Android might be catching up – or even surpassing – the iOS competition in plenty of areas, but there’s one area that’s long needed some TLC; Android’s style of emoji.

Compared to Apple’s alternatives, which are often far more detailed in terms of the colours, detail and shading, those available on Android look a little basic. Well, that looks like it’ll finally change with the rollout of Android 17 – if you’re on a Pixel, anyway.

As part of the massive Android Show I/O Edition announcement that covered not only Android 17 but Gemini upgrades, Android Auto updates and the tease of the Googlebook, Google has announced a major refresh of its emoji collection. Google claims to have hand-refined all 4000 emoji, with the aim of making them look richer, more expressive and, in the company’s words, more true to how they feel.

The biggest change is the new 3D-style look, complete with added depth and texture, which should make the familiar little faces, symbols and objects feel a lot less flat on the screen.

Google is pitching the redesign as a way to make digital communication feel a touch more human. As the company puts it: “These 3D emoji bring a touch of physicality to these moments and help you overcome this digital divide. It’s the difference between a message received and a presence felt.”

That is a very poetic way to talk about emoji, but the point stands. If the new designs look newer and more modern and do a better job of conveying emotion at a glance, it’s not a bad upgrade at all. 

The refreshed emoji collection will start rolling out later this year with the big Android 17 update, with Pixel phones getting them first. From there, Google says they’ll appear across its wider ecosystem, including Gboard, YouTube and Gmail. 

Of course, whether people actually prefer them will largely come down to personal taste. Emoji design is one of those surprisingly personal things, and everyone has a favourite platform hook. This writer still prefers Apple’s emoji interpretation to Android’s, despite being a full-time Android user for years now. 

Still, based on what Google has shown so far, Android users could be getting emojis that look more modern, more playful and a lot more polished than what came before. 

For once, your messages might actually look as dramatic as you meant them to.