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spencer0124/emojipickerkit

An **undocumented native system emoji keyboard wrapper** for iOS. No custom UI, no bundled emoji assets — just the real keyboard your users already know.

About

EmojiPickerKit is a zero-dependency Swift package that presents the native iOS emoji keyboard as a standalone emoji picker. Unlike third-party libraries that build custom emoji grids, EmojiPickerKit uses the actual system keyboard — giving your users the same search, recents, skin tones, and categories they use every day.

How It Works

Apple's own Reminders app uses a hidden UITextField with an undocumented keyboard type (UIKeyboardType(rawValue: 124)) to present an emoji-only keyboard. EmojiPickerKit uses the same approach — an invisible text field becomes first responder, and the native emoji keyboard appears.

On top of this base technique, EmojiPickerKit adds:

  • Two selection modes (single auto-dismiss or continuous multiple)
  • Emoji-only input filtering
  • Skin tone normalization
  • Haptic feedback
  • Custom accessory views
  • Dismiss callback
  • SwiftUI view modifier integration
  • String extensions for emoji validation
Limitations
  • iOS 16.0+ required (declared as platforms: [.iOS(.v16)] in Package.swift)
  • The emoji keyboard type (rawValue: 124) is undocumented — it is used by Apple internally but is not part of the public UIKeyboardType enum. Like disableDictation, this may carry App Store review risk. If Apple changes or removes this raw value in a future iOS version, a standard keyboard will silently appear instead of the emoji keyboard.
  • iPadOS: The library is designed for iOS. iPad behavior is untested and may vary with floating keyboard, split view, or external keyboard configurations.

Important Notes

disableDictation uses a private API. When disableDictation is set to true, the library calls setForceDisableDictation: on UITextInputTraits to hide the dictation button. This is the same approach Apple's Reminders app uses, but it is a private API and may cause your app to be rejected during App Store review.

The option is false by default, so you must explicitly opt in. Use at your own risk in production apps.

Installation

EmojiPickerKit is available via the Swift Package Manager.

With your Xcode project open, go to File > Add Package Dependencies, enter the address below into the search field, and click Add Package.

https://github.com/spencer0124/EmojiPickerKit

Or add it to your Package.swift:

dependencies: [
    .package(url: "https://github.com/spencer0124/EmojiPickerKit.git", from: "0.2.0")
]

Then import the module where you want to use it:

import EmojiPickerKit

Usage

SwiftUI

Use the .emojiKeyboard() view modifier to present the emoji keyboard. Pass a binding to control visibility and a closure to receive the selected emoji.

import EmojiPickerKit

struct ContentView: View {
    @State private var showPicker = false
    @State private var emoji = "😊"

    var body: some View {
        VStack {
            Text(emoji).font(.system(size: 64))
            Button("Pick Emoji") { showPicker = true }
        }
        .emojiKeyboard(
            isPresented: $showPicker,
            onDismiss: { print("Keyboard dismissed") }
        ) { selected in
            emoji = selected
        }
    }
}

UIKit

Create an EmojiKeyboardTextField, add it to your view, and call present() to show the keyboard.

import EmojiPickerKit

let textField = EmojiKeyboardTextField(mode: .single)
view.addSubview(textField)

textField.onEmojiSelected = { emoji in
    print("Selected: \(emoji)")
}

textField.onDismiss = {
    print("Keyboard dismissed")
}

textField.present()

Configuration

EmojiKeyboardMode

enum EmojiKeyboardMode {
    case single
    case multiple(accessoryView: ((_ dismiss: @escaping () -> Void) -> AnyView)? = nil)
}
  • .single — Dismisses after one emoji is selected (Reminders-style).
  • .multiple() — Stays open for continuous selection. Shows a default "Done" toolbar, or pass a custom accessory view.

