Emoji outlook for 2026

While most platforms have integrated the new symbols for 2025 in recent months, the candidates for the coming year have now been officially presented. A total of nine new emojis are slated for 2026, including a new face symbol. The final design is platform-dependent and is still under development. The planned emojis are:

  • A distorted face
  • A “battle cloud” symbol in a comical style
  • A ballet dancer (with skin color variations)
  • An apple core
  • An orca or killer whale
  • A hairy creature (Bigfoot-like)
  • A trombone
  • A rockfall or landslide
  • A treasure chest
These emojis are due to appear in 2026.
These emojis are due to appear in 2026. / © Emojipedia

These new emojis are now available

This year’s expansion of the emoji catalog also brought about interesting additions. These are now available on most platforms:

  • Face with dark circles under the eyes
  • Fingerprint
  • Color blob
  • Radish
  • A tree without leaves
  • Harp
  • Shovel
  • Flag of the island of Sark

Availability in WhatsApp and other apps

New emojis are not introduced on all devices and operating systems at the same time. At Apple, the current symbols were made available on March 31 via the iOS 18.4 update. A similar distribution is also expected next spring for 2026’s emojis.

For Android users, the rollout is far more complex: here, they are made available via updates to the keyboard app. A system-wide update is therefore unnecessary in most cases. The timing can, therefore, vary depending on the keyboard app installed. In addition, individual applications, such as WhatsApp, have their own emoji sets, which result in a different display compared to other apps. It is therefore not possible to determine a general date. The Google keyboard received this year’s new emojis around the same time as Apple in March. For Samsung, the integration took place towards the end of May.

What do you think of the new emojis?