Apple Hides Taiwan Flag in Hong Kong - Emojipedia

Above: Taiwan's flag has been removed from the iOS emoji keyboard in Hong Kong. · Above: 🇹🇼Taiwan's flag is completely restricted in China ... iPhoneusersinHongKonghavenoticedachangeinthelatestversionofiOS:the🇹🇼FlagforTaiwanemojiismissing.PreviouslyrestrictedonChineseiOSdevices,allotherregionsoftheworldhavecontinuedtoenjoyaccesstoallflagsintheiOSemojifont,untilnow.Above:Taiwan'sflaghasbeenremovedfromtheiOSemojikeyboardinHongKong.GIF:Emojipedia.Thechange,firstdiscoveredbyiOSDeveloperHirakuWang,meansthatuserswithaniOSdeviceregionsettoHongKongwillseeonelessflagontheemojikeyboardthaniftheregionissettoanywhereelseintheworld(otherthanChinamainland,whichalsohidesthisflag).Notably,theemoji🇹🇼Flag:TaiwanisstillsupportedbyiOSinHongKong.AsofiOS13.1.2,releasedlastweek,thisisnowhiddenfromtheemojikeyboardbutremainsavailablebyothermeans.Above:🇹🇼Taiwan'sflagiscompletelyrestrictedinChinamainland,butonlyhiddenwhenregionissettoHongKong.Image:Emojipedia/Photos:JeremyBurge.Apple'sHongKongapproachdiffersfromthecompletebanontheemojiinChina.AnyiPhonepurchasedinChina,orpurchasedelsewherewiththeregionsettoChinamainland,replacestheflagofTaiwanwithamissingcharactertofu(☒)soitcannotbeusedordisplayedinanyapp,evenviacopyandpaste.InHongKong,thisemojistillappearswhenpresentinadocumentormessage,andcanbeinsertedviacopyandpastewithnochangetothedisplay.Italsoremainsanauto-suggestoptionwhentypingthephraseTaiwan.Asforthemostobviousplacetofindit-theemojikeyboard-that'swherethisemojihasgonemissing.ThisnewrestrictionappliestoalliPhonespurchasedinHongKong,aswellasinternationaliPhoneswheretheregionissettoHongKong.Above:TheTaiwanFlagemojiisstillavailableviaauto-suggestinHongKong.Emojipediacanconfirmthatthischangealsoaffectsthebuilt-inemojipickerinmacOS10.15Catalina.AswithiOS,macOScompletelybanstheTaiwanFlagemojiwhentheregionissettoChina,butonlyhidesitfromtheemojipickerinHongKong.PreviousreleasesofmacOShadnorestrictiononthisflagforHongKongusers.Above:TheTaiwanFlagishiddenforHongKongusersintheupdatedmacOSemojipicker.GIF:Emojipedia.Note:WhileTaiwanisofficiallynamedRepublicofChina(ROC),thenameTaiwanismorecommoninternationally,andreflectedinthecurrentnameofthisemojias:🇹🇼Flag:Taiwan(previously'FlagforTaiwan').Forsimplicity,thisarticlereferstoRepublicofChina(ROC)asTaiwan;andPeople'sRepublicofChina(PRC)asChina(orChinamainlandasusediniOSregionsettings).EmojicontextAswithanyUnicodecharacter,vendorslikeApplearefreetohideorshowanyemojiontheirplatformsastheywish.Ifavendorchoosesnottosupportanemoji,theycansimplyremoveitfromanyemojifonttheycreate,oranalternativeistosupporttheemojibuthideitfromobviousinput.MicrosofthidesthemiddlefingeremojifromtheemojipickeronWindows,butstillsupportstheemojiifyoucopyandpasteit,oropenadocumentincludingit.Applesupportscodepointsformanygender-neutralemojis,buthidesthemfrominputontheemojikeyboard,asmostoftheseduplicatetheappearanceofthewomanormanvariationoniOS.Hidinganemojifromtheemojikeyboardissomewhatofahalf-waystepbetweencompletelybanninganemoji,andfullysupportingit.GlobalcontextWhileallflagshavepotentialtouniteordivide,untilrecentlytheemojikeyboardhasremainedrelativelyseparatefromsuchmatters.InrecentyearsChinahassteppedupeffortsinpressuringglobalcompaniesinhowtheyrefertoTaiwan.Appleisn'talonehere.PayPalshowsagenericglobeinsteadoftheTaiwanflaginitsregionpicker.Noothercountrygetsthattreatment.JustnoticedPayPalwon'tshowaflagfor🇹🇼Taiwanintheregionpicker.Itusedto.pic.twitter.com/iciDwimuTR—JeremyBurge(@jeremyburge)September26,2019 AirlineshavebeeninstructedtorefertoTaiwanas"TaiwanChina"iftheywishtokeepdoingbusinessinChina.Someairlinesthoughttheymightgetaroundthisbylistedcitiesonlywithoutreferencetothecountry,butthiswasn'tdeemedsufficientbyChina.WithprotestsongoinginHongKongtoupholdthefreedomsgrantedunder"onecountry,twosystems",thegradualre-aligningofHongKongandChinacontinues.Andsothenextbattleappearstobeontheemojikeyboard.ChoicesWeallhavechoicestomakeinthisworld,bothasindividuals,andindividualswithinlargercompanies.What'sdifficultwhenitcomestoglobalpoliticsandasuperpowerlikeChinaisthatthechoicesdon'tlookgreat-nomatterwhichwayyoulookatthem.WhileApplehasnotmadecommentonthischange,itseemsentirelyconsistentthatadecisionsuchasthiswouldn'thavebeenmadelightly.Isthishalf-waystepofhiding,butnotremoving,theflagofTaiwaninHongKongacompromisethatisbetterthanbanningtheemojialtogether?I'dsayso.WhatthismeansforthefutureofHongKongasadistinctregionofChinawithitsownlawsislesscertain,andatopicmuchlargerthantheemojikeyboard.PerhapsMicrosoftwasontosomethingwhentheydecidednottosupportanycountryflagsinWindows.WorkaroundsUsingtheemoji🇹🇼Flag:TaiwanremainspossibleonHongKong-modeliPhonesviathefollowingmethods:Type"Taiwan"andchoose🇹🇼fromtheauto-suggestlistofoptionsCopyandpaste🇹🇼fromthewebInstallathirdpartykeyboardsuchasGboard ThisweekMicrosofthasreleasedanupdateforWindows11,officiallybringingtheirnewFluentemojisettoWindowsusers.TheupdatealsobringspopularnewemojissuchasFacewithSpiralEyesandHeartonFiretotheplatformforthefirsttime.Above:aselectionof😃Smileyemojis AsweapproachThanksgivingintheUnitedStates,variousemojisexperienceaconsiderableholiday-basedjumpinuse.ThisisespeciallytrueofthoseemojisthatcanbeassociatedwiththetraditionallysizableThanksgivingdinner.Theseofcourseinclude🦃Turkeyand🥧Pieemojis.Wearealsoabletoseesomemovement TodaySamsunghasbegunrollingoutthelatestversionofitsAndroidsoftwarelayer,OneUI4.0.Thisupdateincludespopularemojirecommendationsfromlate2020,suchastheHeartonFireandFacewithSpiralEyes.Above:allthenewemojiswithinSamsungOneUI4.0.Image: