The new OS is getting more than a hundred new and redesigned emojis.
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This update adds more gender options to existing emojis, more family options, a new rainbow flag, and handsome redesigns of popular emojis.
iOS 10, Apple’s latest version of OS for iPhone and iPad is coming with one of its most symbolically significant design changes yet.
Prior to the iOS 10 emoji update, Apple’s sports related emoji and a majority of its occupational emoji show only men performing such activities, which does not jibe at all with reality.
BuzzFeed reported in June that Unicode, the governing body which oversees emojis, vetoed a proposed rifle image. Among the changes is the ability to choose a male or female version of a character emoji.
The update will also add new family emojis, featuring single-parent family characters.
But we were even more excited to hear about the empowering new emojis announced by Apple on Monday. These include female engineers, detectives and construction workers.
A few people who have used the gun and other weaponry emoji have landed in hot legal water.
Anti-gun groups have lauded Apple’s announcement and consider the swamp a symbolic gesture in the gun control debate, according to CNN. Apple has replaced the handgun emoji with a bright green icon that looks like a classic Super Soaker water pistol.
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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.
