The open-source Twitter emoji library, known as Twemoji, continues to be maintained and utilized by a variety of platforms despite changes in ownership at the social media company now known as X. Originally created in 2014 by Twitter, the project was intended to provide a consistent emoji experience across all user devices. While X ceased using Twemoji on its mobile applications in February 2023, replacing it with native device emojis, the library remains available for developers and is currently used by Discord, Roblox, and X’s own website, among others.
Twemoji v14.0, the most recent version referenced in available documentation, adheres to the Unicode 14.0 specification and supports the corresponding Emoji 14.0 standard. The library focuses on Unicode-defined emoji recommended for general interchange, explicitly excluding custom emoji designs. Developers can integrate Twemoji into their applications using either a Content Delivery Network (CDN) or by downloading the assets directly from the gh-pages branch of the project’s GitHub repository.
The project’s core functionality centers around the twemoji.parse() method, which offers parsing options for both DOM and string-based input. While string parsing is available, developers are strongly advised to utilize DOM parsing due to security concerns associated with the older method’s lack of input sanitization. The library provides tools for generating image sources for emojis, allowing for consistent rendering across different browsers and operating systems.
Following Twitter’s acquisition and rebranding as X in July 2023, the initial development team continued to maintain Twemoji as a standalone open-source project, collaborating with designers from Discord. Although, the dedicated Twemoji website was discontinued in January 2024, though archived versions of the site remain accessible. Minor updates to the emoji designs, specifically for the face with medical mask, pleading face, and face holding back tears emojis, were rolled out on July 23, 2023, reflecting revisions previously implemented within the Twitter web application’s emoji picker.
Despite its continued utilize by several platforms, the future development and maintenance of Twemoji remain uncertain. X has not issued any public statements regarding its long-term support for the project, and the project’s GitHub repository has not been updated since the release of version 14.0.3 in November 2022.
