Roger Fingas
The Unicode Technical Committee has introduced 67 emoji as "draft candidates" for inclusion in the Unicode 11 standard come the second half of 2018, which may dictate what characters will be seen in "iOS 12" and the follow-up to macOS High Sierra.
A few examples include a bagel, broom, cupcake, kangaroo, salt shaker, and a frowning version of the infamous poo emoji, according to Emojipedia. New smileys could include cold, hot, party, "loved," and "hero" options, among others.
The 67 characters join emoji already on the candidate list, such as a test tube and redheads. Notably, any expansions involving gender or skin tone will be settled at a later time, since they don't require approving new code points.
The UTC will decide on a final list of candidates at its October meeting, and should be ready to share relevant data with platform holders like Apple and Google in early 2018. While Apple will sometimes have unique renderings of emoji, it's largely obligated to conform to the Unicode standard so that people can communicate with other platforms.
Unicode 10 should come to Apple platforms alongside iOS 11 and macOS High Sierra, due this fall.
Malcolm Owen
Christine McKee
Andrew Orr
William Gallagher
13 Comments
I really don't understand the obsession with emoji and their use by anyone over 12 years old. In most circumstances, I'd be embarrassed to use one. Same for that sticker crap that Apple was promoting in recent TV ads. Maybe I've become a "get off my lawn" guy, but I can't imagine myself using any of that at any age. Apple is selling $600 phones and $3000 computers to people who use stickers in text messages?