We already know that Android O will include new features like notification dots and picture-in-picture, but today another major feature of Android O was revealed that some might consider the biggest one yet.
With Android O, Google will include redesigned emoji and compatibility with Emoji 5.0. The first part means that the “blob” emoji found in previous versions of Android are gone, and they’re being replaced by new emoji with round smiley faces that are much more similar to emoji on other platforms.
Support for Emoji 5.0 also means that there will be new characters included in the Android O release. For example, there’s a new Mage emoji, a Star Struck face, a giraffe, a pretzel, and more. Google is the first major platform vendor to announce support for Emoji 5.0.
Emoji have become a major part of how people communicate, so it’s good to see Google not only updating its emoji characters from those gumdrop-looking blobs to smiley faces that more closely resemble what people think of when they think “emoji”. There are lots of nice new features coming in Android O, but after getting a peek at these new emoji, they’re likely to be come one of the most exciting new O features for a lot of people.
