Meet Sticons, a hybrid of stickers and emoticons that chat app Line has just introduced on Android

If stickers and emoticons still aren’t enough for you to express your emotions via chat apps, Japanese messaging service Line has now introduced ‘Sticons’ — a hybrid of stickers and emoticons (the name pretty much says it all).

Sticons can be used in text messages just like emoticons, but what’s unique is that when you send them in a standalone message, they morph into large, individual images — just like stickers.

Line has rolled out Sticons on Android first, though it says an iPhone update is also coming in the near future. There are over 1,000 different Sticons to choose from in five categories: faces, animals, symbols, sports, and vehicles. And of course, there are Line character Sticons as well.

The chat app has been very creative in the way it makes use of stickers to engage users — in February this year it announced a sticker market to let them sell their original stickers on its Web store.

➤ Line: Google Play