Unicode emoji

Emoji are defined in the Unicode Standard. The Unicode Consortium adds new emoji annually through a formal proposal process. Emoji 15.1 (September 2023) added 118 new characters, bringing the total to 3,782 emoji.

Variation selectors

Many emoji can be rendered in different styles using variation selectors:

VS-15 (U+FE0E): forces text/monochrome rendering (♥︎)
VS-16 (U+FE0F): forces emoji/colorful rendering (♥️)

Skin tone modifiers

Unicode 8.0 added 5 skin tone modifiers (U+1F3FB through U+1F3FF) based on the Fitzpatrick scale. They can be appended to supported people emoji to change skin tone.

Emoji version history

The Unicode Consortium releases new emoji annually. Emoji 15.1 (September 2023) added approximately 118 new characters including shaking face, phoenix, and lime. New emoji require OS-level support to render - emoji added in 2023 may appear as empty boxes on devices running older operating system versions (iOS 15 or earlier, Android 11 or earlier). When targeting broad audiences, prefer emoji from Unicode 12 (2019) or earlier for maximum compatibility.

Cross-platform rendering

The same Unicode codepoint renders very differently across platforms. A face emoji on Apple iOS has a distinct visual style from the same emoji on Google Android, Microsoft Windows, and Samsung One UI. Meaning can shift between platforms - always consider how your emoji will look to the recipient, not just on your own device.

Accessibility

Screen readers announce emoji out loud, which can disrupt the flow of text. Use emoji sparingly in UI text and avoid using them as the sole conveyor of meaning. For decorative emoji in HTML, wrap them with a proper ARIA role:

<span role="img" aria-label="party popper">🎉</span>

Without the aria-label, screen readers may read the full Unicode name ("PARTY POPPER") or skip the character entirely depending on user settings.