You can now use 31 new emojis to express yourself on iPhone and iPad as part of Apple’s latest iOS 16.4 software update.
The new additions, pictured above, include a shaking face, a pink heart, two pushing hands, a donkey, and a gaggle of other animals and objects.
Of the 31 new icons, some are bound to have their meanings subverted by iPhone users during cheeky chats with their pals and partners. The maracas and flute have innuendo written all over them, though they’re unlikely to replace the peach and aubergine emojis as everyone’s favourite rude symbols.
The pink heart is one of the most requested emojis, according to emoji reference website Emojipedia. Other designs include a Wi-Fi sign, ginger, a pea pod, a goose, and jellyfish. As part of their official release, the hand gestures will likely support the usual five different skin tones, according to Emojipedia.
Here’s how you can access the new symbols on your iPhone.
How to download new emojis on iPhone
Apple is giving iPhone users a bunch of new emojis with the launch of iOS 16.4, a new software update that is available for the iPhone 8 and beyond. Here’s how to get the update:
1. Plug your device into a power outlet, and make sure you are connected to the internet over Wi-Fi.
2. Go to Settings, General, then tap Software Update.
3. If you see more than one software update option, choose the one that you want to install.
4. Tap Install Now. If you see Download and Install instead, tap it to download the update, enter your passcode, then tap Install Now.
If you don’t see the update on your device, you can use your computer to update your device manually by following the steps here for a Mac with macOS Catalina, or here for Mac with macOS Mojave or earlier or a Windows PC.
iOS 16.4 new features
Alongside the new emojis, Apple is also launching a bunch of additional new features with iOS 16.4 that you should be aware of.
They include the following new enhacements and bug fixes:
- Notifications for web apps added to the Home Screen
- Voice Isolation for cellular calls prioritizes your voice and blocks out ambient noise around you
- Duplicates album in Photos expands support to detect duplicate photos and videos in an iCloud Shared Photo Library
- VoiceOver support for maps in the Weather app
- Apple Books page turning animation
- Apple Music profile button
- PlayStation 5 DualSense Edge controller support
- Content preview for Mastodon in Messages
- Accessibility setting to automatically dim video when flashes of light or strobe effects are detected
- Fixes an issue where Ask to Buy requests from children may fail to appear on the parent's device
- Addresses issues where Matter-compatible thermostats could become unresponsive when paired to Apple Home
- Crash Detection optimizations on iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Pro models
Are the new emojis available on Android?
The Unicode Consortium, the non-profit organisation responsible for cataloging emojis, unveiled the new icons last September. Google quickly adopted them on its Messages app and promised to introduce them to Android phones and its own products toward the end of last year. For its part, Samsung rolled out the new emojis to its smartphones last October.
Notably, Apple has tweaked emoji designs before officially releasing them in the past. The company was previously forced to change the look of its bagel emoji in 2018 after it was deemed unappetising by users. Apple made the bagel more detailed and added a filling as part of the improved design.
There are now a total of 3,664 emojis recommended by Unicode. The organisation accepts proposals for new emojis from a range of sources including the public, and its own voting members such as Apple, Google and Microsoft.
