Google Debuts Noto 3D Emoji Overhaul on Pixel 11
Yesterday, Google officially released the Pixel 11 range, bringing a complete 3D overhaul of the Noto Color Emoji set. First previewed at Android I/O in May, "Noto 3D" also introduces a significant number of design changes beyond three-dimensional rendering.
Yesterday, Google officially released the Pixel 11 range of devices, bringing with it a complete 3D overhaul of the Noto Color Emoji set. First previewed by Google at Android I/O back in May, "Noto 3D" also introduces a significant number of additional design changes that go beyond the shift to three-dimensional rendering.
The defining characteristic of this 3D re-render of Google's emoji designs is its shift to three-dimensional rendering across the entire set.
Unlike recent versions of Google's flagship Noto Color Emoji design set, which used flat designs with gradient effects to suggest dimension, Noto 3D renders emoji as volumetric objects with lighting and shadow treatment throughout.
On World Emoji Day this year, Google's Jennifer Daniel (who is also the chairperson of Unicode's Emoji Standards Committee) outlined the creation process of this new set:
While our design process still begins with 2D drawings, it no longer ends there. In an industry first, Noto Emoji 3D is entirely available as true 3D models.
Moving from flat pixels to a three-dimensional world forced us to resolve architectural questions we’d never considered. What does the back of a smiley face look like? Is it a concave mask, a solid bouncy ball or a flat piece of paper?
While this update changes every single emoji design from the Google Noto Color Emoji set, it does not contain any brand new emojis, as Google had already provided support for Unicode's latest batch of emoji recommendations.
Unicode's next batch of emoji recommendations, Emoji 18.0, is expected to be approved on September 15 2026. Unicode's latest batch of sample images, done in a classic Noto Color Emoji style, are shown below.
You can read more about the current list of emoji candidates for Emoji 18.0 here and here.
Additionally, as first noted by 9to5Google, the Emoji Kitchen feature continues to use its Noto Color Emoji designs. Given that there are hundreds of thousands of designs available here, this is not surprising.
It is also currently assumed that the Noto Color Emoji animated set render in their classic Noto Color Emoji style for the time being.
All People Emojis Updated
While all of Google's Noto Color Emojis have undergone a redesign as part of today's update, the people emoji category has undergone the most substantial revision within "Noto 3D".
Across all human figures in the set, systematic changes have been made to eyes, noses, chin structure, chin shading, and hair treatments. Face shapes have also been adjusted to accommodate the new three-dimensional aesthetic.
- 👶 Baby and the 👱 Blond Person clearly show the rounder, more volumetric head shape introduced across the set, alongside larger, more detailed eyes and substantially more sculpted hair.
- 🧜 Merperson and 🧑🤝🧑 People Holding Hands show how the revised facial structure carries across both fantastical and paired character designs, while 🧑🦽➡️ Person in Manual Wheelchair: Facing Right makes the increased modelling of the face, chin and profile particularly apparent.
- The hair overhaul is also especially visible in 💇 Person Getting Haircut, with more individually defined, tousled strands and a fuller, more dimensional fringe respectively.
- 💃 Woman Dancer and 🏋️♀️ Woman Lifting Weights extend the same treatment to figures in motion, with more dimensional faces, hair and bodies replacing the flatter forms of the previous Noto designs.
Apple Design Convergence
Over the past eight years or so, emoji design across major vendors has increasingly converged toward Apple's designs as a visual reference point.
Noto 3D continues this pattern, with many emoji's designs shifting to align more closely with their Apple equivalents. It's also worth noting that several of these same changes were already made by Samsung in its own previous design overhauls.
- 😱 Face Screaming In Fear has a rounder head, closer to Edvard Munch's "The Scream" and Apple's design
- 🤗 Smiling Face with Open Hands now faces forward, rather than at an angle
- 🤭 Face with Hand Over Mouth reveals the smile beneath the hand
- 🤡 Clown Face eyes and mouth are redrawn closer to Apple's design, with new eyebrows added to match
- 💩 Pile of Poo gains new swirl shading, also seen in Samsung's design
- 🤎 Brown Heart is now a notably darker shade, closer to Apple and Microsoft
- 🧜 Merperson now carries an Apple-style trident and posture, as does 🧜♂️ Merman and 🧜♀️ Mermaid
- 🥒 Cucumber undergoes a major redesign, closer to Apple, WhatsApp, and Huawei
- 🏵️ Rosette's colour palette now matches Apple
- 🥀 Wilted Flower is now shown with a single petal, matching Apple
- 🥩 Cut of Meat is now shaped like a T-bone, matching Apple
- 🍩 Doughnut's viewing angle now matches Apple's
- 🎃 Jack-O-Lantern now appears to have a lit candle inside, matching Apple and WhatsApp
- 🌃 Night with Stars now has its moon direction and building shapes matching Apple
- 🪐 Ringed Planet's tilt now matches Apple's orientation
- 🚰 Potable Water undergoes a major redesign, now matching Apple and WhatsApp
- 🏋️♀️ Woman Lifting Weights also adopts Apple's pose, experession and bending bar, with hair now in a ponytail, also shared with Facebook and Samsung
- ⛷️ Skier has the surrounding snow removed
Other Notable Design Changes
Beyond convergence toward Apple's designs, Noto 3D includes a selection of notable redesigns that represent either Google-specific creative choices or shifts toward design approaches taken by other vendors.
- 📢 Loudspeaker's direction has changed, moving in line with Samsung and away from Apple
- 💃 Woman Dancer now wears a flower in her hair, matching Microsoft, WhatsApp, and an older Samsung design
- 🦪 Oyster's pearl has moved slightly higher
- 🎟️ Admission Ticket now has a star at its centre
- 🔒 Locked and other locks are now a more square shape, closer to other vendors generally, but keep the lock visible
- 🥏 Flying Disc gains a face, a feature now unique to Google
- 🌞 Sun with Face has a redesigned expression, not clearly modelled on any other vendor
- ♀️ Female Sign is now a rounded "button" style, closer to Samsung in particular. The same change was also made to ♂️ Male Sign and ⚧️ Transgender Symbol
📲 Release
This Noto 3D Emoji update is available on Pixel 11 devices upon purchase, with the devices released on August 20 2026.
It is expected that this update will be made available to other devices running Android 17 the near future, which should include:
- Pixel 10 Series: Pixel 10, 10 Pro, 10 Pro XL, 10 Pro Fold, and 10a.
- Pixel 9 Series: Pixel 9, 9 Pro, 9 Pro XL, 9 Pro Fold, and 9a.
- Pixel 8 Series: Pixel 8, 8 Pro, and 8a.
- Pixel 7 Series: Pixel 7, 7 Pro, 7a, and Pixel Fold.
- Pixel 6 Series: Pixel 6, 6 Pro, and 6a.
It is also expected to be made available on devices from other manufacturers, including Xiaomi, Oppo and Sony.
At the time of writing, the Noto 3D emoji set is not available on GitHub and doesn't have a Noto Emoji font page. It has, however, been stated by Google that these images will be made available as open source files in the near future:
Because language is meant to be shared, our entire Noto portfolio is completely open source. We’re handing over raw .OBJ files to the community so they can use them to build immersive VR worlds, indie apps or weird memes.
Additionally, these new emoji designs are also expected to roll out progressively across other Google products and platforms, including Chrome OS, Gmail, and YouTube, in the coming months.