iOS 26.4’s viral new emoji leaves older iPhones and many Android phones out of the joke

Apple just rolled out iOS 26.4 this week, and one of the new emojis is already blowing up online. It is this distorted face with wide eyes and a slightly broken expression that feels like the perfect reaction image. People are turning it into jokes left and right. The only problem is that plenty of folks still cannot actually see it.

The update adds eight fresh emoji designs on top of the bigger Emoji 17.0 package, which brings in a total of 163 new characters and variations. But the distorted face is the one grabbing all the attention. It just hits different, like something you would instantly reply with when things get weird.

Compatibility is where it gets messy. If you are on an older iPhone, the emoji probably shows up as a blank box or a question mark. Those older builds simply do not have the updated font files or Unicode support yet. A lot of Android phones are in the same situation. Most devices have not added full support for the new Unicode 17 set, so users end up looking at empty squares or sometimes just scattered pieces instead of one complete symbol.

Here’s an example:

It is equal parts funny and annoying. One person drops the chaotic new face into a chat, another sees the actual emoji, and someone else just gets a big nothing and has to ask what was sent.

Google had started rolling out support for these new emojis in the Android 16 QPR3 Beta 1 for Pixel phones, so a handful of users can already see the full set. Everyone else is still waiting.

This kind of split happens with almost every new emoji batch. Platforms have to update their fonts, rendering systems, and core Unicode handling before everything lines up across devices. It is not a bug. It is just how these things launch.

Still, the whole situation makes for a classic little tech story. Apple ships something strange and instantly meme-worthy, the internet jumps on it, and half the audience is left staring at a blank space for now. Classic.

That said, not everyone is a fan of this update. Folks in the UK are frustrated by the new age verification feature that’s been added in compliance with the country’s laws. More on that here.

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