I don't want to say that I've been counting down the days until I can finally send an avocado emoji to every single person I know, because that sounds overdramatic, but you better believe I was freaking pumped to find out that new emojis would be released much sooner than any of us ever thought — like, soon as in this month. If you, like me, are wondering when the Unicode 9 emojis are available, read on, because I have some important news regarding this highly anticipated update.
According to the Unicode Consortium, 72 new emojis are approved for release June 21, 2016, which means it's only a matter of weeks before these babies finally become a reality. Among the more anticipated emojis included in the Unicode 9 update? The avocado, a selfie-taking arm, bacon, a black heart, a face palm, a shrug, clinking champagne glasses, and a Pinocchio-esque "lying" face. In other words, many of the emoji voids that currently pepper your life are about to disappear, and that is incredibly fantastic news if, like me, you depend on tiny adorable pictograms to convey your every whim and emotion.
Unicode approved the final list of new emojis during a second quarter meeting earlier this year, but it's worth noting that while they're ready to be released, that doesn't necessarily mean they will immediately be ready for use on June 21. Platforms like iOS and Android still have to design and deploy the new emojis as part of their latest updates, which may not happen right away. Still, it's good to know that your wait, agonizing though it may be, is almost at an end.
There may be even more emojis on their way soon, too. Unicode is currently mulling over five additional new emojis to add into the mix in 2017, including a fortune cookie, chopsticks, and an emoji face raising an eyebrow. This list is subject to change before then, of course, but I can easily think of more than one scenario where a skeptical raised eyebrow emoji might come in handy. Shout out to Unicode: can we keep that one on the list?
In the meantime, mark June 21 on your calendar, and then keep an eye on your smartphone to see when you can finally update your keyboard. And, use this time productively to dream up all the ways you can work the new emojis into your every day texts. You can see the full list of what's to come over at Emojipedia, and spoiler, things are about to get interesting.
Images: Emojipedia
