The New 2019 Emojis Target Inclusivity (And Waffles)

Get ready for a whole bunch of new emoji, with a yawning face, pinching hand, deaf person, and people in wheelchairs the latest additions to Unicode Emoji v12.0. The final 2019 emoji list makes a play to be more inclusive, with a broader variety in skin tones, physical disabilities, and more.

For instance, there are set to be numerous new wheelchair emoji, with men and women in both motorized and manual chairs. There are men and women with probing canes, too, plus a deaf person emoji. Both guide dog and service dog emojis are being added, as well.

Mechanical arms and legs are being added, to show prosthetics, and there's also an ear with a hearing aid emoji. The ear will be offered in a number of skin tones, too. Probing canes and wheelchairs without people using them have also been included, and new white and brown hearts have been added in.

Elsewhere, it's other types of diversity which the new v12.0 emojis are embracing. There are various iterations of people holding hands, for instance, including women holding hands with women, men with men, and women with men. Each come with various skin tone options, too.

Other changes expand on what animals and foods are on offer. There's now a sloth emoji, along with an otter, an orangutan, a skunk, and a flamingo. Food-based conversations will be able to make liberal use of the garlic and onion emojis, together with new waffle, falafel, butter, and oyster emojis. There's also a juice box, a mate drink, and an ice cube.

Some of the additions are more unusual than others. There's a pinching hand now, to show a small amount of something, together with a yo-yo and a kite. Saturn gets an emoji of its own, while medical personnel will be pleased to see the stethoscope, adhesive bandage, and blood drop emojis.

All in all there are more than 70 variations or additions in v12.0, before you consider variations based on skin tone and other factors. Before you get too excited about using them, however, it's worth bearing in mind that just because the Unicode organization announces each new glyph, that doesn't mean they'll instantly be available on your smartphone, laptop, or other device. For that you'll need an update for iOS, Android, or whatever other platform you're using, and the release schedule for that is down to Apple, Google, and other companies.