Just a reminder for 98%+ of the userbase that you can still use your device's builtin emoji keyboard.
I believe with win 10 (sorry 8/7 users, your method is still convoluted) you can use keyboard shortcut
Code:
Win [b]+[/b] ; (semi-colon)
or
to open the emoji keyboard.
I primarily read from my linux server(which has emoji via ime) and mac laptop (which has builtin support via cmd+ctrl+space).
Phone users... well, if you don't know how to use emoji by now there is probably no helping you.....
So if you just want to be able to type some emoji... you probably can! If you actually think your fav emoji needs to be easier to access, argue/list them away!
Now I will go back to eating my 🥩🍛.
ps. I personally would prefer a complete, but searchable drop-down menu, similar to what discord has. But I doubt I would use it since my devices builtin support doesn't require me to move my hands off the keyboard