iOS 11.1 Emojis
Exploding head, star-struck, and the set most databases misdate
What emoji did iOS 11.1 add?
iOS 11.1 shipped in October 2017 with the Unicode 10.0 emoji. The exploding head ๐คฏ and star-struck face ๐คฉ both became staples, and the release brought the first dinosaurs ๐ฆ๐ฆ along with the love-you gesture ๐ค. This is also the set that emoji datasets most often get wrong, because many have no 10.0 category and file these characters under 11.0 instead.
At a glance
| Shipped | |
|---|---|
| Platform | Apple iOS |
| Emoji version implemented | Emoji 10.0 |
| Emoji added | 56 |
The emoji iOS 11.1 is remembered for
How to get these emoji
Emoji ship inside the system font, so there is no separate download and nothing to enable.
- Open Settings, then General, then Software Update.
- Install iOS 11.1 or any later version.
- Open any keyboard and tap the emoji button. The new characters are already in the picker.
If you send one of these to somebody on an older release, they see a blank box. The character transmits correctly either way, and appears as soon as they update.
The standard behind this release
Unicode 10.0 was published on 20 June 2017 and added 56 emoji, including the star-struck face ๐คฉ, the exploding head ๐คฏ, the face with monocle ๐ง and the love-you gesture ๐ค. It is also the version that causes the most data errors anywhere online, because many widely-copied emoji datasets have no 10.0 bucket at all and silently file these characters under 11.0 instead.
Read the full Unicode 10.0 recordFrequently Asked Questions
Which iOS added the exploding head emoji?
iOS 11.1, released in October 2017 as part of the Unicode 10.0 set. ๐คฏ was an immediate success and has not faded, unlike several other faces from the same release.
Why do some sites say these emoji are from 2018?
Because a widely-copied emoji dataset contains no Unicode 10.0 bucket and files every 10.0 character under 11.0. The star-struck face, exploding head, brain, zebra and broccoli are all from June 2017, and reached iPhone that October.
What is the difference between ๐ค and ๐ค?
๐ค is the American Sign Language sign for I love you, with the thumb extended. ๐ค is the rock-on horns, thumb tucked in. They look similar at keyboard size but mean entirely different things.