Smartphone users’ emoji lists may soon see new gender-neutral characters, citrus fruits and mythical creatures.
Unicode, the non-profit organization that helps create emojis, has drafted “four new gender-neutral family emojis intended to be silhouetted,” presumably for the 15.1 update. report emojipediaa popular blog that keeps track of modern hieroglyphs.
A mythical phoenix, a slice of lime, a mushroom, a broken chain, and a disembodied head that swings horizontally and another head that swings vertically will also be added to the new series, due for Unicode approval in September.
A new icon mockup was shared by Joshua Jones, Head of Emoji Design at Emojipedia, to give Typers a taste of what they might see on their keyboards soon.
“Given recent events, the final version is likely to reflect this draft list,” the blog states.
The new batch will also focus on figures that direct movement, or “all versions of existing human emojis.”
According to Emojipedia, “Emoji 15.1’s candidate list also includes directional versions of six different types of person emoji (including skin tone modifiers and gender variations for a total of 108 new emojis).”
“Additionally,” the blog shares, “Apple and other vendors may choose their own designs for each person emoji that represents a new direction, rather than simply flipping existing designs.”
Emojis have been causing an uproar online lately, some causing confusion and others hotly debated over their meaning.
Generation Z also notoriously went to war to ditch the thumbs-up emoji (apparently relegated to baby boomers).
