Apple Embraces Diversity With Its Major Emoji Update

Apple is set to add a raft of much-needed emojis that will better reflect the diversity of its users. About time.

There will now be more family options, such as single parent family emojis, and more gender options for existing icons, such as female athletes. The LGBT rainbow flag symbol is another welcome addition.

But the most striking change has been the removal of the handgun emoji, which has been replaced by a far more playful bright green water pistol emoji. This change comes in the wake of the growing numbers of tragic gun crime incidents happening in the US and across the world.

Let’s be real for a second: changing emojis doesn’t alter anything in the real word. Swapping the handgun emoji out and replacing it with a colourful water pistol won’t put a stop to gun crime. Unfortunately, the world doesn’t work like that. Wouldn’t it be great if it did though? Just imagine the headline: “Apple Deletes Handgun Emoji – ALL GUN CRIME THE WORLD OVER ENDS”. It’s a nice thought.

And this update is exactly that – a nice, welcome gesture. Apple is showing us that it is actively making an effort to embrace and reflect diversity. That can only be a good thing.

The new changes will be implemented in September when the iOS10 update drops, so we’ll have to wait a little before we can start swamping our mates with female sprinters brandishing colourful water guns all whilst flying the rainbow flag.