IOS 10 To Bring Dozens Of Gender Diverse Emojis

Apple is replacing the controversial pistol emoji with a green water gun in the next version of its iPhone and iPad operating system, iOS 10. The update also “adds handsome redesigns of popular emoji, a new rainbow flag and more family options”, according to a company press release Monday.

These diverse characters include new female athletes and professionals and, for flag enthusiasts, a rainbow flag used prominently by the LGBT community.

One of the most significant changes is the expansion of female characters into what previously had been male-only characters: from sleuths, construction workers and police officers to swimmers, cyclists and surfers.

Apple has released a sneak preview of some of the new emoji it will be introducing as part of its iOS 10 update – and there’s one very notable change.

The decision to replace the revolver emoji comes nearly a year after a campaign called #DisarmTheiPhone was launched by advocacy group, New Yorkers Against Gun Violence.

These, according to 9to5Mac, include a bacon and Pinocchio emoji that may be released in future updates to iOS 10. And they don’t adequately represent the more than 90 percent of online consumers who use emoji. The new emoji have been available since the June release of Unicode 9.0, though Apple and other companies typically take months to integrated new Unicode releases into their software.

Check out a selection of the new emojis below, or through Apple’s website. Then there was that time when cops arrested a Brooklyn teenager for posting gun emoji towards a police emoji’s head.

Apple has made a decision to remove the revolver emoji from its iOS lineup.