The first iOS 15.4 beta has landed, and while it comes with a number of new features, the most exciting aspect for many iPhone users might be its new emoji.
It includes support for Emoji 14, which means there are 37 new emoji types and 75 skin tone additions.
The skin tone additions are of course great for inclusivity – being able to share an emoji that somewhat reflects you is always better than one with a wildly different skin tone.
The new emoji meanwhile cover a wide range of things, from a melting face, a saluting face, and a face with an eye peeking out from behind hands, to a biting lip, an empty nest, an x-ray, a crutch, a troll, coral, beans, bubbles, a lotus flower, and a whole lot more.
In total there are 112 new additions (factoring in both the new types and the skin tone variations), and you can see a full list of them on Emojipedia.
If you’re desperate to get these emoji now and are registered with Apple as a developer then you can grab the current beta, but we’d generally recommend waiting at least for the public beta (which based on past form could arrive any day now), and ideally for the finished release.
The final version of iOS 15.4 is probably still many weeks away, but we’d think based on past form that it should arrive before April at least.
Analysis: what else you’ll find in iOS 15.4
As well as emoji, the iOS 15.4 beta is a home to a whole bunch of other updates and improvements, with the highlight perhaps being mask support for Face ID (without needing an Apple Watch).
There’s also an Apple Card widget which lets you view your balance and spending at a glance, the ability to add notes to passwords in iCloud Keychain, the option to activate SharePlay directly from the Share Sheet, and loads of other changes.
Universal Control makes a long-awaited appearance too, though this is more of an iPadOS 15.4 feature, as it allows you to use a single mouse and keyboard across both an iPad and a Mac.
What we haven’t so far seen is any sign of the ability to add your driver’s license or state ID to the Wallet app, which is something Apple announced a long time ago but is yet to launch. Still, maybe it will make the finished version of iOS 15.4, and if not there’s always iOS 16.
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