One of the major reasons why people are keen to update their Android phones to the latest version is undoubtedly the addition of new emojis. Unicode 14.0 was set to come out sometime this year and bring in updated emojis for the platform.
But it seems the COVId-19 pandemic has disrupted everything, even the development of Unicode 14.0. The addition of the multi-skin-toned handshake emoji was scheduled this year. Jennifer Daniel, who is the creative director of emoji at Google, announced the changes way back in 2019. It usually takes 2 years for Google to update the emoji design in its entirety.
According to Google, the updated handshake emoji will feature “right hand in all the various skin tone shades and a left in the various skin tone shades”. The number of combinations is set at 25. Apart from the different colors available, the emoji can also convey the message that the two parties have reached an agreement or are standing united. Google thinks that the use of the new emoji will be quite high in conversations.
The company is pretty serious about the upcoming changes to the emojis. It states that the location and the position of the emoji will remain the same. While Unicode 14.0 was originally slated for 2021, COVID-19 delayed its development by about 6 months. The new version follows the footsteps of the skin tone and the gender emoji that was revealed in the newer Android versions.
One interesting thing that the detailed document has noted is that “out of our 39 body part emojis that have skin tone, the HANDSHAKE emoji is the only one that does not support skin tone.”
Google made it easy to use these emojis for people who make use of Gboard with the introduction of the new table UI. Gboard now lets users make use of the Gboard Emoji Kitchen using Unicode 13.1 with the update available worldwide.
The Mountain View-based company is expanding emojis and integrating them in more products such as Google Meet. Even Google Messages for Web is getting the inline emoji reaction treatment, just months after its Android counterpart was updated.
