Every New Emoji Released In iOS 18 (And What They Mean)

Emojis are basically the internet's way of speaking a language everyone understands. No matter where you're from, they just click. They bring feelings to life in a way plain text can't quite manage. Whether you're happy, sad, feeling guilty, totally grossed out, or throwing in a little passive-aggressive sass, there's an emoji that says it perfectly.

The emoji keyboard has been on iOS since the late 2000s, and honestly, Gen Z and millennials today can't imagine texting without it. If you're still learning the ropes of texting, check out our list of the 200 most popular emojis to get started. It's a universally accepted form of language, and you could even say the century-old quote about pictures speaking a thousand words applies just as well to emojis. If you thought Apple had run out of emoji ideas, iOS 18 shows they still have a few tricks up their sleeve to make texting even more fun. Along with making emojis bigger, read on as we break down all the new emojis introduced with iOS 18 and how you can make them part of your texting language.

With a wooden shaft, a red grip, and a silver spade, this shovel emoji is one of eight fresh drops in the iOS 18.4 emoji lineup. Literally speaking, we're all aware of what a shovel does: digging, scooping, burying, all the works — gardener and DIY yard dad vibes, but also some serial killer energy (let's be honest, though — if serial killers are out here using emojis, we've got bigger problems). If you ask me, the shovel and skull emoji are a perfect passive-aggressive pairing to send for your sibling who "didn't see" the label on your leftover food in the fridge.

Metaphorically speaking, though? It can be pretty versatile — when you're "digging into" the hot gossip, "burying" the past, or "unearthing" secrets — and you can't deny, words dipped in sugar and laced with salt, shade, and some underlying jabs are very Gen Z-coded. Now, is this going to make your frequently used list? Probably not — unless you work in the morgue, are a landscaper, or just chronically dramatic. But the potential for metaphorical use might just give the emoji a little more depth and catapult it toward becoming more popular than one might expect.

No, Sark isn't a made-up name. Yes, yes, we're pretty sure. It's real — and it's tiny. The little island sits snugly between England and France in the Channel Islands, with a population that's literally half of a fully occupied WhatsApp group chat (about 560 people, give or take). So why exactly does this unheard-of, niche island have a flag emoji to itself?

The answer lies in something of a technical loophole. The Unicode Consortium (a.k.a. Lord of the Emojis) stopped taking requests for new flag emojis back in 2022, probably because flags are tricky business — adding one opens the floodgates for a thousand other politically sensitive matters to set in, and it's understandable that Unicode isn't willing to play referee in the flag emoji Olympics. The only exception to this rule was places or regions featured on the International Standard List (ISO) 3166 — a list that provides unique codes to internationally recognized places. Pretty smart, since this allowed them to sidestep the "why them and not us?" debate entirely. By a stroke of fate, it just so happens that Sark obtained its code — CQ — in 2020 after a 20-year skirmish.

The result is a white flag with a bold red cross — exactly like England's — but with the top-left square filled out in red with two golden lions emblazoned on it. Very medieval, very knight-core aesthetic, and a quiet little win for underrepresented communities — and of course, the people of Sark itself (if they have Wi-Fi, that is).

This is the first fingerprint emoji we've gotten (er — stating the obvious), which is quite surprising considering how long it's been since biometrics in technology have become the norm, and somehow, we've already made room for rickshaw and germ cell emojis. 

Either way, we have one now, and it's a neat little emoji that evokes thoughts of identity and security. The fingerprint emoji is a representation of everything a fingerprint normally stands for — biometric authentication, privacy, something that's just uniquely yours — a digital signature of sorts. Unlike an actual, real-life fingerprint, which tends to be messy and smudgy, with the lines often not easily distinguishable, the emoji is a perfectly clean swirl of bright blue (with no inherent meaning attached to the choice of color — it's just visual flair). It might feel familiar at first glance, and you might not even realize it's new — mostly because the lines and ridges look pretty similar to what you'd see on an Apple iPhone pop-up about data privacy or a biometric prompt. It's pretty niche, but expect it to make an appearance on true crime TikToks and cryptic stories.

It's clean and sparse — in an almost anatomical way, if that makes any sense. A bare trunk with a pleasant little knothole and a couple of branching limbs on either side — no leaves, no seasonal fluff, no color gradients, no cozy spring or summer palette, no flowers, and none of that flair that makes the nature emojis so popular.

From our perspective, you can read it one of two ways; one's pretty bleak — dead trees, droughts, decay — in which case, it's a sad story, and this emoji is one you'll probably forget by tomorrow. But on the flip side of things, there's an autumn undercurrent to the leafless tree — illustrating fall after the fall aesthetic fades out. And we're not sure about you guys, but it also reminds us of the trees you'd see in Grimm's fairy tales and folklore, where the bare trees marked thresholds between different worlds. It's got potential to live a good life in literary, introspective, poetic Instagram, or the one-line, no-caption captions for your orange and brown Halloween pictures.

Fun fact: The harp emoji exists because a filmmaker and a harpist really wanted it to. Back in 2019, filmmaker Theo Schear — a man who has created several emojis previously — and harpist Mary Lattimore teamed up to draft a proposal and pitch the idea to Unicode. Deeply inspired by Mary's music, Theo pursued harp lessons and eventually decided the world was in need of a tiny digital version. Much to the delight of music fans, the emoji has finally been released five years later, so you can tell they've been harping on this for a good time (sorry, folks). 

