Emoji are a simply indispensable part of how we communicate everyday, thanks to their sheer efficacy at relaying emotions, reactions on WhatsApp, expressions, and thoughts — all without lots of unnecessary exposition. The library of available emoji has been swelling over the years, thanks to the Unicode Consortium’s efforts and even Google’s Emoji Kitchen initiative. New emoji have been submitted to the Consortium for approval in September and inclusion in the Unicode 15 standard later this year, and now we're getting an early look at what to expect from them.

We don't have a ton of submissions this time around, with only 31 new emoji up for inclusion — just a third as many as last year, as Emojipedia shares. One of the most requested emoji over the years has been a high-five — a candidate this year called “pushing hands” finally addresses this need. That means you won't be stuck using the folded hands emoji for high-fives anymore, which can go back to representing thanks and prayers.

Sample-Images-Unicode-15
Source: Emojipedia

Note that there are just 21 emoji on the list because the 31 submissions include skin tone variations for some of them. Moreover, the list of emoji included in the Unicode 15 standard is just a draft, and the final ones included could change by September — some submissions may not make the cut, but it's likely we'll see these all confirmed:

  • Shaking Face
  • Light Blue Heart
  • Grey Heart
  • Pink Heart
  • Rightwards Pushing Hand (with five skin tones)
  • Leftwards Pushing Hand (with five skin tones)
  • Moose
  • Donkey
  • Wing
  • Goose
  • Jellyfish
  • Ginger
  • Hyacinth
  • Pea Pod
  • Folding Hand Fan
  • Hair Pick
  • Maracas
  • Flute
  • Khanda
  • Wireless
  • Black Bird

Which mobile platform will be first with these additions? Apple could incorporate the Unicode 15 emoji in iOS 16’s first stable release, but Android 13 will have been released by then, and Google could bring these new emoji to its platform basically anytime it wants to. We'll just have to wait and see.