Emoji have become a core part of how we communicate, and today, Google has a few announcements, including Unicode 15 emoji additions, animated versions of Android’s emoji, and more.
Emoji Stories September 13
Emoji Stories July 13
Emoji have become a part of our modern language, and it’s a big deal when new options are added to the catalog. With Unicode 15, the next batch of emoji may finally bring a proper “high-five” emoji, alongside other options.
Emoji Stories May 25, 2021
Emoji on Android has changed a lot over the years, and with the coming release of Android 12, Google is tweaking the design yet again. This time around, the company is tweaking hundreds of emojis with flatter designs and, in some cases, reverting back to designs from Android 10.
Emoji Stories December 8, 2020
The recent December 2020 security patch along with the Pixel Feature Drop brought a number of new additions plus all of the new Unicode 13.1 emoji to Made by Google devices.
Emoji Stories September 16, 2020
Emoji always serves as a great incentive for people to update their phones. Android 11 just introduced 62 characters, but Google already has its designs ready for the new emoji coming with Unicode 13.1.
Emoji Stories July 25, 2020
We all love emoji, especially when we get new options to toy with. The full release of Android 11 is bringing with it 117 new emoji, and we’ve gone hands-on for a “proper” closer look.
Emoji Stories January 29, 2020
The Unicode Consortium just detailed Emoji 13.0 with 62 new characters, and 55 skin tone and gender variants. Google today announced that the new emoji will be available with Android 11, as well as the company’s five contributions to the 2020 set.
Emoji Stories May 8, 2019
Google adds 53 brand new non-binary emoji exclusively to Pixel devices running Android Q
As part of the Android Q update, Google has added a slew of brand new non-binary or gender fluid emoji that can be used right now exclusively on Pixel devices.
Emoji Stories July 17, 2018
Last year something tragic happened. Google killed its signature emoji, the blobs, replaced with generic circles simply to fit in with everyone else. The blobs have appeared here or there since then, but they’ve largely disappeared. Now, the blobs live on… sort of.
Emoji Stories May 21, 2018
Emoji has become a core part of how we communicate on mobile devices today, but there’s a pretty big issue with compatibility at times. Today, Twitter is implementing a change that it hopes will fix emoji on Android, and it’s all because OEMs aren’t updating devices fast enough.
Emoji Stories April 24, 2018
With iOS 10 in 2016, Apple switched to a water pistol for its gun emoji. The new design was not widely adopted — if not critiqued — until this year where there’s been a rash of changes on other platforms. Google is now the latest to match Apple’s design direction on the gun emoji with the upcoming version of Android.
Emoji Stories April 5, 2018
Emoji usage proliferates on phones and tablets because it’s very fast to bring up that virtual keyboard on Android and iOS. Now, Google Chrome is working on making it easier to use emoji on desktops thanks to a new right-click shortcut.
Emoji Stories November 28, 2017
After outcry earlier this year regarding Google’s emojis on Android, specifically around its version of a cheeseburger. Now, in the latest version of Android 8.1, Google has fixed a handful of emojis.
Emoji Stories October 30, 2017
Sundar Pichai will ‘drop everything’ to fix Android’s cheeseburger emoji
Not everyone loves Google’s emojis, but the company has gone to great lengths to clean up the design of its emoji library and continually make it better. Sometimes it comes down to the little details, and most recently someone pointed out that Google’s cheeseburger emoji wasn’t quite right…
Emoji Stories September 13, 2017
Android Oreo brings a lot of good changes to the operating system as a whole, but not everything is a positive change for everyone. Google’s decision to ditch the “blobs” and create a new collection of round emojis saw a lot of backlash from users and the media alike.
Now, some users are requesting that Google gives users the choice to change emojis, and the company is kind of not completely ignoring them… for now.
Emoji Stories July 17, 2017
Android O brings a lot of great new changes to Google’s OS, but one thing that a lot of people are going to miss are the blobs that made up Android’s emoji library. Android O will swap those out for something a bit more traditional, but it seems like even Google is going to miss the blobs…
Emoji Stories July 14, 2016
Google’s new emoji will improve gender equality by representing both male & female
Following a proposal by Google earlier this year, the Unicode Technical Committee today approved a new set of emoji that aims to improve gender equality.
