Emojis that will appear in future iOS 17 updates include shaking head, brown mushroom, lime, phoenix, etc.

Just as Apple released its new iPhones last week, the Unicode Consortium also officially approved new emoji characters that will be added to smartphones starting in 2024. Approved Unicode 15.1 emoji include phoenix, lime, brown mushroom, vertical headshake (nodding "yes"), horizontal headshake (shaking head "no"), and broken link.

There are also four new family emoji combinations, as well as updates to six people emojis, with orientation options available for a walking person, a running person, a kneeling person, a person holding a white cane, a person in a manual wheelchair and a person in an electric wheelchair.

Unicode updates usually include a large number of emoji characters, so the size of the 15.1 update is smaller than the average annual update. However, Unicode 15.1 does add some non-emoji characters for Chinese users.

After a new emoji character is approved, it takes smartphone manufacturers such as Apple several months to design the emoji and add it to the iOS system. We can expect to see emoji updates in future iOS 17 releases.

Last year, Apple added new emojis in the iOS 16.4 update, which was released in February 2023, so the company may follow a similar timeline in 2024. New emojis added last year include shaker face, pink heart, light blue heart, donkey, moose, goose, wings, jellyfish, hyacinth, pea pod, ginger, flute, maracas and blackbird.