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Snippet: Taiwan Flag Emoji Disappears From Latest Apple iPhone Keyboard ☇

Shared on October 8, 2019

Kris Cheng for Hong Kong Free Press (via John Gruber):

The Republic of China flag emoji has disappeared from Apple iPhone’s keyboard for Hong Kong and Macau users. The change happened for users who updated their phones to the latest operating system.

Updating iPhones to iOS 13.1.1 or above caused the flag emoji to disappear from the emoji keyboard. The flag, commonly used by users to denote Taiwan, can still be displayed by typing “Taiwan” in English, and choosing the flag in prediction candidates.

Gruber thinks the evidence points to kowtowing to China and I can’t think it would be anything otherwise. I know Apple is in a difficult position, but it still doesn’t feel great.

Snippets are posts that share a linked item with a bit of commentary.