Key Takeaways

  • Apple introduced 118 new emojis in iOS 17.4, including a lime, brown mushroom, phoenix, broken chain, and head-shaking emojis.
  • The update also includes four gender-neutral family emojis, with variations of some existing emojis now available in right-facing versions.
  • To access the new emojis for a fresh way to express yourself online, update your iPhone or iPad to iOS 17.4 or iPadOS 17.4.

Emojis are one of the best ways to express yourself, and every year, Apple adds new emojis to iOS to give you more ways to react online. It's no different with iOS 17 in 2024.

The Brand-New Emojis in iOS 17.4

New emojis are one of the many inclusions in the iOS 17.4 update. While Apple released 118 new emojis alongside iOS 17.4 and iPadOS 17.4 in March 2024, the six emojis below are the brand-new ones most people will be excited to try.

Lime

lime emoji

Lime has been a popular emoji request worldwide—so much so that a Mexican restaurant, Lime Fresh Mexican Grill, started a change.org petition demanding a lime emoji.

So if you've ever found yourself whipping up a dish that contains lime but had to end up using the lemon emoji to represent it, you'll be pleased to know that iOS finally has a lime emoji.

Brown Mushroom

mushroom emoji

Another emoji from the Food & Drink category that the Unicode Consortium approved in 2023 is the brown mushroom emoji. While the red and white mushroom emoji has been a fan favorite, the new emoji is a more realistic fungi representation.

Phoenix

Phoenix emoji

Apple also introduced an emoji for the phoenix, a well-known creature from Greek mythology. The emoji represents rebirth and reincarnation.

Broken Chain

broken chain emoji

If you're ever trying to represent a broken bond symbolically, you might find yourself searching for an appropriate emoji. Fortunately, iOS 17.4 includes a broken chain emoji.

Head-Shaking Horizontally

head shaking horizontally emoji

You'll also find two new iOS emojis in the smiley category. One of them is a head shaking horizontally emoji, which is undeniably the perfect way to say no to something calmly!

Head-Shaking Vertically

head shaking vertically emoji

Want to tell your friends that you'd be happy to hang out with them without typing out the words? Well, you can now simply send them the head-shaking vertically emoji and call it a day!

Four New Family Emojis

gender-neutral family emojis

Once you update your iPhone to iOS 17.4 or iPad to iPadOS 17.4, you'll find four gender-neutral family emojis. Here are the combinations available:

  • Adult, Child
  • Adult, Child, Child
  • Adult, Adult, Child
  • Adult, Adult, Child, Child

Fresh Emoji Variations in iOS 17.4

right-facing iOS emojis

Other than the six brand-new emoji concepts and gender-neutral family emojis, the remaining 108 emojis are slight variations of existing options.

While you can find these emojis before updating to iOS 17.4, you'll notice the ones you have are all left-facing. With the release of iOS 17.4, Apple introduced the following right-facing emojis:

  • Person walking
  • Person kneeling
  • Person running
  • Person with a white cane
  • Person in a manual wheelchair
  • Person in a motorized wheelchair

All these emojis are available in three gender options and five different skin tones. To access the new emojis, simply update your iPhone or iPad to iOS 17.4 or iPadOS 17.4.