Turns out Microsoft and Apple are on opposing sides when it comes to the emoji gun control debate. Less than a week after Apple changed its pistol emoji to a water gun, Microsoft is taking a conflicting stance by ditching its toy gun emoji for a pistol.
The tech giants, both members of the Unicode Consortium (the organization that selects each new batch of emojis that make it on to your smartphone), were reported to have successfully lobbied against a proposed rifle emoji in June.
Neither company has addressed its so-called opposition to the rifle emoji. The icon was viewed by the other members of the Unicode Consortium as a harmless, sports-themed glyph introduced to coincide with the Olympics. Meanwhile, anti-gun campaigners have stated that their opposition to the icon influenced Apple to replace its gun emoji.
Microsoft’s pistol emoji will be bundled into its new emoji keyboard as part of its Windows 10 Anniversary Update. The new glyph looks more like a firearm (specifically a revolver) than its predecessor, which resembled a 1950s toy ray gun.
A Microsoft spokesperson said the following to Engadget about the change: “Our intent with every glyph is to align with the global Unicode standard, and the previous design did not map to industry designs or our customers’ expectations of the emoji definition.”
Experts, such as Emojipedia editor Jeremy Burge, have put forward a similar argument in regards to the flaws in Apple’s decision. Burge wrote on his blog that even if one person innocently used the water gun emoji in a tweet, it would appear as a gun to users on other platforms.
“All other vendors display this emoji as a real gun,” claims Burge. “Even if they all decided to follow-suit and change to a water or toy gun (which could happen, if Apple sticks with this), the change would take a considerable amount of time.”
Microsoft’s Windows 10 Anniversary Update was rolled out on August 2 and included 1,700 emojis in total. It is expected to hit Windows 10 mobile phones in the coming weeks.
Are you tired of paying for streaming services you never watch just to get a phone plan feature you actually want? T-Mobile has good news for you! The carrier is rolling out new plans, called T-Mix, in early November to replace its old Experience lineup with a build-your-own perks system called Picks.
The benefits you choose vary from streaming and gaming to food delivery, AI, satellite service, and phone discounts. But if you are satisfied with your existing plan, you can keep it.
Merely days after the iPhone Duo hit the shelves, images of broken screens on the phone started popping up across social media. Until now, it’s been unclear what’s causing the line of defective pixels that appears vertically along the crease, as well as horizontally, on the phone’s inner display.
Apple has finally acknowledged the issue, which has shown up on iPhone Duo units owned by customers as well as demo units in stores. In a statement shared with Bloomberg, Apple says that not all iPhone Duo units are affected and that those that are tend to show the display fault early on. The company added that users who experience problems with their iPhone Duo display should contact AppleCare for a replacement.
Not long ago, Apple treated independent repair like an act of outright hostility. The Cupertino giant locked down parts with serial-number pairing, while repair tools remained firmly out of reach of anyone outside its authorized repair network. More importantly, the company waged a legal and lobbying battle against right-to-repair legislation.
I've covered enough of these fights over the years to know what a shift looks like. That's why what happened in October 2026 genuinely caught me off guard. The day the iPhone Duo went on sale, what may be the most mechanically complex iPhone to date, Apple pulled off a surprising about-face. It published teardown-style repair manuals for a handful of major components.