Yes! New Food Emojis Now Available with New iPhone Update.

Naomi Tomky
Naomi Tomky
Seattle-based writer Naomi Tomky uses her unrelenting enthusiasm for eating everything to propel herself around the world as an award-winning food and travel writer.
published Nov 1, 2018
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(Image credit: The Kitchn)

Even if you’re not sure that a picture is worth 1000 words, an emoji always saves you at least a little typing — that’s why billions of emojis crisscross the ether every day. The most delicious ones — pizza, coffee, cherries, hamburger — are also the most popular. But with the addition of six (really seven, more on that in a minute) new food emoji among 158 new emojis total, including the controversial bagel, all our messages just got a little bit tastier.

The new emojis were announced at the beginning of October, at which point the bagel controversy began, as people were aghast at the round bread Apple was hoping to pass off as New York’s favorite breakfast food. The other food emojis that are in the new pack are a mango, salt shaker (I’m betting that one will have some new creative uses), moon cake, cupcake, and “leafy greens,” which are designed to pass as bok choy or other similar vegetables, but look a fair amount like lettuce.

What about that seventh food emoji I mentioned? Well, technically, the lobster is listed under animals, but given that it is the bright red color of the crustacean post-cooking, rather than the greenish-blueish-brown of their uncooked state, it seems pretty clear that this is a lobster meant for the plate. The llama, raccoon, kangaroo, badger, hippopotamus, swan, peacock, parrot, and mosquito all appear to be depicted in their live states, thankfully.

To get all the new emojis, you’ll need to update your iPhone to the new iOS 12.1, which you can do by going to settings, then general, and software update. You should see the new update and can click download and install to get tweeting bagels and moon cakes as soon as possible.

And if you still can’t find your favorite food, worry not — there are always more in the pipeline. The draft of 2019’s first batch of emoji include an oyster (woo hoo!) and a treat for Argentinians and Uruguayans: a mate setup.