Custom accessory view (SwiftUI — @ViewBuilder overload, no AnyView needed):

.emojiKeyboard(
    isPresented: $showPicker,
    accessoryView: { dismiss in
        Button("Close") { dismiss() }
    }
) { emoji in
    emojis.append(emoji)
}

Custom accessory view (UIKit):

let tf = EmojiKeyboardTextField(
    mode: .multiple(accessoryView: { dismiss in
        AnyView(Button("Close") { dismiss() })
    })
)

EmojiKeyboardConfiguration

Pass an EmojiKeyboardConfiguration to customize behavior.

let config = EmojiKeyboardConfiguration(
    emojiOnly: true,
    normalizeSkinTone: .strip,
    hapticFeedback: .light,
    disableDictation: false
)

| Option | Default | Description | | ------------------- | -------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | emojiOnly | true | Rejects non-emoji input. | | normalizeSkinTone | nil | Normalize skin tone modifiers (see below). | | hapticFeedback | .light | Haptic style on selection, or nil to disable. | | disableDictation | false | Hide the dictation button. Uses private API — see Important Notes. |

EmojiSkinToneNormalization

Controls how skin tone modifiers are handled on selected emoji.

enum EmojiSkinToneNormalization {
    case strip        // Remove skin tone → 👋🏽 becomes 👋
    case light        // 🏻
    case mediumLight  // 🏼
    case medium       // 🏽
    case mediumDark   // 🏾
    case dark         // 🏿
}
let config = EmojiKeyboardConfiguration(normalizeSkinTone: .strip)
// User selects 👋🏽 → callback receives 👋

String Extensions

EmojiPickerKit includes handy String extensions for working with emoji:

"😊".isSingleEmoji          // true
"👨‍👩‍👧‍👦".isSingleEmoji         // true (ZWJ sequence = one glyph)
"hi".isSingleEmoji          // false
"😊😊".isSingleEmoji        // false

"hello 😊".containsOnlyEmoji   // false
"😊🔥".containsOnlyEmoji       // true

"👋🏽".normalizingSkinTone(to: .strip)  // "👋"
"👋🏽".normalizingSkinTone(to: .dark)   // "👋🏿"

// Emoji extraction
"Hello 😊 World 🔥".emojis           // ["😊", "🔥"]
"no emoji here".emojis               // []

// Emoji count
"😊🔥".emojiCount                    // 2
"👨‍👩‍👧‍👦".emojiCount                // 1 (ZWJ = one glyph)

// Remove emoji
"Hello 😊 World".removingEmojis      // "Hello  World"
"Hello 😊 World".strippingEmojis     // "Hello World"

// Skin tone detection
"👋🏽".emojiSkinTone                  // .medium
"👋".emojiSkinTone                    // nil

// ZWJ decomposition
"👨‍👩‍👧‍👦".emojiComponents             // ["👨", "👩", "👧", "👦"]
"😊".emojiComponents                 // ["😊"]

Example Project

Explore the Example project for a demo of single mode, multiple mode, and skin tone normalization in action.

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Here's how to get started:

  1. Fork the repository and clone your fork.
  2. Create a feature branch: git checkout -b feature/my-change
  3. Make your changes and add tests.
  4. Run the test suite:

``bash xcodebuild test \ -workspace . \ -scheme EmojiPickerKit \ -destination "platform=iOS Simulator,name=iPhone 16 Pro" ``

  1. Open a pull request with a clear description.
Project Structure
Sources/EmojiPickerKit/
├── EmojiKeyboardTextField.swift      # Core UITextField subclass
├── EmojiKeyboardModifier.swift       # SwiftUI wrapper + view modifier
├── EmojiKeyboardConfiguration.swift  # Configuration struct
└── Extensions/
    ├── String+Emoji.swift            # containsOnlyEmoji, isSingleEmoji, emojis, emojiCount, removingEmojis, strippingEmojis, emojiComponents
    └── String+SkinTone.swift         # Skin tone normalization, emojiSkinTone

Example/                              # Demo app (Xcode project)
Tests/EmojiPickerKitTests/            # Test suite
Guidelines
  • Keep PRs focused — one feature or fix per PR.
  • Follow existing code style and naming conventions.
  • Add tests for new public API surface.
  • This project uses no external dependencies — please keep it that way.

License

EmojiPickerKit is released under the MIT License. See LICENSE for details.

Package Metadata

Repository: spencer0124/emojipickerkit

Default branch: main

README: README.md