Unicode’s emoji tsar Jennifer Daniel has given us a sneak peek at nine emoji set for release next year – though not all of them are entirely new.
She says the committee responsible for the selection of emoji is doing some tidying up to help avoid misunderstandings …
One of these course corrections involves splitting one emoji into two – a comet and a meteor.
Originally, when the Comet emoji first debuted it was drawn as a sparkling blue ball of ice moving across the galaxy. Then a rando changed the design to a red-hot rock entering the atmosphere. THESE ARE NOT THE SAME. Wishing on a star and witnessing an extinction-level event are two entirely different energies.
Now that Unicode is adding a distinct Meteor emoji, it forces a reconciliation. Fonts with a ball of fire will move that design to this new home (aka codepoint), leaving the Comet to be a consistent, celestial blue ice streak across all vendors. While the Comet remains a wish, the Meteor is here for your deepest existential crises. Drop it when the timeline is melting down, an argument enters a catastrophic phase, or you just want to signal cosmic finality. I’ll be using it to represent doom scrolling.
There are also the vital matters of having separate cucumber and pickle emoji, as well as blue and orange butterflies.
First up, I don’t know how you’re gonna last another year without a Lighthouse. This coastal beacon functions as a literal guiding light through the dark night of your soul. Or an Eraser, which can’t undo that 2 AM text, but helps when retroactive boundary-setting or communicating the urge to wipe the slate clean. We even got new hand emoji. While our beloved index finger points 👉 “Look at that coordinate,” the new Leftwards/Rightwards Thumb Sign says, “Look at this guy.”
The Cracked Smiling Face is because sometimes, “I’m fine!” means “I’m very much not fine!” A visual externalization of an internal rupture. It’s the “Mask of Perfection” failing in real-time. It moves beyond standard emotion to capture the exact tension between your public persona and your private reality. Use it when your carefully crafted facade has cracked but you’re smiling through the shards.
The net represents the process of catching or pulling something out of the digital ether. Maybe you’re harvesting data, catching a vibe, or collecting whatever it is you collect.
They are set to launch in the spring of 2027.
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Ben Lovejoy is a British technology writer and EU Editor for 9to5Mac. He’s known for his op-eds and diary pieces, exploring his experience of Apple products over time, for a more rounded review. He also writes fiction, with two technothriller novels, a couple of SF shorts and a rom-com!
