A rainbow flag, a female detective, and more will be added
iPhone owners will have more than 100 new emoji to choose from when Apple launches its iOS 10 software this fall.
The new characters appeared in the developer preview of the software on Monday, and the Cupertino, Calif.-based company provided an early look at what’s to come in a press release. The update will introduce new, more inclusive characters as well as redesigned versions of already existing emoji. These will include female versions of sports-oriented emoji, such as the addition of a female swimmer, biker, surfer, weight lifter and basketball player.
Professional emoji like the detective and construction worker symbols will also be getting a female counterpart with the software update, and Apple has already proposed new characters to the Unicode Consortium based on occupations like astronaut, artist, firefighter, judge and pilot. It’s unclear when those latter symbols will be approved, however.
The new family-themed emoji coming in iOS 10 will include new symbols to more accurately represent different types of families, as shown below. A rainbow flag character will also be added to the roster.
The update is another sign that tech companies are pushing for more diverse emoji representations. A group of Google employees proposed a batch of new emoji in May that would include female scientists, doctors and farmers, among other professions. Last month, Facebook unveiled a set of gender diverse emojis for its Messenger platform as well.