Pink heart emoji and more symbols coming to iPhones

Apple is thinking pink with its latest round of emojis.

Thirty-one new emojis — including the highly-requested pink heart — are coming to smartphones next year. Emoji 15.0 is set to be approved this September, Emojipedia noted.

Among the new symbols are pink, light blue and gray hearts, as well as a moose, wing, donkey, goose, jellyfish, ginger, flute, pea pod, maracas, WIFI symbol and a hyacinth.

“Actual vendor designs will vary from those released by major vendors [such as Apple, Google and Microsoft], and Emojipedia’s own sample images may also be updated when Emoji 15.0 final is released,” said Emojipedia’s Editor-in-Chief Keith Broni. 

He also noted that “this is only a draft emoji list” and “each emoji is subject to change prior to final approval in September 2022.”

The news comes just a few days before World Emoji Day, which falls on July 17. In honor of the holiday, a new survey recently indicated that seven in 10 Americans believe messages are “incomplete” without an emoji.

The poll was conducted by OnePoll on behalf of Duolingo and Slack, and showed how individuals perceive different emojis.

Poll-takers were asked what meaning they were most likely to associate with certain emoticons. The survey inquired 9,400 people and revealed how Americans are more likely to find emoji-less texts or messages to be lacking.

For example, when shown the “money with wings” (💸) emoji, respondents were divided on if it meant a loss of money (28%) or an inflow of money (31%).

The “slightly smiling face (🙂)” may not be as positive as others may think. While some identify it as “feeling happy” (38%), several people also use it to show “deep exasperation and/or distrust” (14%).

Thirty-one percent of Gen Zers and 24% of millennials are also more likely to reveal that an emoji they’ve sent was wrongly misunderstood by the receiver.

The research indicated that the poop emoji (💩) was ranked third on a list of symbols to not send your boss. The infamous eggplant emoji (🍆) took third for the emoticon not to send to a co-worker.

“Emojis let people convey a broad range of emotions efficiently, and in a way that words sometimes can’t,” Olivia Grace, senior director of product management at Slack, noted in the study.

“Plus, when widely accepted as part of the workplace language, they go a long way in increasing efficiency by replacing follow-up messages and reducing noise,” Grace went on.

She added: “A simple thumbs-up emoji to express approval, an ‘eyes’ emoji to say ‘I’ll take a look’, or a checkmark to say ‘this is done’ all add efficiency compared to back-and-forth messages.”

“It’s clear from the results that people are using emoji like any other system of communication: meaning can be subtle, and they’re used differently in various settings,” Dr. Hope Wilson, learning and curriculum manager at Duolingo, said.