How do I turn off emojis in my video calls?

Have you noticed emojis appearing during a video call with your doctor? Apple’s latest iOS update, iOS 17 and macOS Sonoma, has a feature called video “reactions” that uses hand gestures to trigger certain emojis or animations––and the feature is automatically set to “on.” 

If you don’t want those emojis or animations appearing when you make certain hand gestures during a visit with your doctor, here’s how you can turn them off:

On macOS Sonoma:

1. Open the FaceTime app
2. Click the FaceTime icon in the menu bar
3. Click on “Reactions” to turn the default to off

On Apple iOS 17: 

1. Open the FaceTime app
2. Access the control center (on FaceID phones, swipe down from the top right corner, or on Touch ID phones, swipe up from the bottom of the screen)
3. Tap the “Video Effects” option in the Control Center
4. Tap “Reactions” to turn the default to off

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