Google has added a host of new emoji to its latest Android update, including gender-neutral characters for the first time.
After the software update, the default emoji for a family or couple-in-love will be gender-less, with users forced to go to an extra menu to find a male-female pairing.
The characters are among 157 new or updated emoji added by Google as part of its Android P upgrade, a trial version of which rolled out to select users today.
Google has also switched out its pistol emoji for a water gun and made its dagger bright and sparkly in an attempt to reduce the symbols’ emphasis on violence.
Elsewhere, the egg has been removed from the salad emoji in an effort to make the character more vegan-friendly.
Google has also removed a frown from the goat emoji so it appears more friendly.
Google has added a host of new emoji to its latest Android update including gender-neutral family (left) and couple-in-love (right) characters
Android P is currently in beta testing and is only available on Google Pixel smartphones via an enrolment form on Google’s website.
The full update is expected to hit Android devices worldwide sometime in July or August 2018.
Gender-neutral characters already existed in the Unicode Standard, the base pool of emoji most companies draw from, and Google is now following the latest guidelines.
These state: ‘If a gender isn’t mentioned, then a gender-neutral or gender-inclusive display should be used.’
While the default emoji for family and couple will be gender ambiguous, a sub-menu for each symbol will allow users to pick any combinations of sexes.
This works in the same way as the skin tone options already available for a number of emoji.
The new default family emoji (top left) will be gender neutral meaning users will have to go through a submenu to denote sexes (top right). The bottom row shows last year’s family emoji
While the default emoji for family and couple will be gender ambiguous (top left), a sub-menu for each symbol (rest of top row) will allow users to pick any combinations of sexes. The bottom row shows the couple-in-love emoji available to Android users last year
Google has switched out its pistol emoji for a water gun, following similar decisions made by Facebook, Microsoft, WhatsApp, Twitter and Samsung
Other new characters include an array of red, white and curly-haired emoji, as well as a superhero.
A lobster, llama, hot and cold faces, mango, skateboard, a pie, a bagel with cream cheese, and more, are also making their way to Android devices this summer.
Google has updated several existing characters, darkening its bacon emoji so it appears cooked and turning its cricket brown so it looks less like a grasshopper.
The company has also made its dagger emoji bright and sparkly as part of its efforts to remove violent imagery from its emoji set
Android P’s egg has been removed from the egg salad emoji to make it vegan. Google is following the Unicode Consortium’s advice to make its emoji more inclusive
The company has removed the frown from its goat emoji so it appears less aggressive. The characters are among 157 new or updated emoji added by Google as part of its Android P upgrade, a trial version of which rolled out to select users today
The tortoise emoji has had its drooping eyes removed to make it look more alert, while a chin-rest has been added to the violin.
Google switched its realistic gun emoji to a water gun in an effort to remove violent imagery from emoji sets, making it the latest in a long line of technology companies to make the move.
Facebook confirmed in April that a squirt gun would soon replace the pistol emoji after consultations with the Unicode Consortium, the group that establishes standards for emoji.
Apple was the first to lead the charge when it eliminated its hand gun emoji in 2016, swapping it out for bright green toy water gun.
WhatsApp, Samsung, Microsoft and Twitter later followed suit by replacing their weapon emoji with toys.
A lobster, llama, hot and cold faces, mango, skateboard, a pie, a bagel with cream cheese, and more are also making their way to Android devices this summer
Other new characters include an array of red headed emoji. The full update is expected to hit Android devices worldwide sometime in July or August 2018
New emoji include white, curly-haired and bald characters. Android P is currently in beta and is only available on Google Pixel smartphones via an enrolment form on Google’s website
The tortoise emoji has had its drooping eyes removed to make it look more alert
Google has updated several existing characters, darkening its bacon emoji so it appears cooked and turning its cricket brown so it no longer looks like a grasshopper