There's also some cultural weight associated with the harp. We're well familiar with the Irish leprechauns and pots of gold (hi, Harry Potter), but Ireland's claim to emoji fame has come with the harp emoji (well, there's the shamrock too, but let's not split clovers). The harp is actually Ireland's official national symbol, gracing everything from coins to pints of Guinness. That being said, the emoji doesn't exactly match the Irish version. The harp emoji has a frame in polished wooden tones, with a set of five or six strings stretched vertically across its open body. It's not particularly detailed, but you can see a handful of tuning pegs at the top if you squint — all in all, it comes off as a pretty generic, universal harp. 

Beyond the Irish roots, Greek mythology, angels, and heaven are all tied to the harp in one form or another. With the harp being one of the oldest instruments to exist, and given its rich history, cultural, spiritual, and musical references, there's no doubt it's a welcome addition to the list.

The purple splatter emoji looks like someone dropped grape jelly mid-text, or maybe even a purple paintball after impact. It does give the optical illusion of being thick, gooey, and viscous. There's no defined shape — just an uneven blot with rounded edges and a dense, inky center. Since it has no official name and pops up when you simply search for "splatter," it leaves plenty of room for interpretation — although, realistically speaking, how many things can a purple splatter even mean? A spill, a stain, a mess, a paint splotch, maybe even a form of abstract art — there's no object it's clearly referencing. Then again, Apple has a knack for hiding Easter eggs in emojis, just like they did with the calendar emoji.

It doesn't point to anything literal like the harp or shovel, but that ambiguity might be what adds to its fun and creative spirit. What would be really cool is if Apple decided to come out with splatters in different colors, so we've got colorful, artsy combinations to use in texts, stories, or captions. Chaos, but in a satisfyingly aesthetic way.

Wish we could tell you exactly what vegetable this is, but we're beat. It looks like a cross between a radish and a turnip — and strangely enough, when you search for root vegetable, radish, turnip, and even beetroot in your iOS emoji keyboard, this emoji is the one that pops up. It's nothing, it's everything. We don't know what it is, Apple doesn't know what it is, but it looks like something your great-aunt insists will cleanse your liver and balance your chakras. Either way, sticking with calling it a root vegetable is the safest bet.

The vegetable itself is purple up top and cream near the bottom, with a mess of leafy greens sprouting from its head. The fact that it's so generic doesn't really help its case, because there are many reasons to use a specific food emoji in conversation, but an indistinct and vague root emoji isn't something you look at twice. Still, there's a place for everyone and everything in this world, right?

If there's one emoji that understood the assignment this update, it's this one – and it came with eyebags and its own fanbase. Nothing's more 2025 than feeling chronically tired. Mostly because every age and gender habitually relates to it (frankly, it's been downhill since 2020, and the emoji would have been meme royalty had it dropped during peak lockdown era). Plus, face emojis are usually among the most popular emojis, with over three face emojis making it to the top 10 in the beginning of May 2025.

The tired face with eyebags emoji looks like it stayed up watching conspiracy theory videos all night and woke up to the weight of late-stage capitalism on its face. Heavy-lidded, with dark under-eye circles (that aren't very prominent in the bigger scheme of things) and a short, flat mouth, this emoji is the very embodiment of burnout and pops up if you search for "tired face with bags" or just "face with bags." The metaphorical range for this one is chef's kiss: emotionally drained, done for the day, no social battery. And without a doubt, it will become meme royalty.

The only item in the lineup that was released with iOS 18.2 instead of 18.4, Genmojis are custom emojis you can create with the help of Apple Intelligence. Since this feature primarily revolves around Apple Intelligence, you need at least 7GB of storage and an iPhone 15 Pro, Pro Max, or any iPhone 16 model, since these are the only ones compatible. Despite the plethora of emojis available to us, there are over 8 billion people in the world, and someone out there is squinting at their keyboard trying to find what they're looking for, making this a welcome addition.

To create Genmoji, switch over to the emoji keyboard and tap the smiley face and plus icon in the top right corner of your screen. You can then enter the text for what you want your emoji to look like and adjust accordingly. Once you're satisfied, press Done and it will be added to your keyboard. FYI, you can also level up your texting game by stacking emojis, a fun little trick built right into iOS.

Technically, this isn't a new emoji (since the Syrian flag has been around for ages), but an update to the old one. Flag changes are almost always a result of monumental events, and this time is no different. Previously a red, white, and black flag with two green stars — a flag that has reigned over the country on and off since 1946 — it has now transformed into a green, white, and black flag with three red stars, following the completion of former Syrian President Bashar Assad's regime.

After years under authoritarian rule, Syrians are flooding the streets in celebration and are delighted that the Syrian flag emoji has been updated to represent a new era. Rebel forces managed to capture major Syrian cities in just under two weeks, and Assad has since fled to Moscow, where he's been granted asylum. The new flag stands for the end of oppressive rule and is being waved with immense pride and gratification. Interestingly, this isn't the first time iOS has doubled down on national symbols, there are actually two U.S. flag emojis in the keyboard.