emoji

You can combine two or more emoji into your own custom creation in iOS 26 using Apple’s upgraded Genmoji tool. In my testing, it’s great at adding sunglasses and cowboy hats to other emoji. It’s also pretty good at converting ordinary yellow-face emoji into cats, frogs, skulls, etc.

You can easily make a pumpkin cowboy, keyboard cat, pregnant Santa, banana phone or Easter Island statue snowman … the possibilities are endless. Well, not entirely endless — as fun as it would be to play geopolitics by combining national flags, all the flag emoji are restricted.

The best Apple Intelligence feature gets even more fun in iOS 26. Here’s how to use Genmoji‘s fun new feature.

On World Emoji Day, it’s time to give some respect to the little digital images used to express emotion. A new study shows that people who use emojis in their text messages come across as more responsive and likable.

So if you always just 🙄 at emojis, you should think seriously about using them instead.

World Emoji Day happens on July 17 every year — but why? The holiday’s story takes a circuitous path through Apple history, tying together Mac OS X Jaguar, calendar software, Japanese cellphone carriers, Macworld Expo and Emojipedia creator Jeremy Burge.

Using Apple’s Genmoji, you can create custom emoji when you can’t find the exact right one to express yourself nonverbally. The Apple Intelligence feature generates emoji on the fly based on your descriptions.

Finally, you can enhance your conversations about ostriches or shovels or tissue boxes with your own custom emoji. Or make an emoji that matches your pet, like a white cat or a Pomeranian dog. You can even make emoji versions of people you know.

Here’s how to use the fun new feature.

iOS 18.4, which Apple released Monday, brings several significant new features to iPhones. It is one of the biggest updates to the operating system since the initial public release of iOS 18 in September 2024.

Among other things, the update will also introduce a key Apple Intelligence feature that Apple showcased at WWDC24. Keep reading to learn about all the new features in iOS 18.4 — or watch our video. (Apple also released iPadOS 18.4, macOS Sequoia 15.4 and visionOS 2.4, which include similar upgrades, on Monday.)

You can use the Apple logo as an emoji … if you know how. Expressing your love for all things Apple looks a lot better if know how to type the .

It’s easy to do on a Mac, and I can show you how to add  to texts on iPhone and iPad, too.

The list of additions to the official collection of emoji we can use in text message includes an orca, a trombone an Apple core and, wait, is that Bigfoot?!

The industry group responsible for choosing new emoji proposed nine major additions and dozens of tweaks for the next update. If approved, they will come to iPhone, Mac and iPad, as well as Androids, PCs and many social media applications.

A whole gaggle of once-popular emoji seem to be falling out of favor among texters and others, according to a new report from creative subscription service Superside. So now you can see if your faves made the list of the world’s most unpopular emoji.

“When conducting our study, it was shocking to see some once-popular emoji among the most endangered globally,” a Superside spokesperson told Cult of Mac. “As new emoji continue to emerge, it will be quite interesting to see if these rankings might change as the years go on and trends change.”

And what happens to deeply unpopular emoji, anyway? In a word, nothing.

You will soon be able to send and receive texts via satellite, Apple said Monday.

In addition, the Messages app will also support message scheduling, plus reacting to texts with any emoji.

“Now you can use the satellite capabilities on iPhone 14 and later to connect to satellites hundreds of miles above the Earth to text your friends and family when you’re off the grid,” said Apple exec Ronak Shah during Monday’s WWDC24 keynote.

Apple might use generative AI in iOS 18 to allow iPhone users to create custom emojis, letting them express themselves just the way they want. The company is already at the forefront of adding the latest Unicode emoji to iOS.

Additionally, Apple is working on an AI-powered smart recaps feature. It will provide you with a summary of your missed notifications, new messages, documents, and more.

The list of fresh emoji up for consideration includes a tired-looking face, a fingerprint, a leafless tree, a harp and several more.

If approved, they’ll be added to iPhone, Mac and iPad as well as many social media applications.

The wait is over for macOS Sonoma 14.4, with the new version going out a bit sooner than expected. It brings in new emoji plus auto-generated transcripts in the Apple Podcasts app.

watchOS 10.4 also went to all users on Thursday, as did tvOS 17.4 and visionOS 1.1.

Apple just seeded the release candidate of iOS 17.4 to developers. When it goes to the general public — probably next week — it’ll bring in a collection of new emoji to iPhone, and a more secure version of iMessage. For Europeans, the update will be a major one, as it’ll usher in sideloading and other changes.

