diff --git a/res/layout/emoji_drawer.xml b/res/layout/emoji_drawer.xml
index ee12dbb0ad..900ff47aa3 100644
--- a/res/layout/emoji_drawer.xml
+++ b/res/layout/emoji_drawer.xml
@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@
             android:visibility="visible"
             android:layout_width="match_parent"
             android:layout_height="match_parent"
+            android:background="#ff333333"
             android:minHeight="100dip">
 
         <android.support.v4.view.PagerTabStrip
@@ -18,7 +19,7 @@
                 android:layout_width="match_parent"
                 android:layout_height="wrap_content"
                 android:layout_gravity="top"
-                android:background="#33b5e5"
+                android:background="#ff333333"
                 android:textColor="#fff"
                 android:paddingTop="3dp"
                 android:paddingBottom="3dp"
diff --git a/src/org/thoughtcrime/securesms/components/EmojiDrawer.java b/src/org/thoughtcrime/securesms/components/EmojiDrawer.java
index f986d647b0..c936facd4e 100644
--- a/src/org/thoughtcrime/securesms/components/EmojiDrawer.java
+++ b/src/org/thoughtcrime/securesms/components/EmojiDrawer.java
@@ -1,7 +1,6 @@
 package org.thoughtcrime.securesms.components;
 
 import android.content.Context;
-import android.graphics.Color;
 import android.graphics.drawable.Drawable;
 import android.support.v4.view.PagerAdapter;
 import android.support.v4.view.PagerTabStrip;
@@ -24,16 +23,19 @@ import android.widget.TextView;
 import org.thoughtcrime.securesms.R;
 import org.thoughtcrime.securesms.util.Emoji;
 
-import java.io.File;
-import java.io.IOException;
-
 public class EmojiDrawer extends FrameLayout {
 
+  private static final int RECENT_TYPE = 0;
+  private static final int ALL_TYPE    = 1;
+
   private FrameLayout   emojiGridLayout;
   private FrameLayout   recentEmojiGridLayout;
-
   private EditText      composeText;
   private Emoji         emoji;
+  private GridView      emojiGrid;
+  private GridView      recentEmojiGrid;
+  private ViewPager     pager;
+  private PagerTabStrip pagerTabStrip;
 
   public EmojiDrawer(Context context) {
     super(context);
@@ -59,32 +61,54 @@ public class EmojiDrawer extends FrameLayout {
   }
 
   private void initialize() {
-    this.emoji              = Emoji.getInstance(getContext());
     LayoutInflater inflater = (LayoutInflater)getContext().getSystemService(Context.LAYOUT_INFLATER_SERVICE);
     inflater.inflate(R.layout.emoji_drawer, this, true);
 
-    ViewPager     pager         = (ViewPager    ) findViewById(R.id.emoji_pager    );
-    PagerTabStrip pagerTabStrip = (PagerTabStrip) findViewById(R.id.emoji_tab_strip);
-    this.emojiGridLayout        = (FrameLayout) inflater.inflate(R.layout.emoji_grid_layout, null);
-    this.recentEmojiGridLayout  = (FrameLayout) inflater.inflate(R.layout.emoji_grid_layout, null);
-    GridView emojiGrid          = (GridView) emojiGridLayout.findViewById(R.id.emoji);
-    GridView recentEmojiGrid    = (GridView) recentEmojiGridLayout.findViewById(R.id.emoji);
-
-    pagerTabStrip.setBackgroundColor(Color.parseColor("#ff333333"));
-    pagerTabStrip.setTextSpacing(1);
-    pager.setBackgroundColor(Color.parseColor("#ff333333"));
-    emojiGrid.setAdapter(new AllEmojiGridAdapter());
-    emojiGrid.setOnItemClickListener(new EmojiClickListener());
+    initializeResources();
+    initializeEmojiGrid();
+  }
+
+  private void initializeResources() {
+    LayoutInflater inflater    = (LayoutInflater) getContext().getSystemService(Context.LAYOUT_INFLATER_SERVICE);
+    this.pager                 = (ViewPager    )  findViewById(R.id.emoji_pager    );
+    this.pagerTabStrip         = (PagerTabStrip)  findViewById(R.id.emoji_tab_strip);
+    this.emojiGridLayout       = (FrameLayout  )  inflater.inflate(R.layout.emoji_grid_layout, null);
+    this.recentEmojiGridLayout = (FrameLayout  )  inflater.inflate(R.layout.emoji_grid_layout, null);
+    this.emojiGrid             = (GridView     )  emojiGridLayout.findViewById(R.id.emoji);
+    this.recentEmojiGrid       = (GridView     )  recentEmojiGridLayout.findViewById(R.id.emoji);
+    this.emoji                 = Emoji.getInstance(getContext());
+  }
+
+  private void initializeEmojiGrid() {
+    emojiGrid.setAdapter(new EmojiGridAdapter(ALL_TYPE));
+    emojiGrid.setOnItemClickListener(new EmojiClickListener(ALL_TYPE));
+    recentEmojiGrid.setAdapter(new EmojiGridAdapter(RECENT_TYPE));
+    recentEmojiGrid.setOnItemClickListener(new EmojiClickListener(RECENT_TYPE));
+
     pager.setAdapter(new EmojiPagerAdapter());
-    pager.setCurrentItem(1);
+
+    if (emoji.getRecentlyUsedAssetCount() <= 0) {
+      pager.setCurrentItem(1);
+    }
   }
 
