diff --git a/app/src/main/kotlin/io/flamenet/messenger/app/Pickers.kt b/app/src/main/kotlin/io/flamenet/messenger/app/Pickers.kt
index 5a31edc..e0b587e 100644
--- a/app/src/main/kotlin/io/flamenet/messenger/app/Pickers.kt
+++ b/app/src/main/kotlin/io/flamenet/messenger/app/Pickers.kt
@@ -2,18 +2,27 @@ package io.flamenet.messenger.app
 
 import androidx.compose.foundation.background
 import androidx.compose.foundation.clickable
+import androidx.compose.foundation.horizontalScroll
 import androidx.compose.foundation.layout.Arrangement
 import androidx.compose.foundation.layout.Box
+import androidx.compose.foundation.layout.Column
 import androidx.compose.foundation.layout.ColumnScope
+import androidx.compose.foundation.layout.Row
 import androidx.compose.foundation.layout.fillMaxWidth
 import androidx.compose.foundation.layout.heightIn
 import androidx.compose.foundation.layout.padding
 import androidx.compose.foundation.lazy.grid.GridCells
 import androidx.compose.foundation.lazy.grid.LazyVerticalGrid
 import androidx.compose.foundation.lazy.grid.items
+import androidx.compose.foundation.rememberScrollState
 import androidx.compose.foundation.shape.RoundedCornerShape
+import androidx.compose.foundation.verticalScroll
 import androidx.compose.material3.Text
 import androidx.compose.runtime.Composable
+import androidx.compose.runtime.getValue
+import androidx.compose.runtime.mutableStateOf
+import androidx.compose.runtime.remember
+import androidx.compose.runtime.setValue
 import androidx.compose.ui.Alignment
 import androidx.compose.ui.Modifier
 import androidx.compose.ui.draw.clip
@@ -21,6 +30,7 @@ import androidx.compose.ui.platform.LocalContext
 import androidx.compose.ui.platform.testTag
 import androidx.compose.ui.semantics.contentDescription
 import androidx.compose.ui.semantics.semantics
+import androidx.compose.ui.text.font.FontWeight
 import androidx.compose.ui.unit.dp
 import androidx.compose.ui.unit.sp
 
