The Best Thing About iOS 11 May Be The Animated Emoji

Tech blogs are buzzing after some Apple-related rumors leaked onto Reddit. According to Gizmodo, a Golden Master build of iOS 11 hit the internet after it was listed at a super secret URL on Apple's website. While the information comes from an unofficial leak, multiple credible Apple blogs are reporting similar info, including what could be the most important new feature: animated emoji.

Dubbed Animoji, Gizmodo reports that the new animated icons incorporate another rumored addition to the new iPhones: facial recognition. Mashing up that tech with the emoji that smartphone users already know and love, Animoji will "sync with facial tracking" to create custom expressions on a few of the icons, including the puppy, cat, robot, and monkey. Instead of being static miniature pictures, the icons will blink, move around, smile, and frown, depending on how senders interact with the facial recognition tech.

9 to 5 Mac reports that Apple's tech will focus in on over 50 different spots on users' faces, so the once two-dimensional emoji's transformation into 3-D, expressive ones will transform the images into more realistic renderings. The Apple team didn't change the actual icons that much, so favorites will look familiar, even in 3-D.

The leak also revealed that there may not be a line of S phones for the iPhone 7. Instead, consumers will have to choose between the iPhone 8 and an X model, which is set to be the high-end model without a home button. Seventeen reports that the new phones will come equipped with various flash settings to create super-flattering selfies and perfect lighting conditions for other photos.

According to the leak, "these features include a new portrait lighting mode which supports 'Contour Light, Natural Light, Stage Light, Stage Light Mono, and Studio Light.'"

While a new camera with smart lighting is nothing to scoff at, being able to send your friends a frowning poop emoji may just prove that the future is now.