This is the new revolver. Credit: Courtesy of Apple
This is the new gun emoji.
This is the new gun emoji. Courtesy of Apple

The revolver emoji is out. Now in its place? A squirt gun:

Apple’s latest software update for the iPhone and iPad features one of its subtlest but most symbolically significant design changes yet. iOS 10, which will be available for free download this fall, removes the revolver emoji and replaces it with a squirt gun.

In other changes:

Apple today announced new iOS emoji that show women playing more sports and performing jobs that, prior to today, only allowed for male options. The icons will be available on devices running the new iOS 10 staring this fall, the company announced in a note on its website. As it stands today, Apple’s sports-related emoji and a majority of its occupational emoji show only men performing activities, which doesn’t jibe at all with reality. Now, there are female options for weight lifting, basketball, and surfing, as well as new job-related emoji for female construction workers and private investigators.

Christopher Frizzelle was The Stranger's print editor, and first joined the staff in 2003. He was the editor-in-chief from 2007 to 2016, and edited the story by Eli Sanders that won a 2012 Pulitzer...