The newest iOS 9.1 update came with an all-important package: new emojis.
Jokes aside, the new update is not a significant one on a grander scale, but we’re sure emoji fans, especially those who post these regularly on social media, love it. After all, Apple provided over 150 new ones for everybody’s enjoyment.
Though we’re sure you won’t end up using all of them any time soon, there are some interesting ones which you might want to take a look at. Here’s a guide listing some of the new ones, along with how you should – and should NOT – use them.
New food emojis
Finally, we can now experience the euphoria of sending taco and hot dog emojis to everyone on our contacts list. In any case, these are great additions, especially if someone’s asking you what’s for dinner or if you want them to bring you food.
Some of the ones included area taco, a cheese wedge, a pot of honey, and above it, a sweet potato.
New smileys
Apart from food, Apple also decided that it’s a great idea to include new smileys into the fray. There are a lot of them (including ones not shown in the pic) and here’s a guide to deciphering what some of them mean:
- Nerd – the buck-toothed smiley with black-framed glasses is society’s stereotypical view of how a nerd looks like. It’s pretty harmless and it should have been there since the beginning. Anyway, it’s a great way to tease people who are notoriously addicted to dueling card games and sci-fi.
- Face w/ thermometer – used to denote or tell someone that you’re sick and having a fever.
- Thinking Face – this is used to tell people that you’re thinking about something, especially if you’re taking your sweet time to answer a text message.
- Hugs (the one below the smiley with dark sunglasses) – finally, a better hug emoji. It’s used to denote a hug, but due to the cheery nature of the face, it’s not something you want to send to someone who is dealing with depressing issues.
- Bandaged face – it’s used to tell someone that you’ve gotten yourself injured, whether literally or internally.
Other new smileys include a slightly frowning face, a face with rolling eyes, and one with a dollar bill on its mouth. Anyway, most of their uses are pretty self-explanatory.
New hand gestures
Now for the juicy part.
There are several new hand gestures and it’s safe to say that one of them is garnering tons of attention. We might not even see it in the next update. Anyway, here are some of the new gestures, along with the controversial one, which is somehow made it past Apple’s quality control team.
- The middle finger – yes, this is the controversial one we were referring to. We all know what it means: it’s an obscene gesture. Though we discourage everyone from using it, best friends would not hesitate sending this to each other. It’s also a way to tell the person you’re talking to that you’re not kidding around.
- The sign of the horns – it can mean rock ‘n’ roll, as a sporting gesture, and in heavy metal music. Though harmless, it can be offensive to some people from Mediterranean and Latin American countries, due to its alleged association with the devil. Be wary of who you’re sending it to!
- Raised hands with splayed fingers – it’s either the “talk to the hand” gesture or a way to high five someone virtually. Depends on the context or how the conversation went.
- Writing hand – it’s used to tell the receiver that you’re either writing or typing something. Putting it as an emoji is quite ironic to say the least.
Other emojis
Apart from the above mentioned, there are also new emojis depicting animals, nature, and sports. Among the most notable ones are:
- Cricket bat and ball – this emoji shows a cricket bat and a ball. It’s not a huge sport in the United States, but has a passionate following in South Asia, especially India and Pakistan, along with Australia and Great Britain. We’re sure that cricket-playing countries love this emoji.
- Levitating man in business suit – this emoji is intriguing and we have no idea how you should use it, apart from telling the person you’re talking to that you have mastered the art of levitation, like David Blaine.
- Spider – we love Spiderman, but hate the eight legged, hundred-eyed monstrosities he represents. Word of advice: don’t use it on someone who has a bad case of arachnophobia.
- Dove with olive leaves – love and peace for everyone! Use it to denote a silver lining – send it to someone is facing tough times.
- Shamrock – a perfect emoji for St Patrick’s day!
Overall, the new emojis are awesome, but be sure to use them in moderation. And no, don’t reply or send text messages in emojis only, especially if you don’t want to receive the middle finger one!
