Here are the 230 new emojis that have just been approved for 2019

Everybody has been talking about the latest batch of emojis, following their approval earlier this week.

Unicode Consortium, the group which approve the icons before they appear on the likes of Android and iOS, has given the green light for no less than 230 new emojis.

This means that the designs included on the official list should be visible on smartphones in the second half of 2019. The list is the sixth major update since the birth of emojis, way back when.

Representatives of computing companies, software developers and others are behind the list. They form a Californian-based group which passes on the approved characters to platform owners.

Now the likes of Facebook, Microsoft, Apple, Samsung, Google and Twitter can choose and tweak these designs. However, they must make each one recognisable.

What has Unicode said about the new emoji list?

“Emoji 12.0 data has been released with 59 new emoji,” a blog post read. “With 171 variants for gender and skin tone, this makes a total of 230 emoji including variants.

It continued: “These images are just samples: vendors for mobile phones, PCs and web platforms will typically use images that fit their overall emoji designs.”

Unicode added that new designs “typically start showing up on mobile phones in September/ October”. That being said, some platforms may release them earlier.

The blog post finished by saying: “Over 130,000 characters are available for adoption, to help the Unicode Consortium’s work on digitally disadvantaged languages.”

So, what’s included on the latest emoji list?

Most of the 230 designs feature individuals or couples of different skin tones and genders. They also feature gender inclusive characters, for people who do not identify to any gender in particular.

Disability rights campaigners have also welcomed the introduction of new accessibility-themed emojis. Hearing aids, wheelchairs, white ‘probing’ canes, guide dogs and prosthetic limbs all feature.

🆕📲 230 new emojis coming to phones in 2019 https://t.co/40lHKWeBFj pic.twitter.com/GKGJvS1dJf

— Emojipedia 📙 (@Emojipedia) February 5, 2019

This, the BBC report, follows a complaint by Apple that “few existing emojis spoke to the experience of those with disabilities”. Sign language also features.

A drop of blood has been another standout addition. It is designed to give women a new way to talk about menstruation, according to the BBC. This comes after a campaign from a girls’ rights charity.

Praying, yawning, and pinching emojis have also been seen as popular additions so far. Flamingo, sloth, otter, skunk, orangutan characters join the guide dogs in being new animal emojis.

In terms of new food emojis; garlic, onion, butter, waffle and falafels now feature. However, there are still absences for cuisines like haggis and the Cornish pasty, despite demand.

They will join an established list of much-loved emojis.

You can see the full list of the latest emoji designs here.