diff --git a/native/components/emoji-keyboard.react.js b/native/components/emoji-keyboard.react.js
--- a/native/components/emoji-keyboard.react.js
+++ b/native/components/emoji-keyboard.react.js
@@ -21,6 +21,23 @@
 function EmojiKeyboard(props: Props): React.Node {
   const { onEmojiSelected, emojiKeyboardOpen, onEmojiKeyboardClose } = props;
 
+  const categoryOrder = React.useMemo(
+    () => [
+      'recently_used',
+      'smileys_emotion',
+      'people_body',
+      'animals_nature',
+      'food_drink',
+      'travel_places',
+      'activities',
+      'objects',
+      'symbols',
+      'flags',
+      'search',
+    ],
+    [],
+  );
+
   return (
     <EmojiPicker
       onEmojiSelected={onEmojiSelected}
@@ -28,6 +45,8 @@
       onClose={onEmojiKeyboardClose}
       enableSearchBar
       enableSearchAnimation={false}
+      enableRecentlyUsed
+      categoryOrder={categoryOrder}
     />
   );
 }