The eight emoji Unicode added in September 2025 now render on iPhone, iPad, Mac, Samsung phones and WhatsApp. Windows has not left preview, and stock Android is still incomplete a year later. Here is the state of each platform, and when we expect the last two.
| Platform | Status | Since |
|---|---|---|
| iPhone / iPad | ✅ Live | iOS/iPadOS 26.4, Mar 24, 2026 |
| Mac | ✅ Live | macOS 26.4 |
| Samsung | ✅ Live | One UI 8.5. Galaxy S26 on Feb 25, 2026, wider Galaxy rollout Mar 25, 2026 |
| ✅ Live | Android app v2.26.8.72, Jan/Feb 2026; on iPhone the iOS 26.4 system set covers them | |
| Android (stock / Pixel) | 🔄 Partial | Pixel 11 only, from the Noto 3D redesign on Aug 20, 2026 |
| Windows | 🔄 Preview | Release Preview channel, Aug 27, 2026, select regions |
If one of the eight shows as an empty box for you, your platform has not shipped its Unicode 17.0 update yet.
The Unicode Consortium published Unicode 17.0, and with it Emoji 17.0, on September 9, 2025. Eight emoji joined the standard: Distorted Face, Fight Cloud, Hairy Creature (Bigfoot), Orca, Landslide, Trombone, Treasure Chest and Ballet Dancer.
Publishing the standard defines the characters. It does not draw them. Every operating system and app then ships its own font and keyboard update, which is why "new emoji released" and "new emoji on your phone" sat six months apart for Apple and a year apart for Windows.
All eight had cleared proposal, subcommittee screening and a UTC vote long before that September date. Our guide to how new Unicode symbols get approved walks the whole pipeline.
| Platform | Expected |
|---|---|
| Windows (general release) | Late 2026 |
| Pixel 10 and earlier | No date announced |
Our estimate from the channel Windows is already in, not a Microsoft announcement.
Windows moved through Insider Preview build 26340.9212 on August 17, 2026 and into the Release Preview channel on August 27. Release Preview is the last ring before a build reaches everyone, so late 2026 is the reasonable read on a rollout already at that stage. That is our estimate from the channel, not a shipped date.
Older Pixels are a different case with nothing to project from. Google posted its Noto Color Emoji designs to Google Fonts on September 10, 2025, the day after Unicode 17.0 published, and the font has been ready ever since. Device support did not follow: Android 17 launched in June 2026 without the new emoji, and the Noto 3D redesign that carries them arrived on the Pixel 11 in August 2026 and has not reached Pixel 10 or earlier. Google has announced no date for those handsets, and a font that has been ready for a year is not evidence of when a phone will pick it up.
Meanwhile the characters themselves already work. A Unicode 17.0 emoji copied on any device keeps its code intact, so it renders correctly for every reader whose platform is on the list above, whatever it looks like on yours.
An empty rectangle where an emoji should be means your device has no font that draws that character. The character itself is fine. Its codepoint travels intact through copy and paste, so the box turns into the emoji the moment the platform ships its update. Why fonts show as boxes covers the general case, and do fancy fonts work on iPhone answers the Apple-specific version.
Unicode 18.0 publishes on September 16, 2026 and adds roughly 13,000 characters, almost all of them Small Seal script rather than emoji. Unicode 18.0 Release Date Confirmed has what changed between the draft and the final release. We will run a tracker like this one for it.
Browse copy-paste symbol and emoji collections that need no font update from anybody.
Open the Unicode Library →Release date and repertoire figures per the Unicode Consortium's official release notes. Platform rollout dates per each platform's own release notes, cross-checked against Emojipedia's vendor-changelog coverage (Windows 11, Samsung One UI 8.5, Google's Noto Color Emoji release, Noto 3D on the Pixel 11) and WABetaInfo's WhatsApp beta tracking.