The list of additions to the official collection of emoji we can use in text message includes an orca, a trombone an Apple core and, wait, is that Bigfoot?!
The industry group responsible for choosing new emoji proposed nine major additions and dozens of tweaks for the next update. If approved, they will come to iPhone, Mac and iPad, as well as Androids, PCs and many social media applications.
New emoji suggestions include Bigfoot
Emoji are fun and help us express emotions in our texts. Adding 😜 to one lets your friend know you don’t really want salami on date-nut bread for lunch, and 😆 shows you appreciate their sense of humor. Of course, some emojis are just plain confusing.
Hopefully, the additions proposed this month by the Emoji Standard & Research Working Group won’t bewilder anyone. Other new additions on the list include a treasure chest, a ballet dancer, a fight and an avalanche, according to Emojipedia.
The proposed apple core emoji likely would find use among Apple fans and detractors. But the standout new emoji is the “hairy creature.” While doesn’t actually get called “Bigfoot,” it’s clearly inspired by the infamous 1967 Patterson–Gimlin film that purportedly shows a massive cryptid striding through a Northern California forest.
Probably coming in 2025
Don’t expect to report a Bigfoot sighting via emoji anytime soon. The approval process takes months.
The Emoji Standard & Research Working Group proposes additions to the list, but these must be approved by the Unicode Consortium. Then Apple, Samsung, Microsoft and other companies design the versions of the new emoji that their software will use.
The process of proposing and approving emoji is complex but necessary because iPhones, Androids, etc., don’t send pictures to each other — they send Unicode numbers. It’s up to each device to turn the number into a picture. So, the sender and receiver must agree on what those Unicode numbers represent.
Once the Unicode Consortium makes the final decision, Apple can design its versions of the new emoji and add them to iPhone, iPad, etc.
Given the timing and the generally slow approval process, the proposed Emoji additions might arrive on iOS and macOS in winter 2025 or perhaps the following spring.
