If you enjoy emoji there is much to appreciate at the moment. The winners of the World Emoji Awards will be revealed later this month and Android devices along with iPhones received eight new emoji including a distorted face and an orca in March through software updates. Note that the new emoji may not display correctly for users without the latest software version. While emoji can be enjoyable interpreting them can sometimes prove difficult.

Over time emoji meanings have grown subjective based on message context and broader cultural trends. A smiling face or red heart are straightforward but the distinction between certain crying faces and the meaning behind food emoji can be unclear.

While awaiting approval of proposed new emoji here is guidance on interpreting all 3953 emoji.

Emojipedia offers support

Emojipedia serves as an online encyclopedia of emoji maintained by researchers. The site organizes emoji into nine categories such as Smileys People Objects and Activity. Each category further divides into subsections. Clicking into Smileys for instance reveals sections like Smiling and Affectionate along with Sleepy and Unwell.

Selecting an individual emoji provides a brief description from Emojipedia. For the sparkles emoji the description notes common uses for positive sentiments including love happiness beauty gratitude and excitement as well as newness or cleanliness. It may also serve as emphasis or convey sarcastic tones.

Emojipedia additionally suggests compatible emoji. For the wrapped gift emoji recommendations include the partying face and shopping cart.

Each entry displays artwork across platforms and shows evolution over time along with short codes and alternative names where relevant.

Leading emoji this month

Personal favorites vary but Emojipedia data shows these as some of the most popular at the start of July. The list updates regularly so popularity can shift with seasons or holidays. Not all platforms support every recent emoji.

Red heart
Check mark
Sparkles
Loudly crying face
Fire
Eyes
Distorted face
Face holding back tears
Face with bags under eyes
Sun

Recently added emoji

In 2025 the Unicode Consortium introduced Unicode 17.0 featuring eight new emoji: orca landslide trombone fight cloud distorted face ballet dancers treasure chest and hairy creature.

These appeared on iPhones via iOS update in March and on Android devices the same month. Devices require the latest software to display them.

Frequency of new emoji releases

Anyone may propose a new emoji. The Unicode Consortium approves them annually typically in fall though availability on devices often follows in spring.

Nine new emoji were proposed in October 2025 including a pickle. A squinting face proposal was later replaced by a cracking face. The full list includes a cracking face leftward and rightward thumb gestures monarch butterfly pickle lighthouse meteor eraser and net with handle.

Approval remains pending but release could occur in 2027 if accepted.

Custom emoji options like Genmoji

Apple introduced its emoji generator Genmoji in 2024 and added it to iOS 18.2. Access requires an iPhone 15 Pro or newer model.

For those without Genmoji Emojipedia provides two custom generators. The AI tool allows creation of items like a frog in a cowboy hat or heart-shaped pizza by entering a description. Results can be downloaded or copied for use as stickers in apps. The tool is free but limited to three generations daily so detailed descriptions help avoid wasted attempts.

Once daily limits are reached the Emoji Mashup Bot combines two emoji from the Twemoji set. Unlimited use is possible but selections are restricted to 113 smileys limiting creativity compared to the AI option.

Additional emoji resources

Emojipedia also organizes the World Emoji Awards on July 17. Categories include Most Popular New Emoji and Most Anticipated Emoji with winners selected by vote on X. Only emoji approved the prior year qualify.

The face with bags under the eyes won Most Popular New Emoji and Most 2025 Emoji in 2025 after also claiming Most Anticipated Emoji for 2024. The distorted face took Most Anticipated Emoji for 2025 while the melting face received the Lifetime Achievement Award and remains the youngest recipient though the face with bags under eyes may challenge that soon.

In 2024 the head shaking horizontally emoji earned Most Popular New Emoji.