Business Insider is reporting that Apple is changing its implementation of the "pistol" emoji (🔫 \U0001F52B; "🔫") from a revolver to a toy water gun. According to Apple's announcement, the change will take effect with the release of iOS 10 this fall. Apple's announcement didn't explicitly mention the change or its rationale but the change is, predictably, ruffling some feathers.
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[...] The Emojipedia website argued that the symbol could still appear as a lifelike gun in messages sent to non-iOS users. Apple made the change in the wake of a series of shootings in the US.
However, Microsoft announced this week that its toy gun symbol would be redesigned as a more realistic-looking firearm. The emoji character system allows companies to use slightly different designs of the same basic objects, signs or expressions.
"The thing is, emojis already look different on different platforms and it does cause confusion," Jeremy Burge, editor of Emojipedia, told the BBC. "When we're dealing with guns and toys as a comparison, that's a whole new level of problems that we have there."
[...] "Apple has the most prominent emoji set that people use," said Mr Burge. "I think it has a high responsibility to be a bit cautious."
There was further criticism from web users, but a columnist in the Guardian praised the move as a statement on gun control.
"It's a smart, small part in the battle - which we're presently losing - to keep Americans safe," wrote Jean Hannah Edelstein. There have been calls previously - including from a campaign called Disarm the iPhone - to remove the handgun icon from iOS devices.
[...] Both Apple and Microsoft have said they are working with the Unicode Consortium - the body that maintains lists of emojis across different platforms.
The pistol emoji ― 🔫 ― is being phasered out, or turned into a water pistol:
Google is the latest company to ditch the pistol with a new emoji update for Android users. The switch to a bright orange and yellow water gun, rolling out now, mimics changes made by Apple, WhatsApp, Twitter, and Samsung over the last few years. That leaves Microsoft as the only major platform with the realistic handgun emoji. True, Facebook still uses it, but a spokesperson for the company confirmed to Emojipedia that it would also be replacing its gun emoji with a toy water gun. The Verge has reached out to Microsoft for comment.
[...] Ironically, Microsoft initially displayed the gun emoji as a toy, but changed it to a revolver in 2016 as part of its emoji redesign project. With Google's (and Facebook's) latest move, Microsoft's gun emoji puts it at philosophical odds with the other giant tech companies based in the US where gun violence is a major concern. As we previously noted, in 2016 Apple successfully pushed to remove the rifle icon from the standardized collection of emoji.
However, later on the day The Verge's article was published, Microsoft revealed that it is jumping on the trend as well:
We are in the process of evolving our emojis to reflect our values and the feedback we've received. Here's a preview: https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DbqXVKBU0AAdXLk.jpg
Previously: Apple Changes "Pistol" Emoji From Revolver to Toy Water Gun
Apple Urged to Rethink Gun Emoji Change
Twitter Changes Revolver Emoji to Water Pistol Emoji
Related: Kids Are Facing Criminal Charges for Using Emoji
(Score: 3, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday August 02 2016, @11:46PM
That might trigger some reactions from some people :)
(Score: 2) by takyon on Wednesday August 03 2016, @12:25AM
#CodePointsMatter
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 3, Funny) by Dunbal on Wednesday August 03 2016, @01:04AM
#AllPointsMatter
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday August 03 2016, @12:55AM
Trigger the SJWs if the emojis is a gun, trigger the neutrality people if you change it, there's just no escape. But I think their choice puts them on the wrong side of history :^)
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday August 02 2016, @11:47PM
I'll just use the eggplant instead.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by archfeld on Tuesday August 02 2016, @11:47PM
Another grandstanding 'PC' act for public consumption. Apple is likely to break its' own shoulder doing so much back patting these days. Sadly they are not alone. These kind of acts get 'media' attention but in reality do nothing to address a real issue.
For the NSA : Explosives, guns, assassination, conspiracy, primers, detonators, initiators, main charge, nuclear charge
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday August 03 2016, @12:19AM
This is why Apple is boring.
(Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday August 03 2016, @01:36AM
What do you expect from a company run by a faggot?
(Score: 5, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday August 03 2016, @12:32AM
Cop still mistakes it for a real gun, shoots black youth.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday August 03 2016, @12:43AM
If they shoot unarmed people, a toy gun is just asking for it.
(Score: 2) by jdavidb on Wednesday August 03 2016, @02:19AM
ⓋⒶ☮✝🕊 Secession is the right of all sentient beings
(Score: 2) by krishnoid on Wednesday August 03 2016, @07:14AM
I guess we need emojis of youths [youtube.com] of different races holding both models of guns to really obtain differentiable results.
(Score: 1) by kurenai.tsubasa on Wednesday August 03 2016, @02:21AM
Maybe they should have changed it to a firetruck instead…!
