make it easier for you to determine, we have compiled a table with the pros and cons of each method:

💡 Tip: if you're a beginner, start with the first method (keyboard) that requires no technical skills and is completely safe. If you want to change the emoji in all applications, try the second method with Magisk.

💡

The most reliable and versatile method is to use an iOS-emoji keyboard, which works on 100% of Xiaomi devices without risks or restrictions.

Frequent problems and their solutions

Even after successful emoji replacement, users are plagued with bugs, and here are the most common ways to fix them:

• 🔄 Smileys are reset after the update MIUI: This is because system files are overwritten. Solution: Re-apply the module in Magisk or replace the fonts manually.
• ⬛ Black Squares instead of Emoji: Most likely, font files are corrupted or incompatible with your version of Android.Try another emoji package (e.g. Twitter Color Emoji instead of Apple).
• 📱 Emojis are normal on Instagram but curves on WhatsApp: WhatsApp uses its fonts.To fix this, install WhatsApp's Emoji Changer module for Magisk.

⚠️ Note: if Google Pay or SberBank Online stopped working after the font replacement, this is due to the SafetyNet trigger:

1. Open Magisk → Settings → turn on MagiskHide.
2. Add banking apps to the hideout list.
3. Reboot the phone.

FAQ: Answers to popular questions