   private class EmojiClickListener implements AdapterView.OnItemClickListener {
+
+    private final int type;
+
+    public EmojiClickListener(int type) {
+      this.type = type;
+    }
+
     @Override
     public void onItemClick(AdapterView<?> parent, View view, int position, long id) {
-      int    start      = composeText.getSelectionStart();
-      int    end        = composeText.getSelectionEnd  ();
-      String characters = emoji.getEmojiUnicode(position);
+      String characters;
+
+      if (type == ALL_TYPE ) characters = emoji.getEmojiUnicode(position);
+      else                   characters = emoji.getRecentEmojiUnicode(position);
+
+      int start = composeText.getSelectionStart();
+      int end   = composeText.getSelectionEnd  ();
 
       composeText.getText().replace(Math.min(start, end), Math.max(start, end),
                                     characters, 0, characters.length());
@@ -93,14 +117,27 @@ public class EmojiDrawer extends FrameLayout {
                           TextView.BufferType.SPANNABLE);
 
       composeText.setSelection(end+2);
+
+      if (type != RECENT_TYPE) {
+        emoji.setRecentlyUsed(position);
+        ((BaseAdapter)recentEmojiGrid.getAdapter()).notifyDataSetChanged();
+      }
     }
   }
 
-  private class AllEmojiGridAdapter extends BaseAdapter {
+  private class EmojiGridAdapter extends BaseAdapter {
+
+    private final int type;
+
+    public EmojiGridAdapter(int type) {
+      this.type = type;
+    }
 
     @Override
     public int getCount() {
-      return emoji.getEmojiAssetCount();
+      if (type == RECENT_TYPE) return emoji.getRecentlyUsedAssetCount();
+      else                     return emoji.getEmojiAssetCount();
+
     }
 
     @Override
@@ -115,7 +152,10 @@ public class EmojiDrawer extends FrameLayout {
 
     @Override
     public View getView(int position, View convertView, ViewGroup parent) {
-      Drawable drawable = emoji.getEmojiDrawable(position);
+      Drawable drawable;
+
+      if (type == RECENT_TYPE) drawable = emoji.getRecentlyUsed(position);
+      else                     drawable = emoji.getEmojiDrawable(position);
 
       if (convertView != null && convertView instanceof ImageView) {
         ((ImageView)convertView).setImageDrawable(drawable);
diff --git a/src/org/thoughtcrime/securesms/util/Emoji.java b/src/org/thoughtcrime/securesms/util/Emoji.java
index 32fbab2776..0d40dae26d 100644
--- a/src/org/thoughtcrime/securesms/util/Emoji.java
+++ b/src/org/thoughtcrime/securesms/util/Emoji.java
@@ -1,16 +1,27 @@
 package org.thoughtcrime.securesms.util;
 
 import android.content.Context;
+import android.content.SharedPreferences;
 import android.graphics.drawable.Drawable;
+import android.preference.PreferenceManager;
 import android.text.Spannable;
 import android.text.SpannableString;
 import android.text.style.ImageSpan;
 import android.util.Log;
 
