17 Jul 2026 12 min read how to get a new emoji

How to Get a New Emoji: From Updates to Unicode Proposals

You open your emoji keyboard, scroll, pause, and still can't find the one symbol that fits what you want to say. Maybe you want a very specific reaction, a niche object, or an inside joke your group uses all the time. That frustration is normal, and it also points to an important detail that isn't widely known.

There isn't just one way to get a new emoji.

If you're trying to access the latest official emojis, the answer is usually a phone or system update. If you want something personal, you're probably looking for a sticker, avatar, or custom keyboard tool instead. If you want your own image to work inside Slack or Discord, that's a platform-specific custom emoji. And if your goal is to create a symbol that could appear on keyboards worldwide, you're talking about a formal Unicode proposal.

Those paths sound similar, but they work very differently. One gives you text characters that travel across apps and devices. Another gives you images that only work in certain places. The hardest path involves research, design, formatting rules, and committee review.

That's why “how to get a new emoji” can mean several completely different things. The useful answer depends on what you want at the end.

Your Guide to the World of Emojis

Most emoji confusion starts with a simple assumption. People think every smiley, sticker, and reaction image is basically the same thing. It isn't.

An official Unicode emoji is a standardized character. It's part of the same broad system that lets text display across devices and software. When an emoji becomes official, Apple, Google, Samsung, Microsoft, and other platforms can add their own visual design for that same character.

A custom sticker isn't the same thing. It's an image. It may look like an emoji, but it doesn't behave like one everywhere. You can send it in supported apps, but it won't automatically appear on every keyboard or every website.

Then there are platform-specific emojis. Slack, Discord, Telegram, and similar services let communities upload custom images that act like emojis inside that platform. They're great for team jokes, fandom servers, and branded reactions. Outside that space, they usually don't travel well.

Three common goals people mean

You want the newest built-in emojis so they appear on your phone keyboard.
You want something personalized like your face, your style, or a custom reaction image.
You want to invent a brand-new official emoji that could eventually become part of the global standard.

Each goal has a different level of effort.

The fastest route is usually updating your device. The most creative route is using stickers or custom keyboards. The most ambitious route is applying to Unicode.

That last option is real, but it's much more formal than many expect. It isn't a suggestion box. It's a proposal process with documentation requirements, review stages, and approval by committees.

If you've ever wondered why your custom idea isn't already on your keyboard, that's usually why. The system favors symbols that are easy to recognize, broadly useful, and clearly different from what already exists.

The Quickest Way to Get New Official Emojis

If your goal is simple, you don't need to design anything. You just need the latest software on your phone, tablet, or computer.

Official emojis usually arrive through operating system updates, not through a separate emoji app. That means iPhone users often get them through iOS updates, while Android users usually get them through Android updates and keyboard app improvements.

On iPhone and iPad

Open Settings, then go to General and Software Update. If an update is available, install it.

Practical rule: Use Wi-Fi, keep your battery charged, and give yourself a few minutes. Emoji updates are bundled with broader system changes, so they don't usually install instantly.

After the update finishes, open any app with a text field, bring up the emoji keyboard, and look for newly added characters. If you still don't see them right away, restart your device once.

A few things trip people up on Apple devices:

Emoji keyboard not enabled: Go to Settings, General, Keyboard, Keyboards.
Update delayed: Some older devices may receive changes later or in a more limited way.
App not refreshed yet: Close and reopen the app where you're typing.

On Android phones

Android is a little less uniform because different brands layer their own software on top. Still, the path is similar. Open Settings, then look for System, Software Update, or System Update depending on your device.

Samsung, Google Pixel, Motorola, and other Android phones may place the setting in slightly different menus. If you use Gboard, keyboard-related visual support may also improve when that app updates.

Look for settings labeled Software Update, System Update, or Security & Privacy with update options nested inside.

If you're unsure whether your apps are current too, this guide on checking for app updates can help you catch anything your phone didn't refresh automatically.

Why you can see a box instead of an emoji

Sometimes someone sends a brand-new emoji and you see a blank square, a question mark, or a placeholder. That usually means their device supports the character but yours doesn't yet.

Here's the basic difference:

Situation	What it means
You can send and see the emoji	Your device supports that character
Someone else sends it but you see a box	Your software is behind
You see a different style than your friend	Same emoji, different platform design

This also explains why “getting a new emoji” often has nothing to do with downloading a random emoji app. If you want the official keyboard version, updates matter more than add-ons.

Expand Your Options with Custom Keyboards and Apps

If the built-in set still feels limited, you don't need to wait for an official release. You can widen your options with avatar tools, sticker packs, and third-party keyboards.

Many people find the answer they wanted. Not a new Unicode character, but a better way to express themselves.

Official emoji versus sticker

The cleanest distinction is this:

Unicode emoji are text characters.
Stickers and avatar reactions are images.
Emoji mashups may look native, but often depend on a specific app or keyboard.

