Advertisement
Advertisement
Red envelope and firecracker emojis are coming to a phone near you
New emojis won’t be ready until after Lunar New Year
This article originally appeared on ABACUS
Chinese New Year may be thousands of years old, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t adapting to the modern age.
From digital red envelopes to using facial recognition in train stations to ease the travel rush, technology is being infused into this cultural tradition at breakneck speed.
So it might surprise some people to discover that despite that fact that over 1.5 billion people will celebrate the Lunar New Year in 2018, there are currently no official emojis for red packets or firecrackers as part of Unicode, the standard that helps digital devices display characters. But that’s about to change.
The Unicode Consortium recently announced that those two will be part of the 157 new emojis they’re adding this year -- including others like a woozy face, lobster and even an abacus.
That means they’ll usually hit mobile devices in August or September, depending on when Apple and Google adds them to their operating systems.
They won’t be ready in time for this Chinese New Year, but if you need to convey a red packet or firecracker, Emojipedia suggests using these in their place instead:
For more insights into China tech, sign up for our tech newsletters, subscribe to our Inside China Tech podcast, and download the comprehensive 2019 China Internet Report. Also roam China Tech City, an award-winning interactive digital map at our sister site Abacus.
Post