💬 The Wrap
David Doochin here, reporting in as Emojipedia’s new Senior Editorial & Social Content Producer. 🫡👋
Yesterday, Apple launched 8 new emojis with the release of iOS 18.4 on all eligible devices. Users who install the update will see a handful of new emojis in their keyboards, including a face with bags under its eyes, a splatter, a leafless tree, and a harp, among others. The launch follows the beta release of iOS 18.4 in March, when the world got a first look at Apple’s new emojis—the same ones recommended by Unicode in its Emoji 16.0 release from September of last year. 🆕🍏
The Netflix show "Adolescence" has spurred an upsurge in parents’ vigilance around the emojis their kids are using in digital communication—especially that certain emojis referenced in the show can carry hidden encoded meanings around the misogynistic “manosphere” culture online. 🫘🧨
Wrapping up this Emoji Wrap is the usual mélange of emoji fun, analysis, and interest stories, including an unwrapping of the most popular birthday emojis for celebrating another year around the sun. And speaking of solar returns and all things celestial, we’ve got a roundup of some of the most quintessential astrology emojis to help the skyseers and horoscopers among you read even deeper into meanings embedded in the cosmos. Plus, a bracket full of March Madness emojis to help you cheer on your favorite team in the ongoing tournament. 🎂🌞🏀
✨ New Emojis
🍏 Apple iOS 18.4 Emoji Changelog
The release of iOS 18.4 to the public yesterday brought 8 new emojis to Apple devices eligible for the update—about a month after beta testers got a preview at the start of March.
These new emojis are those approved by Unicode in its Emoji 16.0 recommendations in September, plus a change to the emoji for the 🇸🇾 Flag for Syria.
🇲🇶 WhatsApp 2.25.1.75 Emoji Changelog
In its January update, Whatsapp released the 8 new emojis approved and recommended by Unicode in Emoji 16.0 in September 2024, the same ones released yesterday by Apple.
The update also featured a change to the design of a singular flag emoji—that of 🇲🇶 Martinique.
📰 News
🔴 Netflix's "Adolescence", Emoji Codes & Emoji Repurposing
It’s no surprise that emojis can have multiple meanings, some more obvious and some on the edgier, more euphemistic side. What the Netflix drama "Adolescence" has brought to light is the way kids and teens sometimes encode more shadowy and dangerous semantic layers into otherwise harmless emojis.
Here, we dive into how the show presents emoji use, question recent media panic about “secret codes,” and highlight how emoji repurposing isn’t new.
👊🇺🇸🔥 Michael Waltz's emoji trio reaction to Yemen strikes goes viral
The internet had a heyday as the internet does in major meme-able moments—this time in response to U.S. National Security Adviser Michael Waltz’s three-emoji combination of the 👊 Oncoming Fist, the 🇺🇸 Flag of the United States, and the 🔥 Fire, which he sent in a group chat in the third-party app Signal discussing planned military action in Yemen with other key Trump administration leaders and a reporter who got added by mistake.
💭 Interesting
❤️ The Heart Emoji Is Meaningless
Has one of the world’s most ubiquitous and most sentiment-expressing emojis become so overused it has lost its meaning altogether?
One Wired reporter argues that the ❤️ Red Heart has become something of a post-semantic placeholder, having been used in far too many contexts to have a distinguishable use case anymore.
🥳 The Best Birthday Emojis
Whether you dread the milestone of growing older or you’re a total birthday diva, you’re bound to see some specific emojis make an appearance when you or someone you know celebrates their special day.
We pull the bow off the best birthday emojis, from the confectionary classics to emojis for birthdays in cultures outside the U.S. and more.
🔮 A Constellation of Astrology Emojis
Those who search the sky for guidance and inspiration from the celestial world can rely on all sorts of emojis to help them express and refer to major astrological insights.
From multiple emojis for all the Western zodiac signs to emojis for representing the cosmos in general, learn about some of the emojis destined to be an essential part of any astrologer’s library.
🏀 March Madness: A Bracket Full of Tournament Emojis
Just like showing your support in emoji form for the teams playing in the Super Bowl, rooting for your favorite team in the most anticipated college basketball competition of the year is a slam dunk with a full roster of March Madness emojis.
We give the play-by-play on what emojis fans use for the tournament itself—and even how certain schools represent themselves with emojis on the digital court.
🤗 Lastly
And so concludes this edition of the Emoji Wrap for April 2025—with plenty of updates, insights, and content to start off an already bustling year!
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