That difference matters because text characters behave better across platforms. You can copy, paste, search, and often resize them as text. A sticker is more like sending a mini picture.

Popular tools that feel like new emojis

Apple users often use Memoji. Samsung users may use AR Emoji. Many people also use Bitmoji for personalized avatars and reactions. These tools let you build a character that resembles you, then generate expressive images for messages.

They're useful because they solve a different problem than official emojis. Instead of asking, “Why doesn't Unicode include my exact face and mood?” they let you make a custom version immediately.

Here's how they compare:

Tool type	Best for	Limitation
Memoji	Apple users who want personalized reactions	Works best inside Apple's ecosystem
AR Emoji	Samsung users who want avatar-based expressions	Varies by device and app support
Bitmoji	Cross-app personal stickers	Usually sends as images, not true text emoji
Gboard extras	Quick stickers, GIFs, and creative combinations	Not all outputs work everywhere

Keyboard apps can add more than emoji

Apps like Gboard and Microsoft SwiftKey can extend what your keyboard does. You may get better GIF search, stickers, clipboard tools, and in some cases playful emoji combinations.

That doesn't mean you're adding official emoji to Unicode. It means you're adding communication tools that sit beside the standard keyboard.

If you like experimenting with phone utilities beyond the default setup, this roundup of useful iPhone utility apps can point you toward other practical add-ons too.

How to decide what to install

A lot of third-party keyboard apps ask for permissions, so be selective.

Consider these questions before enabling one:

Do you trust the developer? Read the app listing and permission prompts carefully.
Do you need typing features or just stickers? A sticker app may need less access than a full keyboard.
Will your friends see the same thing? If the tool sends an image, they probably will. If it relies on app-specific behavior, results may vary.

If your goal is self-expression, custom keyboards and sticker tools are often the easiest win. If your goal is universal compatibility, they won't replace official emojis.

That single distinction saves a lot of disappointment. Many people spend time hunting for an app that promises “new emojis,” when what they're really getting is a private sticker system.

Add Custom Emojis to Your Favorite Platforms

If your real goal is making your group chat, workplace, or community feel more personal, platform-specific custom emojis are the sweet spot. They're easier than a Unicode proposal and more shared than a private sticker pack.

Slack and Discord are the most common examples. They let members upload images and turn them into reusable reactions. A team can add its logo, a creator can add channel jokes, and a friend group can immortalize a funny screenshot.

Adding a custom emoji in Slack

In Slack, custom emoji usually live at the workspace level. The exact menu can vary a bit by interface, but the usual flow is straightforward.

Open your Slack workspace.
Find the emoji menu in the message composer.
Look for an option related to Add Emoji or workspace customization.
Upload your image.
Give it a short, memorable name.
Save it and test it in a message.

PNG files with transparent backgrounds usually work best because they look cleaner against dark and light themes.

A few naming habits help a lot:

Keep names short so teammates can remember them.
Use clear words instead of obscure abbreviations.
Avoid duplicates that are too close to existing reactions.

Adding a custom emoji in Discord

Discord handles this through Server Settings. You generally need the right permissions to upload emoji for a server.

A common flow looks like this:

Open the server you manage.
Click the server name.
Enter Server Settings.
Find the emoji or uploads area.
Upload your image and assign a name.

Discord communities often use tiny reaction art, game references, or face crops from stream clips. If you're designing your own set from scratch, learning a step-by-step AI art creation process can help you create source images before you resize and simplify them for emoji use.

What makes a custom emoji look good

Most failed custom emojis aren't bad ideas. They're just too detailed.

Small reaction images work best when they have:

Good choice	Why it works
Bold shapes	Easier to read at tiny sizes
High contrast	Stands out in chat
Simple expression	Recognizable at a glance
Transparent background	Looks cleaner in most interfaces

Faces with tiny text, crowded backgrounds, or too many colors often turn muddy. Before uploading, zoom way out. If you can't tell what it is quickly, simplify it.

If you also enjoy customizing how your phone looks overall, this guide on changing icons on your device pairs nicely with the same kind of visual personalization mindset.

Small chat emojis are design problems, not just image uploads. Clean edges and simple shapes beat detailed artwork almost every time.

The biggest benefit of this route is speed. You can go from idea to usable emoji in one afternoon, as long as you understand they'll stay inside that platform.

How to Propose a New Emoji to Unicode

You notice there's no official emoji for something you use all the time. A sticker won't help because you want it to work across phones, apps, and operating systems. That goal puts you on a very different path from making a custom emoji for Discord or Telegram.

Unicode handles the shared character standard behind official emojis. If your idea becomes part of that standard, Apple, Google, Samsung, and other platforms can add their own artwork for the same character. That is very different from a platform upload, which stays inside one app.

What a proposal must include

A Unicode emoji proposal is a formal PDF, not a suggestion box entry. It needs sample images in color and black and white, a proposed name, related keywords, and evidence that people would use the emoji often enough to justify adding a brand-new character, as outlined in this overview of the Unicode proposal process.

