Gmoji: AI Emoji Maker

What it does

Gmoji is an AI-powered platform for creating and sharing custom emojis and stickers. It allows users to generate new emojis from text descriptions, turn their own photos into expressive characters, or merge existing emojis to create unique combinations. The app serves as both a creation tool and a library of pre-made emoji packs for use in iMessage and other chat apps.

Where it shines

Gmoji excels in making content creation feel fun and accessible. The onboarding flow immediately grabs attention with a dynamic carousel showcasing hilarious and creative emoji merges (00:08). A standout feature is how the app handles loading screens. Instead of a boring spinner, it presents an "Emoji Battle" poll (04:05), turning wait time into an engaging micro-game. The core creation tools are also impressive, particularly the 'Merge emoji' function (05:45) which provides a simple yet powerful way for users to be creative without needing artistic skill.

UX highlights

The app offers three distinct creation paths (Text, Image, Merge) from a clear central hub (03:58), catering to different user intentions.
Emoji packs and categories are well-organized and visually browsable, making discovery easy and enjoyable (01:27).
The process of saving a favorite emoji to a custom pack is straightforward, involving a clear 'Save to Pack' modal and the ability to create new packs on the fly (02:06).
The user onboarding effectively uses warm-up screens before requesting permissions for tracking (00:49) and ratings (00:51), a user-friendly approach.
Interactive elements are used to make mundane tasks more engaging, like the tag-based survey for user acquisition source (00:59).
The UI is clean, with a consistent and playful aesthetic that matches the app's purpose.

Monetization & growth

The app presents a soft paywall at the end of its onboarding flow (01:05). It offers a 3-day free trial for its yearly plan, which is highlighted as the 'Best value'. The pricing is reframed into a weekly cost to make the yearly subscription appear more affordable. The paywall clearly lists the primary benefits of upgrading, such as unlimited creations and access to the full emoji library. After subscribing, the user is greeted with a simple confirmation pop-up (01:24).

Who it’s for

Gmoji is targeted at users who want to add more personality and creativity to their digital conversations. This likely includes teens, young adults, and anyone active in group chats on platforms like iMessage and WhatsApp. It appeals to both creatively-driven users who want to design from scratch and casual users who just want to find and use funny or unique stickers made by others.

Notes & opportunities

The app experience is generally smooth, but there are small points of friction. When a user tries to save an emoji that is already in all their packs, the app shows a confusing modal (04:40) instead of a simple toast notification. Additionally, the 'Report' feature (02:29) could be made more discoverable. The core strength lies in its creation tools, and the app could lean into this further by adding more community features, like allowing users to follow creators or see trending user-created packs.