We know them by sight but not necessarily by name; the symbols that say everything that words just can’t. Emojis. Feeling a bit angry/sassy/greatly amused? There’s an emoji for your every mood.

Apple, with their latest iOS 11.1 update, have gone one step further and introduced gender neutral emojis to the family that come in a range of ages and skin types, all with the same, neutral hair length.

The emoji keyboard was first made available on the iPhone in Japan in 2008 and later opened up to the rest of the world in the 2011 update. The variation in skin tone was only introduced in 2015, the same year an emoji was awarded the Oxford English Dictionary’s Word of the Year.

The new update also includes emojis with more human expressions as well as representative figures like a breastfeeding woman, a woman in a headscarf and, after much campaigning, the American sign language symbol for ‘I love you’.

In September of this year, Apple announced that the iPhone Messages app would now include Animoji, allowing people to customise an emoji based on their unique facial expressions. You can now, officially, become your favourite messaging character.

Visit the Apple website to find out more.