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2021’s Emojis For iOS & Android Will Be Delayed Due To Coronavirus Pandemic
By Mikelle Leow, 09 Apr 2020

Image via AngieYeoh / Shutterstock.com
Next year’s new emojis are expected to be announced six months later, since brands’ hands are currently tied as a result of the unprecedented global COVID-19 outbreak.
The Unicorn Consortium, the international standard for emojis, published a blog post on Wednesday detailing that the reveal of Unicode 14.0 comprising 2021’s emoticons will be shifted from March to September 2021. As it takes months for companies like Apple, Android, Facebook and Twitter to develop their own designs for the icons, the new emojis will probably only appear in devices in 2022.
The organization cited that developers would normally be given a lead time to translate new emojis into their own styles, taking design specifications into account. Companies have had to turn their work and branding policies around due to the coronavirus pandemic, and many of them could use this time to improve or adjust to the changes.
“Under the current circumstances, we’ve heard that our contributors have a lot on their plates at the moment and decided it was in the best interests of our volunteers and the organizations that depend on the standard to push out our release date,” confirmed Mark Davis, president of the Unicode Consortium. “This year we simply can’t commit to the same schedule we’ve adhered to in the past.”
However, 2020’s 117 new emojis, which include a bubble tea and “Italian hand,” will arrive as scheduled. A spokesperson for the Unicode Consortium told DesignTAXI back in January that the new emoticons should be installed in smartphones by September or October 2020.
[via AppleInsider, cover image via AngieYeoh / Shutterstock.com]
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