💬 The Wrap
So it happened. Apple released the first iOS 10.2 developer beta today which includes full Unicode 9 emoji support. This means iPhone users will see the facepalm, shrug, fingers crossed, avocado and fox face arrive on phones in the coming weeks.
This same update also adds emoji professions, and a complete design overhaul which looks more 3D than ever. Take a look at what's on the way, or if you are an Apple developer, just update your phone to see them.
📰 News
📲 Android 7.1 Emoji Changelog
Google Pixel is the first phone to ship with full support for the Emoji 4.0 emojis such as professions and genders. Some other changes, too.
🎃 Happy Halloween! Zombie Emoji Coming to Eat Your Brains.
Submitted to Unicode in time for the November UTC meeting, this proposal includes Magic Hat, Magic Wand, Vampire, Zombie, and Werewolf.
🙌 iOS 10.2 Emoji First Look: Shrug, Fingers Crossed, Face Palm
In one of the most anticipated emoji updates of the year, Apple today released the first developer beta of iOS 10.2, with support for Unicode 9 which means shrug, face palm, fingers crossed, and more.
🏛 MoMA Acquires NTT DoCoMo Emoji
I'm not quite sure how one can "acquire" something digital in the traditional sense. But it's good to see this original set being given recognition like this.
💭 Interesting
🙃 Upside-down Smiley Face
The meaning of the upside-down smiley face emoji goes pretty deep for some people. Does it really have an "awkward sadness"? Jane Solomon takes a look.
💬 Phoneys, the stupid little sticker pack that went #1 on the App Store
Gedeon and I laughed about whether this sticker pack could really be approved a few weeks back, and it was. But not for long.
🌐 Google's Quest To Design A Typeface For Every Language On Earth
Some may know that those missing character squares in a font are referred to as Tofu, or that the Android emoji font is called "Noto Color Emoji". I had no idea Noto stands for "No Tofu". The project is much bigger than emoji alone.
6️⃣ Samsung Fingers Crossed Emoji Has 6 Fingers
The Unicode Consortium can specify the name of an emoji and a guideline on how it could look, but in the end it's up to vendors how to display each emoji.
🤖 Botmoji Will Help You Become An Emoji Master
We launched Botmoji on Twitter a few months ago, and she's responded to nearly 10,000 tweets now. If you haven't yet, give her a shot! (side note: not long after this, Botmoji went offline due to the DDoS that affected much of the internet. Botmoji went human-powered that day)
🌐 Clustering emoji use by country
From the research: "it seems that Twitter users from UK associate the ✈️ emoji with beaches and weather (like 🌴, 🌊 , and 🌅), while other (mediterranean) contries like Spain and Italy don't.
⚖ How emojis stand up in court
A number of court cases have now involved emoji in communications. Prediction for the Supreme Court emoji appearance? “It probably won’t be a happy emoji. The gun emoji is my guess, with the bomb and knife emojis following close behind.”
🔪 Wink Is a Slasher Short About Emojis
"Danielle is home alone on Halloween. While texting with her boyfriend, she notices her emojis are missing from her phone. Then… the doorbell rings. Who could it be?"
🎨 What goes into new emoji designs at Google
A comprehensive behind-the-scenes look at how the latest emoji updates were created at Google, and the decisions that came up along the way. Great writeup from Rachel Been and Agustin fonts.
👥 Gender Legibility in Emoji
Does emoji reflect how we see society? This interview with Paul Hunt looks at a number of the issues surrounding emoji and how it represents gender. Apparently there is also "a slight gender bias to viewing all emoji as being masculine by default".
💻 The Complete Emoji Guide for Social Media Marketers
A lot to keep in mind when using emoji as part of your job.
📖 The dictionary for all the emotions you feel but can't express
This sounds like what emojis are used for.
🇯🇵 The inventor of emoji on his famous creations
"At first we were just designing for the Japanese market. I didn’t assume that emoji would spread and become so popular internationally. I’m surprised at how widespread they have become"
🤗 Lastly
Thanks as always for keeping this email coming to you each month. I really appreciate it! If any of you are attending EmojiCon this weekend, I will be there giving a talk on the Saturday so come say hello afterward.
Alternatively, you can follow me on Twitter at @jeremyburge and this email at @EmojiWrap.