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday August 03 2016, @10:10PM
Did the cops find the owner of the iphone?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday August 03 2016, @12:39AM
What a farcical decision.
According to the PC fascists everyone has to be treated like a child or we will all turn into raping, gun-touting nazis. Of course it's just an emoji so nobody will bat an eyelid, but it's these tiny things that reflect the true state of mind of those who advocate more sweeping censorship.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday August 03 2016, @01:09AM
"gun-touting," that's an awesome typo
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday August 03 2016, @02:08AM
or we will all turn into raping, gun-touting nazis.
Seems it is already too late for some. Just saying.
(Score: 4, Informative) by MostCynical on Wednesday August 03 2016, @12:59AM
Every time an someone uses an emoji, they look like a tool. This is automatic. No coding required.
"I guess once you start doubting, there's no end to it." -Batou, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex
(Score: 5, Touché) by jdavidb on Wednesday August 03 2016, @02:24AM
ⓋⒶ☮✝🕊 Secession is the right of all sentient beings
(Score: 2) by jdavidb on Wednesday August 03 2016, @01:58PM
ⓋⒶ☮✝🕊 Secession is the right of all sentient beings
(Score: 3, Funny) by kurenai.tsubasa on Wednesday August 03 2016, @02:30AM
☞ Please tell me I can keep using these! ☜
☞ If not for these codepoints, we would have no way of representing old west posters in unicode!
☞ We must keep these codepoints for our heritage and posterity!
(Score: 3, Touché) by butthurt on Wednesday August 03 2016, @01:06AM
Does it matter that Apple also changed the direction in which the gun is pointing in the image? If a message was written with a gun between two faces or figures, the direction in which the gun points would seem to indicate who's pointing a gun at whom. If it still points the other way on other platforms or older iOS versions, that could lead to miscommunication.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by FatPhil on Wednesday August 03 2016, @07:48AM
Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people; the smallest discuss themselves
(Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday August 03 2016, @09:54AM
If a few twats now start shooting the wrong way, nothing of value is lost.
I don't know about you, but I have a certain expectation regarding the direction of such shots.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by FatPhil on Wednesday August 03 2016, @12:38PM
Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people; the smallest discuss themselves
(Score: 2) by Tork on Wednesday August 03 2016, @03:16PM
None of the clipart that's been added to unicode in the last 20 years has had anything to do with serious communication of important information.
🖕🏻
🏳️🌈 Proud Ally 🏳️🌈
(Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday August 03 2016, @09:52AM
If the original text was that important to you then you should have taken a screenshot for posterity. Now you're just going to be stuck with a non-threatening toy gun aimed at the wrong emoji.
(Score: 2, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday August 03 2016, @01:11AM
No wonder my mob revenue dried up; my text threats lost their impact.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday August 03 2016, @01:53AM
Buddy, you gotta roll with the punches. "Mob" written backward is 💣 (bom). Apple hasn't yet changed it to a pomegranate.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday August 03 2016, @05:48AM
Oh, what a darling little plum emoji!
(Score: 2) by Bot on Wednesday August 03 2016, @11:46AM
> my text threats lost their impact
then use comic sans
Account abandoned.
(Score: 2) by mendax on Wednesday August 03 2016, @01:27AM
<sarcasm>Apple is dead wrong with this decision (perhaps that's a pun). Instead of changing it to a water pistol, they should have changed it to a bazooka or a panzerfaust, the latter being more appropriate as it more closely resembles an erect penis. If you're going to going to introduce weapons into a conversation, you ought to mean it. (And that could also be considered sort of a pun.)
</sarcasm>
It's really quite a simple choice: Life, Death, or Los Angeles.
(Score: 2) by arslan on Wednesday August 03 2016, @02:12AM
Damn it now what do I use as an emoji to represent a smoking gun?.... on the other hand, next time I need to go afk to pee I can use the squirt gun.
Also, they've added more "diversity" into their emojis.. http://www.apple.com/newsroom/2016/08/apple-adds-more-gender-diverse-emoji-in-ios-10.html [apple.com]
If netizens decides to make the squirt gun emoji a meme for going to pee it would be a real sucker punch to Apple =)
(Score: 5, Funny) by darkfeline on Wednesday August 03 2016, @04:27AM
This is going to cause serious problems.
Someone is going to put the "water gun" next to something like "having fun with kids!" and someone else will see it (correctly) as a pistol and report it to the police.
Fun for everyone involved!
Join the SDF Public Access UNIX System today!
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday August 03 2016, @07:15AM
Everyone except the staffer who answers the Unicode Consortium's hotline.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday August 03 2016, @11:20AM
.. nothing of value was lost.
(Score: 2) by ticho on Wednesday August 03 2016, @03:23PM
... or gained.
(Score: 2) by Entropy on Wednesday August 03 2016, @08:33PM
Which I do suppose could translate into "be pu--ies".