I’m obsessed with all things Starbucks and I hear there’s a new emoji keyboard for my iPhone 6? How do I get it?! How do I use it?! I must have it now! Now, I say!!
Okay, it might be time for you to consider switching to decaf, or at least acquiring some stock in Starbucks because you sound like an über-loyal fan! 🙂
While Starbucks has focused on the more utilitarian side of mobile apps to date with its store locator / Starbucks Card app, it has partnered with a third party to release what it calls Starbucks Keyboard for iOS devices, whether you’re an iPhone or iPad user. The new app doesn’t do anything particularly useful, but it’s definitely fun, particularly if you’re somewhat obsessed with the company…
To start, you’ll need to find it in the App Store, which is easily done if you search for starbucks keyboard.
It shows up like this:
Tap on “GET” to download and install the app, then launch it, even though it doesn’t actually seem to do anything:
It actually shows you how to install it and get it hooked up, but my instructions are easier to follow because you can look at them while you’re following along on your iPhone or iPad, right? 🙂
Once you have the keyboard app on your iOS 9 device, you’ll need to go to “Settings“, then tap on “General“. Then look for “Keyboard“, as shown:
Tap on “Keyboard” and you’ll see all your keyboard-related settings:
One more tap on “Keyboards” to see which you have installed and add the new Starbucks Keyboard:
Can you guess what you want to tap?
Yup, “Add New Keyboard…“. Tap on it.
There it is, listed as a “third party keyboard”. Tap on “Starbucks” and it’s installed.
But you’re not done yet, because the keyboard needs full access to work and that’s not enabled by default.
Tap on “Starbucks Keyboard — Starbucks” from this screen and you’ll be able to grant it the access permissions it requires:
Does this warning message make you pause for a moment and consider whether it’s worth installing? Good. It is worth considering, particularly when you see the fairly limited functionality that the app has, at least with this initial release.
But you can’t proceed without allowing full access, so if you want to proceed, tap “Allow“.
Done. Installed. Ready to go.
Now let’s flip to the Messages app and send a Starbucks emoji to Ashley!
Here’s a message I’m ready to send, but I want to actually add one of the new Starbucks Keyboard emoji to the text. To do that, I tap on the globe icon on the lower left.
Once I’ve tapped on the globe, twice, in my case, to get to the Starbucks keyboard itself, I’ll see the tiny emoji:
A tap on one of the emoji and you quickly realize it’s a bit more of a pain to work with than the regular emoji keyboard:
Oh. Okay. So double tap in the message input area and choose “Paste”. And…
In fact, while it’s called “EMOJIS” it’s really a lot more like how stickers work on Facebook, separate graphics that are fun, cheery and way bigger than a tiny picture you add within a text message. That might well turn off some people, and certainly makes me wonder why it needs full access as a plug-in keyboard too.
On the bright side, this does ensure that recipients get exactly what you send. Here’s what I sent Mary-Frances:
And here’s what she received on her Android phone:
So that’s the scoop. Now you know how to download and install the Starbucks Keyboard on your iPhone or iPad. Whether it’s worth the effort, well, that’s up to you.
Meanwhile, I suggest you consider buying me a cup of coffee for the next time I’m in Starbucks! 🙂
You know your business is successful when people willingly install emoji keyboards of your products, lol.
That being said… this does not need to exist. if you got a Starbucks coffee, just tell me (or don’t, because why do I care?). You don’t have to send me a cute little picture of your coffee.
Please, for my sanity.
I concur, Rachael. As it happens, I went ahead and deleted the Starbucks keyboard after realizing I hadn’t used it once in two weeks. 🙂