- We now have Unicode approval for 163 new emojis
- They’ve shown up first in a new Android 16 beta
- Everyone should be getting these emojis early in 2026
You’re soon going to have a host of new ways to express yourself in pictorial form, because 163 new emojis have now been approved by Unicode – the emoji regulator in chief – and you can test them out now if you’re running the latest Android 16 QPR3 beta.
If you’ve got a very good memory, you might recall that this batch of new graphics were proposed last November, and they’ve all made it through the approval process except for the eaten apple core (it’s not clear why we lost that particular one).
As per Emojipedia, there are in fact just seven new basic emojis: Distorted Face, Fight Cloud, Orca, Hairy Creature (think Bigfoot), Trombone, Landslide, and Treasure Chest. The 163 figure comes from variations on those emojis, and new variations (in terms of skin tone, for example) on emojis that are already in use.
If you view that Emojipedia page on a device that hasn’t added support for the new emojis – so anything that’s not running the Android 16 QPR3 beta, basically – you’ll see rectangles in the text where the emojis should be. Helpfully though, images are also included, so you can see what they look like.
3,953 emojis and counting
You can get more details on the new emojis from the post on the official Unicode blog, which you’ll see mentions a whopping 4,803 new characters in total, covering emojis, scripts, symbols, and other characters. It also mentions eight new emojis, suggesting the apple core was ditched at the last minute.
Every emoji comes with a number of variations attached, including ones for different genders and skin tones. There are also outlined versions of each emoji available. It brings the total number of Unicode-approved emojis up to 3,953 for the end of 2025, which gives you plenty of scope for expressing yourself.
As usual, it’s down to device makers and software developers to get busy sketching their own versions of these emojis – that’s why they’ll look slightly different on iPhones, Android devices, Windows computers, and inside apps such as WhatsApp.
If you want to try these emojis out right away, you can join the Android 16 beta from here (just remember your contacts will need the beta as well, to be able to see them). They should start appearing on all Android devices (and probably iPhones too) early in 2026.
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