Gene is an
emoji that lives in Textopolis, a digital city inside the smartphone of middle school student Alex. He is the son of two
meh emojis named Mel and Mary and, unlike other emojis, is able to make multiple expressions, which makes him an
outcast. His parents are hesitant about him going to work, but Gene insists so that he can feel useful. Upon receiving a
text message from his love interest Addie McCallister, Alex decides to send her an emoji. Once selected, Gene panics, sends a bizarre face, and wrecks the text center. He is called in by Smiler, a
smiley emoji and leader of the text center, who concludes that Gene is a "malfunction" and therefore must be deleted. Gene is chased by
bots. He is rescued by
Hi-5, a once-popular emoji who has fallen into disuse and has been relegated to the "Loser Lounge". Hi-5 tells him that he can be fixed if they find a
hacker, so the two set off together so that Gene can become a "normal" emoji and Hi-5 can regain his popularity. Smiler sends more bots to look for Gene when she finds out that he has left Textopolis, as his actions have caused Alex to think that his phone needs to be fixed. Gene and Hi-5 come to a
piracy app where they meet a hacker emoji named
Jailbreak, who wants to reach
Dropbox so that she can live in the
cloud. The trio is attacked by Smiler's bots, but escapes into the game
Candy Crush. Jailbreak explains that Gene can be fixed in the cloud, and the group goes off into the
Just Dance app. While there, Jailbreak confesses she is a princess emoji who fled home after tiring of being
stereotyped. They are once again attacked by bots, and their actions cause Alex to delete the
Just Dance app. Gene and Jailbreak escape, but Hi-5 is taken along with the app and ends up in the
Trash. Mel and Mary search for their son and have a very lethargic argument. They reconcile in the
Instagram app when Mel accidentally shows an enamored face, revealing that he is also a malfunction and explaining Gene's behavior. While traveling through
Spotify, Jailbreak admits that she likes Gene the way he is and says he should not be ashamed of himself. The two start to fall in love and Gene debates his choice to change himself. They arrive at the Trash and rescue Hi-5, but get attacked by a bot upgraded with
malware. The three disable it and flee to Dropbox where they encounter a
firewall they're able to pass using Addie's name as a
password to enter the Cloud where Jailbreak prepares to reprogram Gene. He admits his feelings for her but she only wants to venture into the Cloud, unintentionally causing him to revert to his apathetic programming out of heartbreak. The upgraded bot sneaks into the Cloud and captures Gene, prompting Hi-5 and Jailbreak to go after him with a
Twitter bird summoned by Jailbreak in her princess form. As Smiler prepares to delete Gene, Mel and Mary arrive. Mel admits to everyone that he is also a malfunction, prompting Smiler to threaten to delete him as well. Jailbreak and Hi-5 arrive and disable the bot, which falls on top of Smiler. Alex has since taken his phone to a store in hopes that a
factory reset performed by
technical support would restore his phone's functionality, which would totally destroy Gene's world upon completion. Out of desperation, Gene prepares to have himself texted to Addie, making numerous faces to express himself. Realizing that Addie received a text message from him, Alex cancels the factory reset just as it nearly finishes, saving the emojis and finally getting to speak with Addie, who likes the emoji Alex sent. Gene accepts himself for who he is and is celebrated by all of the other emojis. In a
mid-credits scene, Smiler has been relegated to the "Loser Lounge" while wearing braces during her recuperation. ==Voice cast==