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Apple puts psychedelic spin on Animoji karaoke

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Animoji
The new Animoji ads are trippy.
Photo: Apple

Apple has whipped up some new commercials to celebrate the upcoming Grammy Awards by combining some of today’s best artists with the iPhone X’s new Animoji feature.

The new ads, titled “Amigos” and “Alien,” feature Migos singing their song “Stir Fly” and Childish Gambino performing “Redbone.” Migos appear as a fox, dog and pile of poop, while Gambino appears as an alien.

Check it out:

How to type Slack-style keyboard emojis on Mac

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rocket icon
Rocket will change the way you use emoji on your Mac.
Photo: Cult of Mac

Users of chatroom (and time-wasting tool) Slack will be familiar with typing out emoji reactions. To insert a smiley face, for example, you just type :smile:, and your text will be replaced by a smiley-face emoji when you hit enter.

If you ever find yourself missing this handy feature anywhere else on your Mac, you should take Rocket for a spin. It’s a macOS app that exists to make emojis easier.

Try these great emoji shortcuts on iPhone and iPad

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emoji iPhone quicktype
What dog doesn't like sushi?
Photo: Cult of Mac

Who doesn’t love emoji? People with bad eyesight, that’s who. Everyone else, everyone everywhere, loves the little pictures of medals, flags, headphones, eggplants, and feces. What we don’t like is finding them by swiping around the keyboard section of an iPhone screen. In some ways it’s a metaphor for human existence. We love to manipulate the meaning of symbols through context and juxtaposition, the way a standup comic does, but we’re too lazy to spend the time to do it properly.

Happily for the future of the human race, there are shortcuts to great emoji if you’re using iOS. Let’s take a look.

Get a sneak peek at next year’s new emojis

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iOS 11.1 emoji on Twitter
Who doesn't love a good emoji?
Photo: Killian Bell/Cult of Mac

Have you found yourself unable to continue a conversation without the use of a drunk emoji, a female supervillain or a strand of DNA?

If so, you may be pleased to hear that the Unicode Consortium has released its Emoji 11.0 beta to developers, offering a glimpse at the 130 Draft Candidate emojis we may be able to enjoy sometime next year.

Face ID gets its close-up in new Apple videos

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Face ID
The iPhone X unlocks with your face.
Photo: Apple

Apple’s latest series of videos are out to show fans why they should consider ditching Touch ID for Face ID.

With the new True Depth camera on the iPhone X, Apple’s magical software can unlock your iPhone just by looking at your face. In four new videos published on the company’s YouTube, Apple shows how Face Id can be used to bring your favorite animoji to life and more.

Watch all four right here:

Public testers can now try iOS 11.2

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iOS 11
iOS 11.2 comes with some Control Center tweaks.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

Members of Apple’s public beta testing program can already get in on the action with iOS 11.2.

Apple released its newest batch of betas to public testers today giving members access to all the new features and fixes in the the first beta builds of iOS 11.2 and tvOS 11.2.

Apple surprises developers with fifth iOS 11.1 beta

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iPhone
iOS 11.1 is nearly ready for the public.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

Developers received the fifth beta build of iOS 11.1 this morning, just three days after Apple released the last batch of updates.

The new iOS 11.1 beta 5 update brings a number of bug fixes and performance improvements to the iPhone and iPad. Apple added a couple of UI tweaks and new features in the previous iOS 11.1 beta build.

Apple seeds fourth iOS 11.1 beta and more

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iphone 8
A new iOS 11.1 beta is already out!
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

Developers just received a new iOS 11.1 beta from Apple this morning even though the company just released a build of the software update earlier this week.

iOS 11.1 beta 4 has been made available today along with the fourth beta builds of watchOS 4.1 and tvOS 11.1. All three of the new betas bring a number of bug fixes and performance improvements to their platforms.

Apple already being sued for iPhone X’s worst feature

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iPhone X animoji
The Animoji name was already in use.
Photo: Apple

iPhone X has already been hit with its first lawsuit.

A Japanese company is suing Apple for allegedly infringing a trademark that covers the word “Animoji.” Apple tried to buy the rights to the name, which it is using for its animated emoji feature in iPhone X, before the handset’s launch.

How to add quick keyboard shortcuts for emojis on Mac and iOS

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emoji text replacements
Adding shortcuts for your favorite Emoji is easy.
Photo: Cult of Mac

If you use emojis, the iOS keyboard is fantastic. It suggests emojis for you as you type words, and you can insert them into your messages with a tap. But what about the Mac? How can you add emojis with the keyboard on the desktop? And how can you force iOS to remember shortcuts for your favorite emoji on the iPhone and iPad? The answer to both is Text Replacement, which is built into both macOS and iOS.

