A viral post on X (formerly Twitter) recently claimed that Apple is adding emojis of famous pop stars in its upcoming iOS 18.5 update. The post, featuring emoji-style images of artists like Beyoncé, Rihanna, and Taylor Swift, quickly gained traction with over 40 million views. However, the claim is completely false.
Despite its popularity, the post originated from a parody account called DropPopNet. Although the account’s bio clearly states it’s satire, many users believed the information to be real. The post included no official sources, just a mock image and a vague caption.
No Official Tease or Emoji Update
Apple has not announced any such emojis. In fact, all official emoji updates go through a lengthy approval process by the Unicode Consortium. This organization decides which new emoji concepts make the cut. Their rules specifically ban emojis representing real people, living or dead.
Moreover, new emojis typically appear first in developer betas before reaching public release. Apple’s last emoji additions arrived in iOS 18.4, and none featured celebrities or musicians.
Can Fans Make Their Own?
Although Apple won’t add official pop star emojis, users can experiment with Genmoji—a tool in Apple’s AI suite. Genmoji lets users create custom emoji-like images based on photos or prompts. However, even this has limits.
For Genmoji to generate a celebrity face, the person must be recognized in your Photos app as someone you know, which is unlikely for public figures. So, while it’s possible to try, it’s far from practical or officially supported.
Fact Over Fiction in the Emoji World
This incident is a reminder to verify sources before sharing viral claims. While fans may enjoy imagining emoji versions of their favorite artists, such features are not coming to iPhones anytime soon.
For now, iOS users will have to stick with the emoji catalog already approved—and leave the pop star fantasies to fan art.
