The update includes women in more athletic and professional roles, a rainbow flag, and different family options.
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In a statement that did not directly address the replacement of the gun, Apple said the update included “beautiful redesigns of popular emoji”. Apple, Microsoft and Google are all a part of the Unicode Consortium.
The update is another sign that tech companies are pushing for more diverse emoji representations.
Considering gun violence has been such a big issue recently, the gun emoji has also been changed to a water gun, which is a very tasteful change.
Apple’s existing gun emoji, Right: The water pistol emoji that will appear in September. Amongst the new emoji are a rainbow pride flag and a single-parent family, while female and minority versions of numerous sports players and other professions (such as construction workers, private investigators, and police officers) will also make appearances. Last year, a 12-year-old in Virginia was charged with a felony and fined for using the pistol emoji in an Instagram post that police said was equivalent to a death threat.
The good news is Apple is finally getting with the times.
But the move comes nearly exactly a year after anti-gun group New Yorkers Against Gun Violence started the #DisarmTheiPhone campaign in an effort to convince Apple to remove the gun emoji.
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Apple is enforcing a little gun control as it rolls out its latest operating system: The revolver emoji will soon be replaced by a water pistol. Swipe through the emoji keyboard on your iPhone, and you’ll spot plenty of emojis with guys being all sorts of athletic.
