Apple embraces zombies and elves for new emoji in iOS 11

17 Jul 2017

Image: Viktor Petrovich/Shutterstock

As the world marks World Emoji Day, Apple has revealed its latest emoji, which focus on the weird and wonderful.

If you are writing a message today (17 July) that contains emoji, congratulations, you are celebrating World Emoji Day.

While hardly a holiday familiar to everyone, Apple is marking the occasion with the reveal of a number of new emoji that are set to become available later this year with the launch of iOS 11 sometime in September.

Given that the operating system is set for an autumn launch, Apple is releasing a number of ghoulish emoji just in time for Hallowe’en, including a zombie, an elf and a character vomiting green liquid.

Otherwise, it’s a matter of Apple continuing its diversity push, with the inclusion of a mother breastfeeding, a woman wearing a headscarf and … a man with a beard.

There are also some new additions to the animal world, with a dinosaur and a zebra joining the fold.

Still no ginger emoji?

For those who have been dying to tell a person through emoji that they are having a sandwich, they will now get the opportunity to do so in iOS 11.

Some new standard face emoji are also getting added, including one showing someone’s head exploding and another that has stars in its eyes.

In addition, to mark the day, Apple has changed a number of its films in iMovies to emoji-only titles.

Not everyone was happy with the announcement, however, as many ginger-haired people continue to call for the introduction of an emoji that represents them.

Colm Gorey was a senior journalist with Silicon Republic

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