OS X 10.10.3 has a bigger focus on emoji, lays the groundwork for a bit more diversity in smiley faces

BY Evan Selleck

Published 6 Feb 2015

image OS X Yosemite emoji

While using words to make sentences is still important in conveying important things, for anyone who just wants to send a quick message to a friend to tell them to bring some drinks over, sometimes words aren’t all that necessary.

Instead, a series of emoji can convey the same exact thing, and there’s plenty of options out there to choose from. And, according to a revelation made by MacRumors, OS X 10.10.3, which was recently seeded to developers in its first beta, emoji are a big focus of the new software. As noted in the original report, Apple has made a pretty big change to the systemwide character palette for emoji, available through the “Edit” function in most Mac apps. Apparently the area where emoji are selected has been given a name change. Previously it was the “Special Characters” option, while now in OS X 10.10.3 it will be known as “Emoji & Symbols.” Obviously the change is meant to make it abundantly clear what’s available in this particular section, making accessibility easier.

That’s not all, though, as the report also indicates that Apple’s newest desktop software also begins to lay the groundwork for a bit more diversity in emoji, something that Apple has previously promised to do by working with the Unicode Consortium. Bringing more diversity to emoji starts with adding a bit more options within the skin tone modifiers, and that’s exactly what’s been done in OS X 10.10.3. There are also apparently quite a few placeholders for a few more emoji, too, but what might fill those blank spots is not known as of yet.

image OS X Yosemite emoji2

Another change of note is the way that people will be picking their favorite emoji after the public release of OS X 10.10.3 in the future. While choosing one now means accessing a paginated format, the new menu will apparently be al larger box, with pages that can be scrolled through either up or down. Meaning, users will be able to scroll through the entire list of emoji a bit faster than before, while the faces and icons will also be organized in categories, too.

How often do you use emoji?

[via MacRumors]