More than 90 percent of the world’s online population use emoji. But while there’s a huge range of emoji, there aren’t a lot that highlight the diversity of women’s careers, or empower young girls…. the emoji representing women aren’t exactly, well, representative. So we’ve been working to make things better.
Emoji Stories June 2, 2016
It’s been essentially confirmed in the past, but today the Unicode Consortium officially unveiled the 72 new emoji that will be made available in Unicode 9. The latest batch of emoji include a variety of new foods, faces, objects, and sports. Unicode 9 is set to be released on June 21st, which means we may see these new emoji in Android N when it’s released to the public.
Emoji Stories May 11, 2016
As messaging becomes an increasingly more important part of our daily lives, so do the particular languages that we use to communicate on our digital platforms — and few “particular” things have become as influential as emojis.
However, up to this point, most of them have been designed with generally male-like physiognomies, and to address this issue, Google has proposed that Unicode add up to thirteen new emojis to the existing characters to “highlight the diversity of women’s careers”…
Emoji Stories April 15, 2016
Thanks to Emojipedia you don’t have to install the Android N Developer Preview to see Google’s take on the latest Unicode 9.0 emoji. The move away from generic bulbous characters to more human-like designs has apparently been a contentious decision, but this update also includes several new emoji that should make everyone happy…
Emoji Stories February 26, 2016
The just announced Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge will launch with a host of new emoji. Emojipedia has full details on the 159 new emoji and countless changes to the current ones. Users of older Samsung phones will get the refreshed emoji as part of the Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow update that is rolling out now.
Emoji Stories February 10, 2016
WhatsApp’s new emoji are leaving beta, rolling out starting today
WhatsApp has been testing the new emoji introduced as part of Unicode 9.0 since early December. The beta test is now over and they are rolling out (as spotted by Android Police) a score of new emoji to users today.
Emoji Stories January 27, 2016
PSA: You can now type ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ in Google Hangouts with an easy slash command
Sage LaTorra, a Test Engineer at Google, just told the world about an awesome little Easter egg he added to Google Hangouts. He’s one to often use the shrug emoji, so it makes sense that this was a priority for him. As of now, all you have to do to add a “shruggie” ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ to your Hangouts message is add the command “/shruggie” to the beginning…
Emoji Stories December 7, 2015
Update: Factory images are now available for all devices getting the update.
Android 6.0.1 will be rolling out via an OTA update starting today to current Nexus devices. It brings new emoji, brings back an old do not disturb mode from Android 5.1, and a new bottom bar for tablets that moves the onscreen buttons to the sides of the screen.
Emoji Stories December 4, 2015
A couple of days ago we told you that Hiroshi Lockheimer, SVP of Android at Google, announced on Twitter that new emoji recently approved from Unicode 7.0 and 8.0 are soon coming to Nexus devices (specifically, it looks like they should be rolling out starting sometime next week). If you’ve been wondering what these new emoji are going to look like, you’ve come to the right place… expand full story
Emoji Stories December 3, 2015
Android Police spotted that WhatsApp is testing a new version of the app containing scores of new emojis in line with the web version and iPhone app.
There are new facial expressions for hugs, upside down smiles, dollar signs, rolling eyes, nerds, and extreme sadness, among others. There is a new sign of the horns gesture that joins the previously added vulcan (Spock) salute and raised middle finger. Family emojis have been extended with the addition of plenty of LGBT choices. Among other novelties, the nature tab sees a turkey, shamrock, spider, unicorn; the food tab has a popcorn box, popped champagne bottle, taco, burrito, hot dog; and sports/activities get their separate tab and now include racing cars, medals, ice skating, volleyball, weightlifting, and a quirky levitating man in a business suit.
The emojis have also been reorganized – so if you can no longer find the hearts, that’s because they’ve moved from faces to symbols.
If you’re too impatient to wait for the new version to hit the Play Store, you can download it today … expand full story
Emoji Stories December 2, 2015
Android head Hiroshi Lockheimer has announced on Twitter this evening that Android devices will soon support the latest set of Unicode emojis. Lockheimer confirmed in his tweet that an update will begin rolling out to Nexus devices next week with the changes, while Google has also shared the fonts and tech details with other OEMs so they can update as well.