+import com.google.thoughtcrimegson.Gson;
+import com.google.thoughtcrimegson.reflect.TypeToken;
+
 import java.io.File;
 import java.io.IOException;
+import java.lang.reflect.Type;
+import java.util.Collection;
 import java.util.Collections;
 import java.util.HashSet;
+import java.util.Iterator;
+import java.util.LinkedHashSet;
+import java.util.LinkedList;
+import java.util.List;
 import java.util.Set;
 import java.util.regex.Matcher;
 import java.util.regex.Pattern;
@@ -48,9 +59,11 @@ public class Emoji {
   }
 
   public String getEmojiUnicode(int position) {
-    String  hexString    = emojiAssets[position].split("\\.")[0];
-    Integer unicodePoint = Integer.parseInt(hexString, 16);
-    return new String(Character.toChars(unicodePoint));
+    return getEmojiUnicodeFromAssetName(emojiAssets[position]);
+  }
+
+  public String getRecentEmojiUnicode(int position) {
+    return getEmojiUnicodeFromAssetName(EmojiLRU.getRecentlyUsed(context).get(position));
   }
 
   public Drawable getEmojiDrawable(int position) {
@@ -74,7 +87,6 @@ public class Emoji {
           drawable.setBounds(0, 0, (int)(drawable.getIntrinsicWidth()*size),
                              (int)(drawable.getIntrinsicHeight()*size));
 
-
           ImageSpan imageSpan = new ImageSpan(drawable, ImageSpan.ALIGN_BOTTOM);
           text.setSpan(imageSpan, matches.start(), matches.end(),
                        Spannable.SPAN_EXCLUSIVE_EXCLUSIVE);
@@ -86,6 +98,25 @@ public class Emoji {
     return text;
   }
 
+  public void setRecentlyUsed(int position) {
+    String assetName = emojiAssets[position];
+    EmojiLRU.putRecentlyUsed(context, assetName);
+  }
+
+  public int getRecentlyUsedAssetCount() {
+    return EmojiLRU.getRecentlyUsed(context).size();
+  }
+
+  public Drawable getRecentlyUsed(int position) {
+    return getEmojiDrawable(EmojiLRU.getRecentlyUsed(context).get(position));
+  }
+
+  private String getEmojiUnicodeFromAssetName(String assetName) {
+    String hexString     = assetName.split("\\.")[0];
+    Integer unicodePoint = Integer.parseInt(hexString, 16);
+    return new String(Character.toChars(unicodePoint));
+  }
+
   private Drawable getEmojiDrawable(String assetName) {
     try {
       return Drawable.createFromStream(context.getAssets().open("emoji" + File.separator + assetName), null);
@@ -103,4 +134,34 @@ public class Emoji {
     }
   }
 
+  private static class EmojiLRU {
+
+    private static final String EMOJI_LRU_PREFERENCE = "pref_popular_emoji";
+    private static final int    EMOJI_LRU_SIZE       = 10;
+
+    public static List<String> getRecentlyUsed(Context context) {
+      SharedPreferences preferences = PreferenceManager.getDefaultSharedPreferences(context);
+      String            serialized  = preferences.getString(EMOJI_LRU_PREFERENCE, "[]");
+      Type              type        = new TypeToken<Collection<String>>(){}.getType();
+
+      return new Gson().fromJson(serialized, type);
+    }
+
+    public static void putRecentlyUsed(Context context, String asset) {
+      LinkedHashSet<String> recentlyUsed = new LinkedHashSet<String>(getRecentlyUsed(context));
+      recentlyUsed.add(asset);
+
+      if (recentlyUsed.size() > 10) {
+        Iterator<String> iterator = recentlyUsed.iterator();
+        iterator.next();
+        iterator.remove();
+      }
+
+      String serialized = new Gson().toJson(recentlyUsed);
+      PreferenceManager.getDefaultSharedPreferences(context)
+                       .edit()
+                       .putString(EMOJI_LRU_PREFERENCE, serialized)
+                       .commit();
+    }
+  }
 }