Google plans to separate new emoji from Android updates

IT Home November 25 news Emojis have become an important part of our online communication. These tiny graphics add emotion to simple text. Every time Unicode gets new emojis, we need to wait for the operating system to be upgraded to our phones to bring support for emojis. Google seems to be ready to make it all easier, because some information shows that Google is working to separate new emojis from Android system updates.

　　Currently, all fonts in the Android system are stored in the system partition, more precisely, in the / system / fonts directory. In particular, emojis are stored in a file called NotoColorEmoji.ttf. The system partition is read-only, and updating any files in the partition requires a system update when the partition is not mounted. So the only way to get new fonts and new emojis is to wait for the official OTA update, or to install them unofficially by rooting yourself.

　　New commits have been spotted on the Android Open Source Project (AOSP) Gerrit that appear to be about separating font files from those that require OS upgrades.

　　Add the /data/fonts/files directory:

　　The updated font files will be saved in /data/fonts/files, and all applications can read it to draw text. Therefore, /data/fonts/files needs to be readable by applications, and only system_server (and init) can write to it.

　　Set up the /data/fonts directory for updatable system fonts:

       - /data/fonts/files The updated font files are placed in this directory. The files in this directory can be read by any application. Only system_server can write font files to this directory.

　　- /data/fonts/config The font configuration used by system_server is stored in this directory. Only system_server can read/write font files to this directory. Only system_server can read/write this directory.

　　These commits basically allow the system_server process to write updated font files to the /data/fonts directory. The data partition is mounted read-write, so with this change, Google only allows the system_server process to have permission to write to this directory. All apps then read the font and emoji files from this directory to draw text. Therefore, updated font files, as well as new emojis, can be pushed to the phone without having to do an entire OTA update for this.

　　IT Home learned that these submissions have not been merged yet, so it is not certain when this change will occur. If these submissions are merged in the next few months, we should be able to see this change happen in Android 12.