Apple Unveils New Emoji Due to Arrive With iOS 11.1

Apple on Friday revealed the new emoji that will be making their way to iOS 11.1. While there is no fixed release date for iOS 11.1 yet, Apple says the new emoji will debut in next week's developer and public beta previews of iOS 11.1, and then be available in upcoming software updates for iOS, macOS and watchOS.

Based on Unicode 10, the new emoji characters number in the hundreds, Apple said in an emailed statement. Emojipedia, the go to source for all your emoji information, however has a more specific number - 239, when taking into account gender and skin tone. It adds however, that the final list has yet to be confirmed, so that number may vary slightly upon release.

The new emojis that Apple is set to release with iOS 11.1 include "more emotive smiley faces, gender-neutral characters, clothing options, food types, animals, mythical creatures, and more", the company said, adding that the emoji have been designed to "reveal every detail and adapted from approved characters in Unicode 10."

Examples of the new emojis that will be launched with iOS 11.1 include Woman with Headscarf, Bearded Person, Breastfeeding, Zombie, Person Climbing, Person in Steamy Room, Genie, Elf, Merperson, Vampire, Fairy, Mage, Child, Adult, Palms Up Together, Person in Lotus Position, as well as new food items such as Sandwich and Coconut. Emojipedia has a complete list. Apple has also decided to include the 'Love You' gesture, designed after the 'I love you' hand sign in American Sign Language.

Apple's announcement comes a few days after WhatsApp introduced its own set of emojis. Visible in the WhatsApp beta for Android, the emoji designs chosen by the Facebook-owned messaging service look very similar to those Apple has been using recently, and quite separate from what Facebook Messenger offers.