We're expecting the pickle to be the stand-out favorite when the new crop of 19 emoji arrive on the iPhone.
The new emoji, published by the Unicode Consortium and shared by Emojipedia, are currently only in draft, so they won't be made official for a while yet. It's likely the draft list will be finalized in September 2026, with Apple adding the emoji in a future software update.
Among the 19 emoji are a green pickle that is sure to prove popular, as well as a meteor burning up as it breaks through the atmosphere. Dinosaurs the world over will want to give that one a wide berth.
Other additions include a net, such as would be used to catch bugs, and an eraser. The draft also includes 10 new skin tone variants as well as new left- and right-pointing thumb gestures.
It's important to note that while Emojipedia has shared artwork for the draft emoji, they're subject to change. Apple will also create its own versions of the emoji, as will other platform holders like Google.
As for when Apple device owners can expect these new emoji to be available for use, there could be a wait in store. While the draft is likely to be finalized in the fall of 2026, the emoji are unlikely to be ready in time for Apple's September software updates.
Instead, it's likely the new emoji will be added to a point-release version of iOS 27 towards the end of the year. It's also possible that Apple may choose to wait until a later update, pushing the release into 2027.
To that point, Apple has yet to add the Unicode 17 emoji to any of its platforms. The company previously confirmed that we can expect them to debut alongside iOS 26.4, macOS 26.4, and so on, later in 2026.
