Google has announced just ahead of World Emoji Day, its plans to redesign emojis in the upcoming Android 12 software update, which will release this fall.
The tech giant plans to reimagine 992 of its emojis to make them more “universal, accessible, and authentic,” Google said on its blog on Friday. Once available the emoji will be supported across Google platforms, including Android, Gmail, Chat, Chrome OS, and YouTube.
Some update highlights include the pie emoji, which is currently designed as an American pumpkin pie slice but will be updated to a whole pie, which can represent any kind of pie users prefer.
The bikini emoji is also getting a more body-positive redesign. The face mask emoji will also now have its eyes open.
Many transportation emojis, such as taxis and trucks will get more detail, as will the scissors emoji, the motorway emoji, and various food emoji, including croissant, rice, bacon, and shrimp. Some emoji will also switch to a dark mode equivalent.
To further compatibility with Android 12, apps that support Appcompat will automatically get the emoji redesigns.
Google plans to roll out the emoji updates to Gmail and Chat before the end of the month so that sending and receiving emoji won’t result in broken images. Additionally, the brand announced that Chromebook is getting a new emoji picker and that YouTube will get the emoji update later this year.
Emoji 14.0 Preview
To further commemorate World Emoji Day, Emojipedia also previewed some of the new emojis, which will release in September. The Unicode Consortium, announced last April that its Unicode 14.0 standard and subsequently its Emoji 14.0 standard would be delayed by six months due to the pandemic. The Consortium’s plans to release Unicode 14.0 were pushed from March 2021 to September 2021.
Typically, with a new Unicode available, Android 12 would have had a host of new emojis to introduce with the new system but Google has opted for redesigning its current emojis instead.
Emojipedia said some companies may roll out early support for Emoji 14.0 characters in late 2021, but most updates will likely begin within the first half of 2022. Many emojis address various themes, including environmental concern and gender inclusivity.
Some highlight emojis in the new standard include:
- Hand with Index Finger and Thumb Crossed, representing ‘Money’
- Hands in the Shape of a Heart
- Coral
- Person with Crown
- Pregnant Man/Pregnant Person
