From smiley faces to cheeky fruit, emojis have become a core part of everyday digital communication. Soon, users will have even more ways to express themselves, with nine new emojis set to arrive in a future update.
The new emoji candidates were quietly added to Unicode’s public draft documents late last year and have since been highlighted by Emojipedia. If approved, they will be released as part of Emoji 18.0, expected in September 2026.
Among the additions are two new hand gestures — a leftward thumb and a rightward thumb — as well as a new squinting face emoji. Other proposed icons include a pickle, monarch butterfly, lighthouse, meteor, eraser, and a net with a handle.
While all nine additions have attracted attention, it is the pickle emoji that has generated the most excitement online. Social media users quickly joked that it could rival or even replace the aubergine emoji, which is commonly used as a sexual innuendo.
“Pickle emoji gonna be huge,” one user wrote on X, while another joked: “Eggplant emoji is shaking.”
The squinting face emoji has also been warmly received, with many users saying it fills a long-standing gap in facial expressions. “I’m going to use the squinting one so much,” one post read.
Fans also welcomed the new thumb gestures, suggesting they could be useful for more expressive reactions in conversations.
However, reactions were mixed for the remaining emojis, with some users questioning the need for additions such as the monarch butterfly, lighthouse, and meteor, noting similarities to existing icons.
Emojipedia cautioned that both Unicode 18.0 and Emoji 18.0 remain in draft form and are subject to change. Several rounds of review will take place before final approval, meaning some proposed emojis may not make it into the final release.
If approved, individual platforms such as Apple, Google, and Samsung will then design and roll out their own versions of the emojis. This process can take months, and in some cases up to a year, before the new emojis appear on devices.
