Have you ever wondered how accurate the "Ringed Planet" emoji is? According to , a planetary scientist at the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), WhatsApp's version is the most realistic.
In a , Dr.
O'Donoghue ranked six depictions of the planet emoji, which he decided is supposed to represent Saturn, analyzing their rings, atmosphere, tilt, and coloring.
He found that WhatsApp’s version is the most true to life.
Saturn’s famous rings tilt at an angle of 26.7 degrees, which was matched almost perfectly by the messaging platform.
By contrast, the Microsoft and Twitter versions tilt to 25 degrees, Facebook’s is 22 degrees, while Apple and Google are very off at 45 degrees each.
Image Credit: James O'Donoghue / Twitter Saturn is also known for a hexagonal cloud pattern around its north pole, which is visible in the emoji from WhatsApp and Apple but not on those from other tech giants.
Dr.
O'Donoghue described the coloring on Samsung’s emoji as “disturbing” and lamented Twitter’s inconsistency when it comes to the planet’s atmospheric bands.
Image Credit: James O'Donoghue / Twitter Apple, Facebook, and WhatsApp also got points for showing the Cassini division, a 3,000-mile wide gap between two divisions of Saturn’s rings.
Google, unfortunately, does not show the division and pushed the rings together too closely, while Twitter’s rendering is the most insulting to the scientist.
Emoji designers from all of these large companies can take solace in the fact that they are not the worst on the list, however.
That honor goes to the image of Saturn by OpenMoji, whose rings “don't even connect," Dr.
O'Donoghue notes.
Recommended by Our Editors
Image Credit: James O'Donoghue / Twitter Emoji accuracy has caused a few online battles of late, mostly tongue in cheek.
Who can forget Google's "offensive" cheeseburger emoji, which initially placed the cheese below the patty.
The search giant eventually realized the error of its ways and fixed its mistake.
On a more serious note, however, major tech giants—including Apple, Google, Samsung, and Twitter—all changed their gun emoji to water pistols in 2018.
Have you ever wondered how accurate the "Ringed Planet" emoji is? According to , a planetary scientist at the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), WhatsApp's version is the most realistic.
In a , Dr.
O'Donoghue ranked six depictions of the planet emoji, which he decided is supposed to represent Saturn, analyzing their rings, atmosphere, tilt, and coloring.
He found that WhatsApp’s version is the most true to life.
Saturn’s famous rings tilt at an angle of 26.7 degrees, which was matched almost perfectly by the messaging platform.
By contrast, the Microsoft and Twitter versions tilt to 25 degrees, Facebook’s is 22 degrees, while Apple and Google are very off at 45 degrees each.
Image Credit: James O'Donoghue / Twitter Saturn is also known for a hexagonal cloud pattern around its north pole, which is visible in the emoji from WhatsApp and Apple but not on those from other tech giants.
Dr.
O'Donoghue described the coloring on Samsung’s emoji as “disturbing” and lamented Twitter’s inconsistency when it comes to the planet’s atmospheric bands.
Image Credit: James O'Donoghue / Twitter Apple, Facebook, and WhatsApp also got points for showing the Cassini division, a 3,000-mile wide gap between two divisions of Saturn’s rings.
Google, unfortunately, does not show the division and pushed the rings together too closely, while Twitter’s rendering is the most insulting to the scientist.
Emoji designers from all of these large companies can take solace in the fact that they are not the worst on the list, however.
That honor goes to the image of Saturn by OpenMoji, whose rings “don't even connect," Dr.
O'Donoghue notes.
Recommended by Our Editors
Image Credit: James O'Donoghue / Twitter Emoji accuracy has caused a few online battles of late, mostly tongue in cheek.
Who can forget Google's "offensive" cheeseburger emoji, which initially placed the cheese below the patty.
The search giant eventually realized the error of its ways and fixed its mistake.
On a more serious note, however, major tech giants—including Apple, Google, Samsung, and Twitter—all changed their gun emoji to water pistols in 2018.