The release candidate for iPadOS 17.4 also came out Tuesday. However, macOS Sonoma 14.4 is still on beta 5.

Apple seeded the first beta of iOS 17.4 to developers Thursday, offering a first look at new emoji coming soon to iPhone. For Europeans, the update will be a major one, as it will allow users to sideload apps (among other big changes).

Also on Thursday came the initial betas of iPadOS 17.4 and tvOS 17.4. There’s no sign yet of macOS 14.4 beta 1, however.

There’s no better day to check into the state of emoji than World Emoji Day, celebrated every year on July 17. There’s a new most popular one this year, though the top five stayed consistent. And the top 20 also boasts a new entry you should be aware of.

It’s wise to know the meaning of the most popular so you’re not confused when someone sends you a 🗿. At the same time, it’s interesting to explore what’s the least used emoji and why certain emojis never seem to gain traction in digital conversations.

Ever find yourself perplexed by the intended meaning of an emoji in a message? A recent survey suggests you’re not alone. Even on World Emoji Day (July 17), a lot of the little graphics have people scratching their heads and even offending each other.

Ukraine-based language-learning platform Preply sought to understand which emoji cause the most confusion and misuse — unintentionally or intentionally — among Americans. You can see the main findings below, including insights on the least used emoji that rarely make an appearance in conversations.

The list of new emoji up for approval includes a phoenix, a breaking chain, a lime, a person nodding or shaking their head, plus a handful more.

These are being proposed to the Unicode Consortium in September, but are very unlikely to appear on iPhone and other computers before 2024.

The wait is over for macOS Ventura 13.3 and iPadOS 16.4, which Apple released Monday. While not major upgrades, they do bring new emoji, a better way for devs to work with betas, and other changes (including security updates).

Apple also released iOS 16.4, as well as watchOS 9.4 and tvOS 16.4, today.

Apple released iOS 16.4 on Monday, bringing significant changes and new features to its iPhone operating system.

Once you install iOS 16.4, the biggest point release of iOS 16 so far, check out these 15 features to try right away — including the new “high five emoji” combo.

A week after the second iOS 16.4 beta dropped, Apple seeded the third build to developers. Unlike the first and second build, the third beta is light on changes.

You can find everything new in iOS 16.4 and iPadOS 16.4 beta 3 below. There’s also an archive of the new features spotted in beta 1 and 2.

Emoji are about visual communication, and the some of the new ones just approved say “Talk to the hand.” And there’s a new way to express love, too. Or there’s good news for everyone desperately waiting on a moose emoji.

Other new additions approved by the Unicode Consortium include a shaking face, a donkey, a jellyfish and a flute.

This week on Cult of Mac’s podcast: Everyone’s raving about the new M2-powered MacBook Air — and so are we. Although Erfon just bought a different Apple laptop (and offers up a pro tip for anybody thinking of getting the hot new MBA).

Also on The CultCast:

• Bye-bye, Jony Ive. We’re gonna miss ya. Mostly.
• The emoji people scrape the bottom of the barrel.
• Toys are about to get personal (but brace yourself for disfigured plastic selfies).
• BMW foists an outrageous subscription plan on car buyers.

Listen to this week’s episode of The CultCast in the Podcasts app or your favorite podcast app. (Be sure to subscribe and leave us a review if you like it!) Or watch the video livestream, embedded below.

Our sponsor: CultCloth

Get the only cleaning cloth you need: CultCloth!

The collection of emoji will grow in the coming months, with the 31 proposed new entries including a shaking face, a donkey, a jellyfish and hearts in a range of colors. The proposal also includes an array of left- and right-facing hands, which likely will be used to indicate high fives.

This is by far the shortest list of new emoji proposed in years. It seems the Unicode Consortium thinks the already available collection is close to complete.

I rarely share photos of my family – and more specifically, my daughter – online. I believe that she should have the right to choose if, and when her face is shared online.

This means that I typically only share photos with her face cropped out, or I resort to clunky editing processes to obscure her face. With the brand new app MaskerAid, now hiding her face can be done instantly.

How do you make your emoji stand out in a sea of similar designs? You give them an awesome 3D makeover, of course! That’s exactly what Microsoft is doing with more than 1,800 emoji characters inside Microsoft Teams.

The redesign, which starts rolling out today in an early preview, will be available all platforms — including macOS, iOS and the web.