Unicode

watchOS 3.1.1 released with latest Unicode 9.0 emoji, changeable skin tones, bug fixes & more

Happy updates day, everyone! Apple is today unleashing a barrage of updates for its software platforms, starting with a feature-packed iOS 10.2 release and tvOS 10.1 with support for Single Sign-On, Apple's new “TV” app and more. Also available today: watchOS 3.1.1, a minor release with bug fixes, performance improvements and support for more than a hundred new Unicode 9.0 emoji which are also available in iOS 10.2 and via the upcoming macOS 10.12.2 software update.

Beloved butt-looking peach emoji is back in iOS 10.2 beta 3, looks even more like a butt

The first developer-only beta of the upcoming iOS 10.2 software update for the iPhone, iPad and iPod touch brought out more than a hundred new emoji characters, including clown face, selfie, owl, shark, butterfly and pancakes, as well as updated designs for many of the existing, older emojis.

Somewhere through the process of redrawing some of the longstanding emojis, Apple realized its design for the peach emoji didn’t quite look like a butt as the massive discontent among users vehemently insisted.

But don't you panic, emoji lovers and sexting addicts: iOS 10.2 beta 3 packs in a proper butt-looking peach emoji, as noted by The Next Web.

EmojiSuggest brings iOS 10-like emoji suggestions to the predictive keyboard

One of the cool new features of iOS 10 is the ability to input Emojis through the predictive row at the top of the keyboard that tries to guess what you're trying to say before you say it.

When you express certain words, iOS 10 will recommend Emojis to communicate the word instead, and a new free jailbreak tweak called EmojiSuggest brings this functionality to jailbroken iOS 9 devices as well.

Proposed new emoji for Unicode 10 include a zombie, sandwich and exploding head

The Unicode Consortium has proposed adding 51 new emoji to the upcoming Unicode 10 release. Emojipedia points to the filing, which has been posted on the Unicode.org website and features a full list of the suggested new characters.

As you can see in the image above, the proposed emoji include a giraffe, cup with a straw, a vampire and a zebra. And digging through the list in the filing reveals even more interesting images such as "shocked face with exploding head."

10+ new features in iOS 10.2 beta 1

Apple yesterday issued beta 1 of the forthcoming iOS 10.2 software update for the iPhone, iPad and iPod touch. For starters, iOS 10.2 beta 1 includes three new wallpapers, provides a bunch of new emoji as part of the Unicode 9.0 standard and gives Camera the optional ability to remember filter, Live Photo and mode settings.

Star ratings are back in the Music app and Videos has its own widget. Oh, and you can now annoy friends with a brand new animation in Messages.

Without further ado, here's our video hands-on with iOS 10.2 beta 1 accompanied by a detailed description of all the new features and enhancements.

Unicode 9.0 goes official with 72 new emojis

The Unicode Consortium, the organization which develops the Unicode standard that specifies the representation of text in all modern software, officially announced Unicode 9.0, the next major revision to the Unicode standard.

The Unicode 9.0 specification is now available to vendors with 7,500 new characters for a total of 128,172 characters, including six new scripts and 72 new emoji characters.

Here are the 72 new emojis you’ll be able to use soon

The Unicode Consortium has settled on a batch of new emoji characters that will become part of the Unicode 9.0 standard, to be released formally on June 21. The final emoji candidates for inclusion in Unicode 9.0 include such emoji as a man in tuxedo, lying face, clown face, drooling face, nauseated face, rolling on the floor laughing, selfie, face palm, pregnant woman, first place medal, shopping trolley, deer, shark, owl, potato, croissant, pancakes, bacon, judo uniform and more.

Unicode 8 includes new hot dog, unicorn and burrito emoji

On Wednesday, the Unicode Consortium released Unicode 8, the next major update to the Unicode Standard. The Standard defines things like special characters and emoji, which many manufacturers, including Apple, use in their software.

Unicode 8 introduces nearly 8,000 new characters, including letters to support new languages and six new scripts. Perhaps more interesting, to us anyway, is that it also includes 37 new emoji and 5 emoji modifiers for various skin colors.

UniChar Picker is an iOS keyboard for Unicode characters and symbols

We’ve seen dozens of colorful keyboard apps that don’t do a whole lot. We’ve tested a handful that have incredible features, but are still basic keyboards, nonetheless. We’ve even seen keyboards that let you access GIF memes so you don’t have to write actual words. How about something very unique and useful to coders?

UniChar Picker does just that. It features more than 500 Unicode characters across six different categories. Set it as your default keyboard to type in any app, or copy and paste symbols in the app to create just the right text.

Unicode 7.0 includes 250 new emoji icons that could come to future iOS update

The Unicode Consortium announced today that Unicode 7.0 is now available, adding currency symbols for the Russian ruble and Azerbaijani manat, historic scripts and other new symbols. But as reported by MacRumors, the bigger news for iPhone and iPad users is the addition of approximately 250 new emoji icons. Before you get too excited, Apple still has to update iOS to support the new Unicode standard first…