Convert Emojis to Text in SMS with Infobip: A Step-by-Step Guide

Have you found it difficult to understand many emojis used today in tweets, LinkedIn posts, and others?

In this guide, you’ll learn how to decode and convert these emojis to text in defined strings, and with the help of Infobip SMS API and Python SDK, you can send all the information as a text message to your phone.

Let's get started!

Prerequisites

• An Infobip account (a free trial works fine)
• Knowledge of Python
• Python on your local machine

Setup your Environment

Since this tutorial uses the Python CLI to run the script, install the Infobip SDK with the command:

pip install infobip-api-python-sdk

Now, create a folder, emoji and add the following files:

• .env: Your environment variables from your admin dashboard
• app.py: All the scripts will be here

Environment variables

The .env file helps hide all sensitive information in public repos on GitHub, preventing you from sharing your secret keys and variables with the public.

Copy-paste these variables:

IB_BASE_URL="<your API Base URL>"
IB_API_KEY="<your API Key>"
DESTINATION_NUMBER="<your phone number>"

Replace the variables for the keys with your actual values. Log in to your dashboard to access your details.

Creating the Emoji Decoder App

The demoji module or package finds emojis within a string and converts these emoticons or emojis into text. Run this command to install the Python module.

pip install demoji

In the app.py file, import the necessary module and the Infobip SMS channel.

import demoji
from infobip_channels.sms.channel import SMSChannel
import os

Next, below the import, include your desired text with as many or one emoji that the demoji module will help convert to text.

text = """
I am launching this exciting project ??
which I have been building in public for
some months ????.
"""

The text variable is wrapped around in docstrings that allow multiline characters denoted with the triple quote mark.

Prepare the SMS Payload

The DESTINATION_NUMBER is the number you want to send SMS messages. If you’re using an Infobip trial account, the number should have been verified with your account.

The Python function send_sms_from_app invokes the SMS response creating an instance of the SMSChannel class, containing all the methods. The instance SMSChannel.from_env() will read the set variables in the .env file.

def send_sms_from_app(text):
   channel = SMSChannel.from_env()
   sms_response = channel.send_sms_message({
       'messages': [{
           'from': 'Know meanings of emojis',
           'text': text,
           'destinations': [{
               'to': os.environ['DESTINATION_NUMBER']
           }],
       }]
   })
   print(sms_response)

Send the SMS and Test the Script

Before sending the SMS, we need to convert the resulting output from a dictionary to a formatted string with the emoji and their descriptions to make it meaningful in SMS format.

{'?': 'rocket', '?': 'fire', '??': 'flag: Nigeria', '?': 'laptop', '?': 'flexed biceps'}

In addition, the findall method with the text passed as an argument finds the emojis in the text.

emoji_dict = demoji.findall(text)
result_text = '\n'.join([f'{emoji}: {description}' for emoji, description in emoji_dict.items()])
send_sms_from_app(result_text)

The result_text variable loops through the key-value pair in the emoji_dict output and joins the formatted string with a newline character using the escape character n.

Finally, the send_sms_from_app function sends the processed text via SMS.

To put this script to test, in your terminal, run the command:

pip install infobip-api-python-sdk

Learn More

Explore this guide to learn how to use the Infobip SMS Channel to receive important updates such as reports directly on your phone.

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