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An updated couple emoji, new disability-themed emojis and a sari will be some of the emojis to be added to your keyboard

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Your emoji keypad just got more colourful.
Your emoji keypad just got more colourful.

Apple has previewed a variety of new diverse emoji’s featuring much-welcomed options for women.

The company has updated the holding hands emoji for relationships saying “users will now be able to select any combination of skin tone, in addition to gender, to personalise the people holding hands, opening up more than 75 possible combinations”.

Apple,emoji

In addition this, Apple is introducing disability-themed emoji’s that feature a woman in a wheelchair emoji, as well as other emoji’s including a sari and a one piece bikini emoji.

Apple,emoji
Apple,emoji

Apple CEO Tim Cook shares on his social media that this new preview of emoji’s is a celebration of “diversity in all its forms” to include more representation on the keyboard.

Earlier this year Apple eventually answered Tinder's year-long #representlove petition by introducing interracial couple emoji. 

In a world where emojis have replaced much of our vocabularies whenever we post on social media or communicate on iMessage and WhatsApp, it makes sense that our emoji options expand to fit our lifestyles, identities and relationships.

It almost seems like forever ago when people of colour could finally change their emojis to that of their skin tone because at some point, the Unicode Consortium once thought nothing of making fair skin the default. 

READ MORE: Apple has finally included Hijab-wearing women in their new range of emojis

Now we not only have multiple skin tones to choose from, but at least two more hairstyle options too - braids or bald headed. Add to that the Hijab-wearing emoji victory won by Saudi teen Rayouf Alhumedhi. 

We then got certain professions presented as both men and women, a pregnant woman, superheroes, rockstars, selfie emojis, fist bumps, handshakes, "just showered" emojis and very recently, the period emoji. 

And considering text messaging is a primary form of communication for people in relationships, it was about time all types of relationships were represented on our emoji keyboards. That's why a campaign by the online dating app Tinder, called #representlove was created. 

This was a petition launched in February 2018 to represent interracial couples as well as LGBT couples. This came after a global Tinder study confirmed that "online dating has facilitated an increase in interracial dating and marriages."

READ MORE: Love in the time of chemistry - can you fall in love at first scent or first swipe?

In a statement to Mashable, Tinder CMO Jenny Campbell said that "Tinder advocates for the freedom of people to live how they want to live and love who they want to love."

"The success of our Interracial Couple Emoji campaign shows how powerful the voices are of the more than 50,000 people who joined our cause by signing our petition; together, we effected change," Jenny added.

The Real co-host Tamera Mowrey-Housley who has been bullied online for being in an interracial marriage with Adam, also celebrated this emoji announcement this week. 

Adam has also had to come to Tamera's defense - whose parents are also an interracial couple - where on a viral episode of OWN's Where Are They Now, he declared that “the fact that in this day and age, we get attacked for our interracial relationship is beyond sad…it is pathetic."

Well, if ever the Housleys get bullied again (or any interracial couple), they know that the Unicode Consortium and Tinder are in their corner... and us too.

interrracial emojis are here
Interracial emojis are here

Screenshot from Unicode Consortium.

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