It’s a new year, which means there are new emoji in the works. And as is par for the course, we have an early look at what’s likely going to be part of the new addition later this year. This updates not as vast as previous years, but there are certainly some noteworthy newcomers.
The fine folks over at Emojipedia have our first look at what’s coming down the pipe. These new emoji are still waiting for approval, but likely will get that green light later this year. If they do, they’ll be part of the emoji lineup beginning this September. That release will be Emoji 14.0.
Part of the new additions are some new faces, including a saluting face, a . . . melting face, and a face holding back tears. In addition to that, if approved, we’ll get a low battery emoji, too. There will be 15 new handshake combination emoji, too. You can see the new face options just below.
And, farther down this post, you can see the new emoji as a whole that are expected to arrive later this year.
Its’ worth noting that these emoji are just drafts. It’s possible that further tweaking is still underway, and that the final designs could look a bit different even if they are approved in this version. What’s more, vendor designs can look different in the final builds, too. So what’s present for iOS users in iOS 15 will potentially look different for Android users running Android 12.
Here’s the full graphic:
Emojipedia also has some important notes regarding the latest updates:
- Hand with Index Finger and Thumb Crossed can serve as either the finger heart gesture popular with K-Pop fans, or any other gesture that uses the index finger and thumb, such as ‘money’.
- Coral is commonly used as an icon to discuss climate change, given the impact of rising global temperatures on coral reefs.
- Person with Crown is a gender-inclusive alternative to the existing emojis for 👸 Princess and 🤴 Prince.
- Pregnant Man and Pregnant Person are new, and recognize that pregnancy is possible for some transgender men and non-binary people. These are additions to the existing 🤰 Pregnant Womanemoji.
- The above additions will mean that nearly all emojis can have default a gender neutral option, with choice to use a woman or man where relevant. A few exceptions remain, which are being reviewed, as per this Unicode Emoji Subcommittee report from 2020.
We’ll have to wait until later this year to see which new emoji make it to the final list. What do you think of these new designs?