How to Create Your Own Memoji in iOS 12
Apple’s iPhone X launched last year with a suite of new features, but one in particular stood out: Animoji. The iPhone X’s depth-sensing, front-facing camera captures your facial movements and uses them to animate one of the popular emoji on iOS.
With iOS 12, Memoji join the Animoji lineup for TrueDepth camera-equipped iPhones like the iPhone X, Xs, Xs Max and (later in October) iPhone XR.
Memoji are animated humans instead of animated emojis. Presumably, your Memoji would look like you, though it doesn’t have to. You can create a character modeled after your favorite celebrity or a villain from your favorite comic book.
MORE: 10 New iOS 12 Features That Make Your iPhone Better
Unlike Samsung’s animated AR Emoji, which are only available on the Galaxy S9, Apple doesn’t try to create a Memoji for you based on your facial features. Instead, the feature gives you all the tools you need to create your own avatar.
Here’s how to build and customize your Memoji.—Caitlin McGarry
1. Open the Messages app.
2. Tap on an existing message or compose a new one.
3. Select the Animoji icon (denoted by a monkey) in the app tray beneath the text composition box.
4. Expand the Animoji selection by swiping up. Tap the plus sign to create a Memoji.
5. Start building your avatar by choosing a skin color. A slider tool lets you adjust the warmth or coolness of your skin tone. You can even choose a wild color, such as pink or purple, to represent you. The skin tone feature also gives you four freckle patterns to choose from.
6. Then choose a hair color and style. The color options cover all the natural shades, or you can choose an out-of-the-box hue. The hair styles range from straight and curly hair to twists, braids and even nearly-bald heads. My one complaint is that the curly hair texture is not exactly right. The curls are a bit...bulbous.
7. Swipe over to head shape to choose how pointy or round your chin is and how aged your want your avatar to look.
8. Next up is eyes.Choose a color and adjust the shade with the slider tool. Pick an eye shape and how dramatic you want your Memoji’s eyelashes to look.
9. Pick a brow shape.
10. Toggle over to pick the shape of your nose and lips. Add some color if you’re a lipstick person.
11. The Ears section lets you pick ear size and add colorful earrings or small silver hoops.
12. If you have sideburns and facial hair, add them.
13. Design a pair of glasses In the Eyewear section. You can choose the shape and color of the frames and make the lenses tinted or clear.
14. The last option is Headwear, where you can add a jaunty pageboy cap, hijab or 22 other options.
15. Tap Done.
16. Now the Memoji has been added to your Animoji roster. It will live alongside popular options such as the unicorn and poop. (Yes, poop.) You can create as many Memoji as you’d like.