Apple busts out new betas of iOS 11.1 and other platforms

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iphone 8
iOS 11.1 beta 3 is ready for your iPhone.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

Developers received a fresh new batch of beta updates today, just one week after Apple seeded the last set.

iOS 11.1 beta 3 is the biggest of the updates, bringing a bunch of new emojis to the iPhone and iPad along with some other refinements and improvements. Apple also released the third beta builds for watchOS 4.1 and tvOS 11.1.

Apple seeds new betas for macOS, watchOS and tvOS

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macOS High Sierra
Apple is said to be working on a fix.
Photo: Apple

Along with dropping a new iOS 11.1 beta, Apple also released the second beta builds for macOS 10.13.1, tvOS 11.1 and watchOS 4.1.

The new batch of betas come about two weeks after Apple seeded the last set of betas to developers and come with a host of bug fixes and under-the-hood improvements for Apple’s platforms.

Apple drops iOS 11.1 beta 2 with dozens of new emoji

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iOS 11.1 emoji
Mythical creatures coming in iOS 11.1.
Photo: Apple

Apple unleashed hundreds of new emoji on developers today with the release of iOS 11.1 beta 2.

The new beta update arrives nearly two weeks after the last beta was made available and comes with a host of new features and bug fixes, including support for Unicode 10 emoji characters.

WhatsApp’s new emojis look a whole lot like Apple’s

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emojis
Spot the difference.
Photo: Emojipedia

WhatsApp is introducing its own emoji — and, boy, do they look a whole lot like the Apple ones that it previously relied on!

The designs are not out-and-out copies, but they look very similar when the two are not placed side by side. Subtle differences include the fact that WhatsApp’s versions of the images look slightly more cartoonish in design, while incidental changes have been made — such as the switch of the water pistol from being green in color to orange.

iOS 11.1 beta 1 is already out for developers

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iOS 11
iOS 11 just got its first big update.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

The first big beta update for iOS 11 has already arrived just over a week after Apple’s new software went live for the public.

Developers received a fresh batch of updates this morning, including iOS 11.1 beta 1 which adds a host of changes and bug fixes to Apple’s most significant software release of 2017.

Yay? Frowning poop emoji and more possibly on their way to iOS

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Proposed new emojis for 2018
How did you converse with people prior to the existence of the above emojis?
Photo: Emojipedia

Do you find yourself at a loss in conversations due to the nonexistence of a smiling or frowning poop emoji to get your point across? Feel that your conversations about great punk albums just don’t work without a picture of a safety pin to illustrate them?

Have no fear: Unicode is on the case with 67 new proposed emojis!

Apple goes emoji crazy on World Emoji Day

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EMOJIS
Apple's got some new emoji coming to Mac and iOS.
Photo: Apple

Today is World Emoji Day, and to celebrate humankind’s successful reduction of language into 2,000+ tiny pictograms, Apple has shared images of some of the new emoji coming to iOS, macOS and watchOS later this year.

Oh, and it’s launched a pretty awesomely creative promotion in iTunes as well!

Lady Gaga emoji will delight her Little Monsters

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Oh! My! Gaga!
Oh! My! Gaga!
Photo: Snaps Media

Lady Gaga is the queen of provocative visuals. This has been her undisputed title ever since she performed on stage in a dress of raw beef seven years ago.

Now her devoted fans have her help in expressing themselves in roaring Mother Monster fashion on iOS with Lady Gaga emoji, a series of animated iMessage stickers and GIFs that debuted today.

Twitter flips out over mysterious Tim Cook tweet

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Tim's got a lot to be happy about.
Tim's got a lot to be happy about.
Photo: Twitter

Apple CEO Tim Cook set Twitter ablaze with speculation today — and all it took was a simple smiley face emoji.

Cook sent out a tweet with just a smiley face emoji this morning. No other context was provided, and the tweet got deleted shortly later, leading Apple fans on Twitter to wonder what the most powerful man in tech was really trying to say.

These are the most popular theories:

Mermaids, elves and 67 other emojis coming soon to your iPhone

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These should be coming to iOS 11 later this year.
These should be coming to iOS 11 later this year.
Photo: Emojipedia

Unicode 10 is right around the corner, and it’s going to bring a whole bunch of awesome new emojis that will eventually make their way to iOS.

Some of the best include a t-rex, a hedgehog, a grinning face with stars for eyes, and a mermaid and merman. There are 69 altogether, many of which are available in different styles. Here’s a look at some of them.

Google’s iPhone keyboard gets voice dictation, more languages

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gboard
Gboard just got even better.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

Google’s awesome Gboard keyboard for iPhone finally supports voice dictation. The feature is powered by Google’s own voice recognition technology, and you can access it quickly by holding down the space bar.

This update also brings new emoji, Google Doodles, and support for 15 additional languages.