"Stoned eye?" — Internet reacts to Apple adding new emojis with iOS 18.4

Apple unveiled the eight new emojis that will be added to its iOS 18.4 update on March 3, 2025. The new emojis, released as part of the second iOS 18.4 beta version, included a face with undereye bags, a fingerprint, a flag of the island Sark, and a harp, among others.

The new emojis will reportedly be available for Apple users this spring, in either late March or early April.

However, as soon as netizens and social media users saw the emojis, they had varied reactions, as many wondered what the new face emoji was supposed to represent.

"Stoned eye?" one user questioned.

Several netizens claimed that they could relate to the undereye bags emoji. However, others were seemingly baffled about the new flag inclusion, claiming they had never seen it before.

"Never related to a f**king emoji more in my life," one person tweeted.

"The tired one my new fav already," another person added.

"Which flag is that? I’ve never seen that one before," someone else posted.

"What country flag is that?" another person asked.

Other netizens suggested different emojis the company needed to add to its repertoire.

"Nobody asked for this, they should add the side eye emoji already," one person posted.

"I need animated emojis, specifically a twerking turtle emoji," another person added.

"Where is the s’more emoji? That’s what this world needs," someone else commented.

"Cool, but can we finally get the 'side eye' emoji? Like I'm tired of improvising," another user wrote.

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The new Apple emojis were taken from the Unicode Consortium

The eight new emojis included in Apple's iOS 18.2 beta version are a leafless tree, a spade, a turnip, and a purple splatter, apart from the face with undereye bags, a flag of Sark, and a fingerprint.

The update will also replace the old Syrian flag with the current de facto one. The design for the new emojis may be subject to change before they are officially launched with iOS 18.4 this spring.

According to a March 3, 2025, article on the Apple Insider website, the new emojis were proposed by the Unicode Consortium as a part of the Unicode 16 in May 2024. After approval, Apple designed its version of the emojis to be compatible with iOS. According to the company website, the Unicode Consortium is defined as:

"A non-profit corporation devoted to developing, maintaining, and promoting software internationalization standards and data, particularly the Unicode Standard, which specifies the representation of text in all modern software products and standards."

Since the new emojis are still in the beta version, only senders and receivers with the beta version will be able to see them. Receivers without the beta version will see a question mark inside a box. The new emojis have yet to be included in the existing emoji categories, but they can be found by searching the respective keywords in the emoji search box while texting.

Unicode Consortium's Emoji Standard & Research Working Group also developed over 160 new emojis in November 2024, including an Orca whale, a ballet dancer, and a trombone. As per the Apple Insider website, these emojis will be a part of the Emoji 17.0 pack and may make an appearance during iOS 19's launch.

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Other additions to Apple's new iOS 18.4 beta version include the Priority Notifications feature, the Vision Pro app and new Shortcut Actions.