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Emoji reactions

A quick 👍 says 'got it' without adding another message to the channel. Reactions are the lightweight everything-else that sits next to the formal acknowledgement.

Sometimes a colleague's message doesn't need a reply — it just needs a nod. A reaction is a single emoji you tap onto a message: everyone sees it, it carries a count, and it never adds a new line to the conversation. Rounds offers a small, deliberately clinical-appropriate set of six.

Reacting to a message

Reactions live right under a message, on channel messages and thread replies alike. Here's the path from the chat workspace.

  1. Open a conversation

    From the chat workspace, click the channel or direct message in the conversation list on the left to open it.

  2. Find the reaction affordance under a message

    Beneath each message bubble is a small reaction bar. At its end is a round smiley-face button — that's the Add a reaction affordance.

  3. Pick an emoji

    Click the smiley-face button to open the picker — six emoji: 👍 ✅ 👀 🙏 ❗ ❤️. Click one and it lands on the message immediately.

  4. Tap a chip to add or remove your reaction

    Each reaction shows as a chip with its emoji and a count. Clicking a chip toggles your reaction — adds it if you haven't reacted with that emoji, removes it if you have. Your own reactions are highlighted so you can see at a glance which you've added.
Step 2 — the highlighted smiley-face button under a message opens the six-emoji picker.
A reacted message — each chip carries an emoji and a count; your own reactions are highlighted.

Reactions are not acknowledgements

Rounds keeps a clear line between a reaction and an acknowledgement. They look similar, but they do different jobs:

A reaction

Lightweight and informal. Any emoji, any message, including your own. It is not recorded in the audit log — a 👍 is a nod, not a clinical confirmation.

An acknowledgement

The formal "I confirm I've seen this". It is requested by the sender, tied to a specific message, and audited — the record your agency relies on for patient-safety messages.

Good to know

  • Reactions work in threads too. The same reaction bar appears under every thread reply — react to a reply exactly as you would a channel message.
  • Everyone sees them live. When you add or remove a reaction, the chip and its count update for everyone in the channel straight away.
  • You can react to your own message. Unlike an acknowledgement, there's no self-reaction restriction.
  • Reactions follow the message. If a message is recalled or expires, its reactions go with it.