Apple continues focus on inclusivity with 300 new emoji in iOS 8.3
- feb
- 23
iOS 8.3 beta 2 includes over 300 new, more diverse emoji, including 32 new country flags
The iOS 8 update ispart of Apple's ongoing efforts to address diversity, and it's extending beyond organization and into software, with a much wider array of cultures and ethnicities for face and hand symbols.
Emoji have become popular because they're efficient, sometimes amusing, but mostly humanizing. They allow for the inclusion of emotion and feeling beyond what plain text can transmit. It's for that very reason that emoji need to be inclusive — so that people everywhere can see themselves reflected in their use.
iOS 8.3 is still in beta, so it's possible that the exact number, style, color, and character of the new emoji will change between this beta and its release — expected some time this spring. (Some of the deep primary casts could use toning down, for instance, even if easy visual differentiation at tiny scales is an important goal.)
Either way, it's great to see Apple using its popularity and power to push for more and better inclusivity. Hopefully it's just the beginning, and for all platforms.
