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Newest iOS 10 beta includes 100 new emoji, replaces gun with waterpistol

iOS will have the most diverse cast of emoji—including single-parent families.

Newest iOS 10 beta includes 100 new emoji, replaces gun with waterpistol
Apple

Apple has quietly waded into the gun violence debate enveloping America this week, after it announced it would be releasing more than 100 new or redesigned emoji with iOS 10 this autumn—and would replace the symbol of a revolver with one of a water pistol.

The new green-and-orange emoji could barely look less threatening, and it seems to be Apple's response to a spate of mass shootings in 2016, which has been a particularly violent and deadly year for minorities and police officers alike.

A group called New Yorkers Against Gun Violence are claiming the change as a victory for their campaign, having lobbied Apple heavily to remove the pistol symbol “as a symbolic gesture to limit gun accessibility.” A representative for the charity told CNN: “Apple has stood up to the bullying tactics of the NRA and gun industry by showing that there are many more life-affirming ways to express oneself than with a gun.”

It's not all doom and gloom with Apple's announcement, however; the firm is also reaffirming a commitment to diversity. Amongst the new emoji are a rainbow pride flag and a single-parent family, while female and minority versions of many of the sports players and other professions (such as construction workers, private investigators, and police officers) will also make appearances. In a statement, it said:

Apple is working closely with the Unicode Consortium to ensure that popular emoji characters reflect the diversity of people everywhere.

Emoji are usually approved and implemented by the Unicode Consortium without any fuss, but gun depictions have become increasingly unwelcome on certain platforms. Apple and Microsoft successfully lobbied earlier this year to have a proposed rifle emoji removed from a new round of universal emoji released in late June. Microsoft's pistol emoji is also a toy gun, but the icon remains lethal-looking on other platforms including Google's Android.

Listing image by Apple

Channel Ars Technica