Apple Just Fixed The Biggest Problem With Emoji And We're Psyched
24 February 2015, 13:03 | Updated: 8 May 2017, 17:09
Diversity is coming! Now you can be sassy in any skin colour.
At PopBuzz, we. LOVE. Emoji.
We use them in our quizzes, we reference them in our music stream, and if it weren't for the fact that most of our readers still prefer plain English, we'd use them to write all our content, like some advanced form of hieroglyphics.
BUT. We also agree that nothing is above criticism. And Emoji has had one huge glaring problem since its introduction to the keyboards of Apple devices, as well as its competitors.
That problem is diversity.
Yep, if you're a person of colour, your representation on the keyboard consists of literally one guy in a turban. Not exactly all-encompassing, or even that indicative of social progress.
UNTIL NOW.
According to beta testers of the upcoming versions of iOS and OSX, Apple and Unicode have finally release a new, improved, racially diverse Emoji keyboard.
As of iOS 8.3 and OSX 10.10.3, users will have six different options for any human-based Emoji, that they can pick depending on skin colour (with yellow being the new default, to avoid preference. Nice touch).
Which means Sassy Nail Polish Emoji in any race:
Fabulous Salsa Dancer Emoji in any race:
And our personal favourite: SANTA IN ANY RACE
And skin colour isn't even the only highlight. The Family Emoji is also getting a total overhaul to encompass all types of families, to include daughters as well as sons, and even same-sex parents.
Same-sex parents!
Now, we're sure there's some dudebro thinking "Uhhh, this is pointless, this is gonna totally clog up the keyboard".
Fear not, our privileged friend, Apple have got you covered.
Screenshots from the beta show that the new options will be featured on a press-and-hold pallet, similar to the way the lettered keyboards work for extra options such as "É".
It usually takes us weeks after a new software update to give in and download it; but in this case, when the new OSX and iOS roll out, we'll be first in line.
If you hadn't already guessed, want to know what our opinion is overall?
Good work, Unicode.