Emoji Stories October 23, 2015
A couple of weeks ago, Hiroshi Lockheimer was formally named senior vice president of Android, Chrome OS, and Chromecast operations. And while his involvement with Android definitely isn’t new, it seems he wants to kick off this position of slightly higher stature on good note.
On Twitter late last night, Lockheimer confirmed that the new emojis from Unicode 7 and 8 — the ones that Apple just pushed to iOS devices in version 9.1 of its mobile OS — are on their way… expand full story
Emoji Stories September 1, 2015
After mostly letting it sit stagnant for nearly two years, Instagram is ready to show its Direct messaging feature some love. Instagram Direct, which lets you share photos, videos, and messages privately with other Instagram users, was seen as a play at Snapchat and similar apps when it launched in 2013, but it’s so far experienced limited appeal within the photo sharing app. Now Instagram hopes to change that with new features including message threads, giant emoji, sharing from your timeline, and more. expand full story
Emoji Stories August 26, 2015
Nuance Communications is today releasing an updated version of its popular Swype Keyboard for Android, “the world’s most powerful keyboard,” which includes an all-new Swype Store with additional premium themes as well as an emoji keyboard. Swype is a popular alternative to the default Android keyboard due in part to its many customization options, like the ability to change the keyboard’s overall layout, key sizes, and a bunch more. expand full story
Emoji Stories August 11, 2015
The popular messaging app Snapchat has received a new update for Android which includes both some fun changes in the form of a new emoji button, as well as some more utilitarian changes that will help save cellular data if you’re capped or traveling internationally…
Emoji Stories June 30, 2015
Google announced today that it’s rolling out a ton of new themes for Gmail — the built-in feature that allows customization of your inbox with color palette options and background images — as well as new emoji. expand full story
Emoji Stories April 2, 2015
Skype today released an update to its Android app, version 5.3, which introduces new features that bring the Android version more up-to-date with features recently released for iOS and desktop users.
Among the new features, Skype 5.3 for Android includes an updated UI with chat bubbles, which looks much like the Skype experience already on other platforms.
The update also includes large and animated emoticons, emoji support, and other performance and user experience enhancements. expand full story
Emoji Stories January 27, 2015
Chrome OS updated to version 40 w/ new wallpaper features, quick Emoji access
Google has this morning pushed out an update for the stable channel of Chrome OS, and as is usual, it packs a huge number of changes. But also as usual, most of these changes are under-the-hood tweaks and there are often just a few small notable changes that the end-user might notice. This update brings a new default wallpaper that sports Material Design, automatic syncing of wallpapers between devices, and a new “Emoji palette” that will allow users to quickly access Emoji.
Some highlights of these changes are:
- The default wallpaper has been updated to Material Design
- Custom wallpapers are now synced across your devices
- Emoji palette allows users to quickly access emoji
The update, specifically numbered version 40, is being pushed out as we speak. You can likely just give your Chromebook or other Chrome OS device a reboot within the next few hours to receive the update. To read more about the update (in case you maybe want to dig through the countless bug fixes), head over to Google’s Chrome Releases Blog.
Emoji Stories March 31, 2014
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G3NXNnoGr3Y]
In keeping up with tradition, Google started rolling out its annual April Fool’s Day pranks last 🌇 and has continued into the early 🌅. A new post on the Chrome blog announced the availability of a new Google 🇺🇸🔄🇫🇷 feature that converts webpages into emoji icons for faster 📖:
Suddenly we realized that we could apply the magic of Emoji to webpages. Not only does this pictorial and theatrical language allow us to communicate complex emotions, it’s also far more compact. One Emoji symbol can easily replace dozens of characters, improving efficiency and comprehension on the go. It turns out the best way to communicate in the future is to look to the past: the ancient Egyptians were really onto something with their hieroglyphs.
The 😜 has a bit of an ironic twist, though… expand full story
Emoji Stories August 23, 2012
Facebook for Android update adds batch uploading, photos and emoji to messages
Facebook for Android just updated to version 1.9.8.
The latest version notably includes a new uploader for selecting and uploading multiple images, while another tweak adds the ability to enter photos and emoji characters in messages. Moreover, users can now create an event with various options like inputting location details.
Changelog:
- Easily create events
- Share photos faster with a new upload flow
- Add photos and emoji to messages
Grab the new Facebook for Android at the Google Play Store.