Format matters as much as the idea.

Unicode's submission guidance, summarized by JoyPixels' emoji submission guide, explains that proposals are sent to the Emoji Subcommittee during a specific annual window and can be returned if required parts are missing. A good concept can still fail at the paperwork stage if the images, sections, or supporting details are incomplete.

If that sounds bureaucratic, it is. A Unicode proposal works more like a standards application than a creative pitch.

What Unicode wants to see

Unicode looks for evidence that an emoji fills a real gap. The proposed image should be easy to recognize, clearly different from existing emojis, and useful to a broad international audience rather than one niche group.

A helpful way to frame it is to treat the proposal like a case for adding a new word to a dictionary keyboard. Unicode is not asking whether the idea is fun. It is asking whether people across many contexts need this as its own character.

Your proposal should answer questions like these:

Is the image recognizable at small sizes?
Is it distinct from current emojis?
Would many people use it across regions and contexts?
Can the same idea already be expressed with existing emojis or sequences?

Usage evidence matters here. Proposals often include search interest, social media examples, and other support showing the concept is already widely understood, as noted earlier.

Official emoji approval is less about originality and more about proving broad, lasting usefulness.

The review path

After submission, the proposal goes through committee review. The Emoji Subcommittee checks the proposal's completeness, the strength of the usage case, and whether the design concept overlaps with something already available.

If the proposal survives that stage, it can move up to the Unicode Technical Committee for a final decision. You can think of the process like getting a new road sign approved. First, reviewers ask whether the sign is needed at all. Then they ask whether it will make sense everywhere, not just in one town.

A video explanation of the emoji approval process also points out a practical problem for first-time applicants. Proposals can be weakened by poor evidence collection, region-specific ideas, or search screenshots prepared the wrong way.

Common reasons proposals fail

Many proposals fall short for predictable reasons:

Weak evidence of expected use
Too much overlap with existing emojis
Limited cultural or regional relevance
Unclear visual concept at small sizes
Formatting errors in the PDF or image set
Research screenshots or search terms prepared incorrectly

Organization helps more than people expect. If you build your draft with a clear section structure first, it is easier to keep the required evidence, images, and rationale in order. This guide on creating a clear outline in Google Docs is useful if you want a clean framework before turning the document into a formal proposal.

What happens after approval

Approval does not put the emoji on every phone right away. Unicode approves the character first. After that, device makers and software platforms still need to draw it, include it in their emoji fonts, and ship it in updates.

That delay explains why an emoji can be officially approved but still missing from your keyboard for a while.

The main takeaway is straightforward. A Unicode proposal is the path to a true official emoji character, but it is a formal standards process with a high bar. If your goal is universal keyboard support, this is the route. If your goal is faster personal expression, custom stickers or platform-specific emojis are usually the better fit.

Frequently Asked Questions About Emojis

Why do emojis look different on my phone than on my friend's phone

Because platforms draw the same emoji differently. Apple, Google, Samsung, Microsoft, and other companies usually follow the same underlying character but create their own artwork for it. The meaning is meant to stay close, but the style can vary a lot.

Can I make my own emoji without Unicode approval

Yes, if you mean a sticker, avatar, or platform-specific upload. You can create images for Slack, Discord, Telegram, Bitmoji-style tools, and many messaging apps without waiting for a standards body. You only need Unicode approval if you want a true official emoji character.

Why did someone send an emoji I can't see

Your device probably hasn't received support for that character yet. When that happens, you may see a blank box or placeholder instead of the intended emoji. Updating your operating system is usually the first fix to try.

Can I create and sell my own emoji pack

Yes, if you're selling sticker packs, artwork, or branded reaction images through supported platforms or app ecosystems. That's different from creating an official Unicode emoji. One is a product or asset pack. The other is a proposal for a universal character.

Why doesn't Unicode accept every good idea

Because “good idea” isn't the only standard. Unicode looks for symbols that are distinctive, broadly useful, and not already covered by existing characters or combinations. The process is designed to avoid clutter and keep the set workable.

Do I need design skills to make custom platform emojis

Not necessarily, but simple design choices help. Clear shapes, strong contrast, and easy-to-read expressions matter more than fancy detail. If you use AI tools or editing apps to help generate ideas, this introduction to using AI tools in everyday workflows can make the process less intimidating.

What's the best option for most people

Usually one of these:

Update your phone if you just want the latest standard emojis.
Use Memoji, Bitmoji, or a keyboard app if you want more personality.
Upload custom images to Slack or Discord if you want shared reactions in a group.
Propose to Unicode only if you're ready for a formal, research-heavy process.

If you like clear tech answers without the jargon, Simply Tech Today is a solid place to keep learning. It breaks down everyday questions about phones, apps, AI tools, and digital features in a way that's practical, readable, and easy to use right away.