No new emojis in 2021

THE coronavirus pandemic has also affected emojis. The Unicode Consortium, the organisation that designs and issues new emojis, announced it’s postponed the 2021 designs, which were due in March, to September.

Engineers at Apple and Google then still need to adjust their systems so smartphones can use the new designs. This probably means there won’t be any new emojis in 2021.

Does it matter?

Most people probably think a new emoji or three isn’t a big deal. But the manufacturers of smartphones and operating systems usually use new emojis to encourage consumers to update their smartphone operating systems. It’s a kind of reward: install the new software and receive the latest emojis.

Software updates protect your smartphone from viruses or hackers trying to steal your information. That’s why it’s important to install any updates as soon as they are available. But people don’t always do this because it can take time and uses data.

What about 2020?

The 2020 emoji designs have been completed and approved, so there will be new emojis available for your smartphone in the second half of this year, after you’ve updated the software. The dates for Android and Apple updates haven’t been announced yet.

Some of the new emojis include a smiling face with a tear, a ninja, someone dressed in a tuxedo, two people hugging, a mammoth, a beaver, a cockroach and a pot plant.