If you have ever felt an urgent need for a facepalm emoji, a shrug or even some crossed fingers, a new update from Apple has it all in hand.
Apple’s 10.2 update for iOS includes more than 100 new emoji covering faces, food, sports and professions. It’s a more diverse line-up than before, with female firefighters and scientists, teachers of both genders, and updates to existing emoji such as the addition of a man dancing.
There are more expressions as well: a lying face complete with Pinocchio nose, a nauseated face and one emoji that accurately captures ROFL. Mother Christmas joins Father Christmas just in time for a more gender-balanced festive season.
Selfies, clown faces, bacon and foxes all make the new line-up, which can be used in Apple’s Messages app.
When the update was announced, there was also some protest over the changes to existing emoji, most notably the peach. The latest version looks distinctly more fruit-like than its predecessor, which was often pressed into service as a euphemism.
Unreadable emojis
A word of warning: not all emojis will appear on other systems exactly as you see it. Google, Facebook and others all have their own interpretation of emoji, with distinctive looks. So, for example, sending the facepalm emoji to someone without the iOS 10 update may result in an unreadable symbol rather than your carefully timed put-down.
The update also includes the new TV app (only available in the US) and a number of updates for apps such as Photos, along with some bug and stability fixes.
Apple isn’t the only one adding to emoji. Earlier this year, Google submitted a number of proposed emoji to the Unicode Consortium, the body that governs the introduction of new emoji, for 13 characters with male and female options in a bid to redress the gender imbalance.
Music stars, doctors, teachers and farmers were all on the list.
