Complete guide to stickers on iOS and iPadOS 17

Aug 20, 2023

Stickers have gotten a massive upgrade in iOS 17 and iPadOS 17, now allowing you to make them using your own photos, even with animations.

Stickers are a fun way to liven up photos on an iPhone or iPad when sending them through the Messages app. Available for years, there are standard stickers, themed sticker packs you can download from the Apple App Store, and personalized Memoji characters. But iOS 17 is kicking things up a notch.

Among the many updates with iOS 17 as well as iPadOS 17 is the ability to easily add stickers to photos right from a new sticker drawer. You can lift subjects from photos the same way you could with iOS 16, but now you can also turn them into unique stickers. You can even add cool effects. The process is the same for both iPhones and compatible iPad models. Let’s take a look at everything you can do with Stickers, using screenshots from an iPhone 14 to demonstrate.

Start off by trying the most basic new feature, which is turning your personal photos into shareable stickers.

Start off by trying the most basic new feature, which is turning your own personal photos into shareable stickers.

In addition to turning a photo into a shareable sticker, you can also add various effects to it. Press and hold the custom sticker you want to create an effect with until the menu pop-up appears, and select Add Effect.

From there, you can choose from Outline, Comic, Puffy (sort of like a 3D effect), or Shiny (like a holographic trading card). The latter two effects act as though the light is being reflected when you move the phone around. Note that if you choose an effect on a live animated photo, the photo will automatically revert to a static one. Once you have chosen your desired effect, select Done. If you don’t like how any of them look, simply go back to the original and tap Done.

It’s easy to get excited once you figure out how to add stickers, and you go wild adding custom ones. Thankfully, there's an easy way to delete them. Conversely, if you find you use one custom sticker a lot more than others, you might want to rearrange it so it appears at the top of the list.

Pull up the sticker drawer while in an iMessage, long-press a sticker, and select Delete to remove it from your library. To re-order, select Rearrange. The stickers will shake just like icons on an iPhone home screen do when you long-press. Drag the stickers around until you get the order you like.

It’s worth noting that you can also go back to the stickers menu at any time to add a different effect to it, including reverting to the original. Just long-press on the sticker again.

Did you know that Apple offers tons of premade stickers available for download? You don’t only have to make your own or use what comes loaded on the device. You can choose from a wide variety of them that are already made and available to you. Some are free, while others cost a small fee. But they're a great way to show off your personality and individuality.

Sticker packs can be downloaded from the App Store, but you might later decide you don’t like a set. Whatever the reason, it’s easy to delete a sticker pack. This is the same method that can also be used for deleting Memoji.

One feature that isn’t talked about as much is that you can also create stickers from videos.

What about existing emoji? They need love, too! As long as you’re using a supported app, it will work, blowing them up to a larger size, so you can use them as stickers. Here are the instructions using the Messages app (it will work the same way in other supported apps).

Note that you could also drag the emoji to an existing message to stick it on it.

Stickers are great, but we can’t forget about Memoji! We can make these adorable virtual avatars ourselves, customized to look just like us. Memoji aren’t passé just yet. These received updates in iOS and iPadOS 17 as well.

There are three new Memoji poses. You can show yourself with a halo, peeking through fingers, or smirking. To select a Memoji, open an iMessage, tap the “+” sign, select Stickers, then select the Memoji icon. Scroll down, and you’ll see the three new options among the many existing ones.

Keep in mind that stickers aren’t just for sharing in Messages, though that’s likely how they are most often shared. But you can use them anywhere images are supported, like in the Notes app. If the stickers are supported, but animations are not, you’ll see static images instead.

Keep in mind that not all stickers will look perfect. Sometimes, edges will be blurred, and photos will be cropped awkwardly. Nonetheless, it’s a fun new feature that lets you personalize the emoji you add to messages, making them truly your own. Make one of yourself or one of your pets!

Want to share these sticker creations beyond Messages and Notes? A clever trick is to go to the emoji panel on the keyboard. Tap on the recently used emoji button (the clock icon). You may have to tap a second time to call up the sticker drawer. From there, you can select a sticker, and it will be shared as a regular image if the sticker format is unsupported.

Christine is a freelance writer and editor with more than 20 years of experience in the tech and entertainment businesses. Holding a B.A. in Communications and Psychology, she's passionate about technology and has reviewed, written about, tested, and researched hundreds of products and services through her career. Currently serving as a contributor to XDA, covering everything from iPhones to MacBooks, Christine loves to unwind with a good TV show and a glass of red wine at home.