April 28, 2021 (LifeSiteNews) – Apple’s iOS 14.5 update features 217 new emojis, which include bearded women and coronavirus vaccines.
The organization which creates the emojis, the Unicode Consortium, made new emojis of mixed-race same-sex couples with over 200 skin tones and bearded women, “allowing users to choose among a bearded man, a bearded woman or a gender-neutral individual with a beard.”
In an article mocking Apple, Not The Bee noted that there are no redheaded women with beards in its new emoji line-up.
Apple has also added an emoji designed to look like a coronavirus vaccine – a syringe with clear fluid.
“The syringe with blood emoji is changed to one with a pale liquid to represent the Covid-19 vaccine,” a Mirror article noted. The emoji was “previously shown with blood on all platforms” but is “[n]ow shown with an empty barrel on iOS and Twitter, making this emoji more useful for representing vaccination,” according to Emojipedia.
The update will also allow users to unlock their iPhones and Apple watches with facial recognition software that won’t require them to remove face masks.
Apple is one of many giant corporations, along with Deutsche Bank, Walgreens, and Amazon to promote and provide vaccinations to its employees onsite. The Hill reported, “Apple last month began offering paid time off to employees to get vaccinated, as well as paid sick leave for workers who experienced side effects from the shots.”