8 new emojis coming to smartphones, computers

The Unicode Consortium officially released version 16.0 of the Unicode Standard, marking the arrival of eight new emojis. 

The update brings symbols like a harp, shovel and a face with bags under its eyes, as well as a splatter symbol and a root vegetable.

According to Emojipedia, the 8 new emojis will start appearing on digital devices, including iPhones, throughout late 2024 and into 2025. Notably, the Face with Bags Under Eyes emoji has already gained traction as one of the most anticipated new emojis for 2024, according to the World Emoji Awards. 

This release finalizes what had previously been a draft version of Unicode 16.0, previewed by Emojipedia on World Emoji Day in July. All eight new emojis will be rolled out across major platforms, including Apple, Google and Samsung, in phases over the next year.

Earlier this month, the Unicode Consortium also introduced a total of 5,185 new characters, bringing the total to 154,998. These characters include seven new scripts from regions like West Africa, India and Nepal, and historical scripts like Todhri from Albania and Tulu-Tigalari from Southwest India. There are also nearly 4,000 additional Egyptian hieroglyphs and symbols from legacy computing environments.

While emoji updates tend to generate the most attention, the vast majority of these new characters will serve broader purposes in computing, including linguistics and historical documentation.

With Unicode 16.0 now finalized, developers can begin integrating these new characters into their platforms, although widespread support is expected to roll out gradually. 

Some early updates could appear as soon as late 2024, Emojipedia said, with the majority being adopted by mid-2025.

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