Today is a big day for fans of emoji, after The Unicode Consortium today released Unicode 8, complete with a sizable list of newly added emoji characters.
Bringing with it 7,716 new characters in total for different languages, the new Unicode 8 standard offers support for the text-based versions of the new emoji, while apps on the user’s side will need to read that content and then generate the appropriate emoji. Of those almost 8,000 characters, there are 41 completely new emoji across five different modifiers.
The new additions are based on requests for specific emoji, and with so many new ones added to the Unicode 8 standard it’s safe to say that there should be something for everyone. Favorite additions in Unicode 8 include a unicorn, popcorn and the humble cheese, with others coming along for the ride. Along with the more comical additions there are also new faces as well, including a lovely robot one.
The Unicode Consortium isn’t about to rest on its laurels though. 2016 should see the release of Unicode 9 which itself is pencilled in to bring with it plenty of new emoji and the like. Those new additions for 2016 are said to include bacon, avocado, shrug, croissant and more. It makes us wonder at times what people actually want, but there you have it. People love bacon, and Unicode will deliver on that.
Some examples of the newly released emoji are as follows:
Emoji characters are a very personal thing, with some people using them considerably more than others, a lot more if you’re asking us. The arrival of third-party keyboards in iOS 8 opened the platform to new emoji and stickers by way of new keyboard app offerings. The use of image-laden keyboards makes it easier to get emoji into documents on iOS. Not everyone is a fan of having their text filled with miniature people, but at this point we are more likely to be in the minority than the masses in that regard. Originally big in Japan and surrounding countries, emoji is now big business across the globe, with pay-for stickers proving popular on social media. Larger emoji, stickers are popular in Facebook Messenger and similar instant messaging platforms.
Apart from the above mentioned emoji characters, there are 38 new ones which are bound to make their way to iOS and Android next year, and Microsoft also revealed a set of new emoji characters of its own for Windows 10.
(Source: Unicode)
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