iOS 12.1 Emojis
Redheads, and the smiling face with hearts
What emoji did iOS 12.1 add?
iOS 12.1 shipped in October 2018 with the Emoji 11.0 set, one of the largest single additions Apple has ever delivered. The smiling face with hearts ๐ฅฐ became a permanent fixture in global usage charts. The release also added red, curly, grey and no-hair options, which redheads in particular had campaigned for over several years.
At a glance
| Shipped | |
|---|---|
| Platform | Apple iOS |
| Emoji version implemented | Emoji 11.0 |
| Emoji added | 157 |
The emoji iOS 12.1 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 12.1 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 11.0 was published on 5 June 2018 and was one of the largest single additions in the standard's history. The smiling face with hearts ๐ฅฐ, the hot and cold faces ๐ฅต๐ฅถ and the partying face ๐ฅณ all came from this release and all became permanent fixtures. It also introduced hair-style sequences for red, curly, white and no hair, which had been requested for years.
Read the full Unicode 11.0 recordFrequently Asked Questions
Which iOS added red hair emoji?
iOS 12.1, in October 2018. Red, curly and white hair plus a bald option were added as sequences that attach to existing people emoji, rather than as separate characters, which is why they work across so many emoji at once.
When did ๐ฅฐ come out?
The smiling face with hearts shipped on iPhone with iOS 12.1 in October 2018. It has ranked among the most-used emoji worldwide almost continuously since.
Why do the hair colour options not work on some emoji?
They are sequences, so they only apply where Unicode defined a combination. Older devices that do not recognise the sequence fall back to showing the base person emoji, which is why a redhead can arrive as a default-haired figure.