Apple Replaces Pistol Emoji With Water Gun, Adds Gender Diversity

Apple unveiled over 100 new “gender diverse” emojis Monday, but there’s one in particular that stands out for us.

Apple announced Monday that it is replacing its controversial gun emoji with an orange-and-green squirt gun.

It’s not all doom and gloom with Apple’s announcement, however; the firm is also reaffirming a commitment to diversity. The new emoji is simply listed among several other emoticons that will also be released with iOS 10, including a rainbow flag and female athletes and professionals.

The company says it wants to “ensure that popular emoji characters reflect the diversity of people everywhere”.

The wait for these mini pictures is nearly over: Apple will release their new operating system, iOS 10, this fall.

In its statement about the new icons, Apple did not address the pistol decision, but focused on the new icons of people. The gun icon has been replaced by a cute water pistol. It will also introduce new and revamped emojis that show women doing stereotypically male jobs like detective, construction worker, and police officer. Can changing a single emoji make any difference for gun violence in America and around the world?

While some consumers point out that changing the pistol to a water gun isn’t likely to halt gun violence, other critics are complaining that remaking an emoji could create confusion.

In addition, Apple CEO Tim Cook announced iOS 10 for iPhones and iPads at the annual Worldwide Developers’ Conference in June 2016.

Although the National Rifle Association has not yet commented on the emoji debate, its members and supporters have already called for it to speak out against Apple.

The water pistol isn’t the only change to the emoji design set – while numerous old emoticons have been given slight tweaks, there are some new ones in there too.