Philadelphia Now Has Philly Emojis
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - Fans of Philadelphia can now download a custom emoji keyboard app filled with more than 60 iconic emojis, GIF's and videos -- including a winking Liberty Bell, flashing Yo! graphic, and a bird's eye view of the William Penn Statue atop City Hall.
The standard emoji keyboard has a slice of pizza and the statue of liberty, but there's no cheesesteak or liberty bell, so the city's tourism group decided to create their own set of emojis to really represent Philadelphia.
"Word of mouth recommendations from friends and family have a big impact on leisure travelers," says Visit Philadelphia Media Specialist Chelsea Calhoun. "That's something we know from research and the the Philadelphia keyboard gives visitors and fans of the city a new, free, fun way to talk about their trips and share their love for the city."
The emojis work in text, email and apps that support the pasting of images like Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp, and Kik. The specialty keyboard does not work on Twitter and Instagram.
There were some privacy concerns surrounding the keyboard because users have to activate an "Allow Full Access" option.
"All third party emoji keyboards require full access on the phone," explains Calhoun. "Our developers says he information allows us to update the keyboard as we create more images and add them to the mix but does not see or store any of your private information"
The keyboard is available in the Google Play Store and Apple App Store.