Most Crucial New Emoji

Picking a favourite emoji is a bit like choosing a favourite child, and with the bounty that unicode blessed the internet with this past year, the task has become only more daunting. Who will be our next dark horse “hole in the ground,” who will match the semantic gymnastics achieved by trusty eggplant. It may be be too early to tell, but here’s a list of some of our favorite Android 8.0 updates.

Hamburger

Technically speaking, is this not a cheeseburger? Regardless, the years-old debate about Google’s inability to construct a hamburger properly has been put to bed with the 8.1 update. The cheese is now in its rightful resting place, atop the meat, and Android Burger Day at the Google cafes will never be the same.

Exploding Head

The go-to emoji for hyperbole or the canned response to every presidential tweet? Your call. We’ll just say this new character quickly became the official mascot for 2017 and leave it at that.

Face vomiting

Have your friends reverted to posting spon-con on Instagram? Are you having a visceral reaction to someone’s vacation hashtag? Did you literally drink spoiled milk? Face vomiting emoji has you covered.

Beer mug/clinking beer mugs

Like the hamburger, the Beer and Clinking Beer Android emoji has received its fair share of shade in recent years. As it’s literally impossible to have a heady foam atop pure air, the simple physics of the old emoji was improbable. The latest update closes that gap in our perception, though one could argue that with it, a bit of the sloshy poetry has been lost.

Mage

Give props to a buddy or colleague for some wizardly feat by sharing Mage – the new, wizened-old sage emoji that will undoubtedly hocus pocus its way into our hearts and daily D&D banter.

Person in steamy room

It’s called #selfcare, and we all need more it. Whether your sauna ladle is literal or proverbial, “person in a steamy room”, is all about taking the waters, R&R, and the most important ROI – you.

Shushing face

At Google Design one of our favorite pastimes is to talk behind each others backs on a shared chat. It’s funny because the person can read everything we’re writing. It’s basically the opposite of catty or cruel, and it most certainly is not a secret. This little character captures that spirit with an earnest shush that reads more like a wink.