An organization called New Yorker Against Gun Violence started a campaign a year ago to get Apple to replace its version of the pistol emoji, urging the company to remove the firearm emoji “as a symbolic gesture to limit gun accessibility”.
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Apple doesn’t create emojis; they’re made by the independent Unicode Consortium, which standardizes the way emoji characters are encoded so that they can appear on a series of platforms, including iOS and Android. These emojis were seen by many as a violation of Russia’s law against “gay propaganda”.
On top of that, it also looks like Apple will be addressing another controversial emoji, which is that of the pistol. Meanwhile, a revolver firearm will be replaced with a colorful water pistol.
Emoji lovers are in for a treat later this year as Apple has just announced it’s launching over one hundred new and redesigned characters.
It’s also adding a rather attractive rainbow flag for LGBT pride, and some “beautiful redesigns of popular emoji”, which we hope includes a flawless 3D rendering of the smiling pile of poo.
There have also been refinements to the haircut emojis, along with the dancing duo – there’s now an option with two guys, as well! – among others.
“Let’s all call on Apple to get rid of the virtual gun and publicly join our call for universal background checks on all gun sales”, NYAGV Executive Director Leah Gunn Barrett said in a statement at the time.
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Apple unveiled its iOS 10 software at its annual Worldwide Developers Conference ( WWDC ) in June. Now, there are female options for weight lifting, basketball, and surfing, as well as new job-related emoji for female construction workers and private investigators. Apple previously protested the addition of a rifle emoji, so this shouldn’t come as a surprise. Although emoji themselves are proposed and voted on by the Unicode Consortium, companies are usually quick to promote their adoption of the latest diverse icons.
