Apple released big updates to iOS and OS X today, and among the changes is a whole lot of new emojis.
There are over 300 emojis added by Apple as part of an update to the Unicode standard, and most of them focus on racially diversifying the existing emojis we all know and love. There’s also an awesome Spock emoji for when you’re wanting the world to live long and prosper.
But the catch is that if you’re not on the newest iOS 8.3 and OS X 10.10.3, you won’t see these new emojis. Instead, you’ll see an alien or an empty box!
People have been noticing all the alien emojis on the internet today:
Weirdest part of diverse emojis in iOS 8.3? When you send them to someone on 8.2, it shows up as an alien. pic.twitter.com/9E2t8Dc8c8
— Andre Plaut (@andreplaut) April 8, 2015
To solve this existential emoji crisis, all you have to do is update to the latest version of iOS and OS X! Emoji on!
Alex Heath is a journalist who works for Tech Insider. He’s the former co-host of The CultCast. He has been quoted by the likes of the BBC, KRON 4 News, and books like “ICONIC: A Photographic Tribute to Apple Innovation.” He lives in Lexington, Kentucky. If you want to pitch a story, share a tip, or just get in touch, additional contact information is available on his personal site. Follow him on Twitter.
6 responses to “Why you’re seeing weird alien emojis everywhere”
Apple’s at it again
from 8.3 to an android phone they receive a cracker (cause sometimes you really need to send a cookie emoji)
I took that the wrong way for a second
I didn’t find Spok emoji.
just to say that black people are aliens hmmmm :D