@@ -85,45 +95,90 @@ fun ColumnScope.StickerPicker(onPick: (StickerPack.Sticker) -> Unit) {
  * ⚠️ The panel stays open on tap. Somebody picking three in a row expects three
  * characters in the box, and closing on each tap would make that impossible.
  *
- * ⚠️ A short curated list rather than every emoji Unicode defines. A full
- * picker is a search field, skin-tone variants, category tabs and a recents
- * list — a real feature, and one the system keyboard already ships. This is the
- * common set within reach of a thumb; the keyboard remains the way to reach the
- * rest.
+ * 🔴 **Recents and grouping, matching iOS.** This was a flat grid while iOS
+ * kept a recents row and grouped the set the way people think about them —
+ * found when a duplicate iOS picker nearly shadowed the better one. Two
+ * platforms offering the same emoji through different furniture is the drift
+ * nobody files a bug about and everybody notices. The mechanics mirror the
+ * iOS file: recents are the last twelve picked, most recent first, in ordinary
+ * SharedPreferences — which emoji somebody reaches for is not a secret worth a
+ * vault entry, and the vault cannot be read before sign-in anyway.
+ *
+ * ⚠️ Still a curated set, not all of Unicode. A full picker is search, skin
+ * tones and category tabs — a real feature the system keyboard already ships.
  */
 @Composable
 fun ColumnScope.EmojiPicker(onPick: (String) -> Unit) {
-    LazyVerticalGrid(
-        columns = GridCells.Adaptive(minSize = 44.dp),
+    val context = LocalContext.current
+    val prefs = remember {
+        context.getSharedPreferences("flamenet-emoji", android.content.Context.MODE_PRIVATE)
+    }
+    var recents by remember {
+        mutableStateOf(prefs.getString("recent", "")!!.split(" ").filter { it.isNotBlank() })
+    }
+
+    fun pick(emoji: String) {
+        val next = (listOf(emoji) + recents.filter { it != emoji }).take(12)
+        recents = next
+        prefs.edit().putString("recent", next.joinToString(" ")).apply()
+        onPick(emoji)
+    }
+
+    Column(
         modifier = Modifier
             .fillMaxWidth()
-            .heightIn(max = 200.dp)
+            .heightIn(max = 220.dp)
             .clip(RoundedCornerShape(Radius.large))
             .background(Palette.SurfaceAlt)
+            .verticalScroll(rememberScrollState())
+            .padding(Space.sm)
             .testTag("emoji-picker"),
-        contentPadding = androidx.compose.foundation.layout.PaddingValues(Space.sm),
-        verticalArrangement = Arrangement.spacedBy(2.dp),
+        verticalArrangement = Arrangement.spacedBy(Space.xs),
     ) {
-        items(EMOJI, key = { it }) { emoji ->
+        if (recents.isNotEmpty()) EmojiSection("Recent", recents, ::pick)
+        EMOJI_GROUPS.forEach { (name, emoji) -> EmojiSection(name, emoji, ::pick) }
+    }
+}
+
+@Composable
+private fun EmojiSection(title: String, emoji: List<String>, onPick: (String) -> Unit) {
+    Text(
+        title,
+        fontSize = 11.sp,
+        fontWeight = androidx.compose.ui.text.font.FontWeight.SemiBold,
+        color = Palette.SecondaryText,
+    )
+    Row(
+        modifier = Modifier
+            .fillMaxWidth()
+            .horizontalScroll(rememberScrollState()),
+        horizontalArrangement = Arrangement.spacedBy(Space.xs),
+    ) {
+        emoji.forEach { e ->
             Box(
                 modifier = Modifier
-                    .padding(2.dp)
                     .clip(RoundedCornerShape(Radius.small))
-                    .clickable { onPick(emoji) }
-                    .testTag("emoji-pick-$emoji"),
-                contentAlignment = Alignment.Center,
+                    .clickable { onPick(e) }
+                    // Scoped by section, as on iOS: the same emoji can sit in
+                    // Recent AND its own group, and a tag on the glyph alone is
+                    // ambiguous to a test.
+                    .testTag("emoji-$title-$e"),
             ) {
-                Text(emoji, fontSize = 24.sp, modifier = Modifier.padding(Space.sm))
+                Text(e, fontSize = 24.sp, modifier = Modifier.padding(Space.xs))
             }
         }
     }
 }
 
-/** The common set, in the order people actually reach for them. */
-private val EMOJI = listOf(
-    "😀", "😂", "🥹", "😊", "😍", "😘", "😎", "🤔", "😐", "🙄",
-    "😴", "😭", "😡", "🥳", "🤝", "👍", "👎", "👌", "🙏", "👏",
-    "💪", "👋", "🫡", "🤷", "❤️", "🧡", "💚", "💙", "💜", "🖤",
-    "🔥", "⭐", "✨", "🎉", "🎂", "☕", "🍕", "🍺", "🚀", "✅",
-    "❌", "⚠️", "💤", "👀", "🐛", "📎", "📷", "🎤", "📞", "💬",
+/**
+ * The same set as iOS, grouped the same way — kept in step on purpose.
+ * If one platform's list changes, change the other in the same sitting.
+ */
+private val EMOJI_GROUPS = listOf(
+    "Smileys" to listOf("😀", "😂", "🙂", "😉", "😍", "🤔", "😅", "😭", "😡", "🥳",
+                         "😴", "🤯", "🫠", "😬", "🙃", "😎"),
+    "Gestures" to listOf("👍", "👎", "👋", "🙏", "👏", "🤝", "💪", "🫶", "✌️", "🤞"),
+    "Hearts" to listOf("❤️", "🧡", "💛", "💚", "💙", "💜", "🖤", "💔", "✨", "🔥"),
+    "Things" to listOf("✅", "❌", "⚠️", "📌", "📎", "🔒", "🔑", "☕", "🍕", "🎉",
+                        "🎂", "🚀", "🌧️", "☀️", "🌙", "⭐"),
 )