In the biggest change the platform has seen since the switch to 280 characters, Twitter has changed the way it counts characters for emoji. Previously, some emoji — like those with additionally defined gender or skin tone — counted as more characters than others, due to the method of their encoding. But as of now, all emoji will be counted equally as two characters.
Read MoreMicrosoft changes pistol emoji in latest Windows update
Emojis, modern day hieroglyphs, are always in flux. The Unicode Consortium is responsible for developing new characters, but it is up to individual companies to decide how they will look on their devices. Few have changed as much as the “pistol” emoji, which is now essentially a water gun. Apple led the way several years ago by redesigning it into a green “water pistol” and since then, most operating systems have followed suit. Microsoft was the last remaining holdout despite announcing the revision back in April.
Read More[Update: Now widely available in Pie update] Android P Beta 2 adds 157 new emoji, brings back some gender-inclusive ones
Android P Beta 2 / DP3 just landed earlier today, and while we're digging in to look for new features, a few of the more visually apparent additions have already been revealed. Today's release includes support for Unicode/Emoji 11.0—which was technically only officially released yesterday—as well as some tweaked gender-inclusive family and couple emoji which more closely follow the Unicode standard.
Read MoreLatest Instagram tests swap DM and profile tab positions, add quick emoji access to comments
Google is the king of server-side tests, but it's by no means the only company that does them. Instagram also uses them fairly often, and this time around, it's trying something that may make some people a bit annoyed. It's experimenting with swapping the profile and DM icons, as well as putting a row of emoji in the comments section for quick access.
Read MoreSamsung AR Emoji update lets you fine-tune your creepy little avatar
Samsung has updated its AR Emoji creator tool with better facial tracking and a bunch of new customization options "that will make it even easier for your AR Emoji to capture your individuality." The update lets you fine-tune a number of features on your creepy little avatar, from the shape of its soulless eyes to the width of its unsettling grin.
Read MoreChrome OS gets new emoji context menu 😗👌
Chromebooks are slowly closing the feature gap between themselves and more traditional laptops, making them more suited for a wider range of working environments with each passing day. But not all changes have to be a boon to productivity. For example, Chrome OS just got a new input field context menu for emoji. 😉
Read MoreEmoji 11.0 should bring the teddy bear and mango to your favorite apps and devices as early as this month
Unicode 11.0 will be officially released on Tuesday, June 5th. The only part of that most people care about is the new emojis that will come with it. While it would be great if the Unicode Consortium could push these new emojis directly to your favorite communication platforms, it has to wait on vendors to push out their own emoji updates (that sounds familiar). Thankfully, we've been through this enough to have reasonable expectations for when Emoji 11.0 will hit Twitter, Facebook, Google, and other popular platforms.
Read More[Update: It's optional] Twitter now uses its own emoji on Android
Twitter's Android app looks a little different for many today: the platform now uses its own "Twemoji" emoji set rather than system emoji. The update will have the most effect for users on older Android versions, which lack some newer emoji.
Read MoreThe Best Of AP
Unicode announces list of candidates for Emoji 12.0 coming 2019
We've seen a lot of important news over the past few days during Google I/O, but we know all you really care about it when Unicode is going to introduce a falafel emoji. You'll be pleased to see it's one of the candidates for the Emoji 12.0 update due in the first quarter of next year.
Read MoreThere's a âš« emoji message that freezes or completely crashes apps, but it's no big deal
There's a message that's making the rounds on WhatsApp that mysteriously causes the app to crash if you dare to tap on the black dot within. You may have already come across it and wondered how just tapping on a single emoji can cause an app to freeze and become unresponsive. The answer, unsurprisingly, is that it can't.
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