What the Request Counts and Most Wanted List Mean on Emoji Request

Updated

On Emoji Request (emojirequest.com), the large numbers next to emoji are request counts — how many times users have asked for that emoji. The site reports 8,052,424 emoji requests so far. The Most Wanted list ranks emoji by that request volume, so the top entries are the most-requested ideas. A high count signals demand from users; it does not mean the emoji has been approved or will be added to Unicode or any keyboard.

How the site is organized

The page groups emoji into a few views, each answering a different question:

Section What it shows How to read it
Most Wanted Emoji ranked by number of requests Higher count = more people asked for it
Just Added Emoji recently added to the site's listings New ideas entering the request pool
iOS Released Emoji that have shipped in iOS Ideas that made it into a release
Total requests 8,052,424 (as displayed) Cumulative requests across all emoji

The counts run from the millions down through the tens of thousands — for example, the top entries sit around 70,728 and 69,667 requests, while entries further down the list fall into the 12,000–13,000 range. That spread is simply a popularity curve: a small number of ideas attract most of the requests.

What a request count does and doesn't tell you

A count is a demand signal, nothing more. It reflects how many users submitted or backed that idea on this platform. It is not a vote count reviewed by the Unicode Consortium, and it is not a release schedule.

The site does point to past successes — it names Hush and Swearing as emoji created after requests on the platform. That shows requests can feed into real outcomes, but it doesn't change the meaning of the numbers: they measure interest, not approval.

Why "Most Wanted" and "iOS Released" appear side by side

Seeing both lists together is useful because it separates asking from shipping. Most Wanted shows what people want next; iOS Released shows what already exists on Apple devices. If an emoji you want appears in Most Wanted but not in iOS Released, it has been requested but hasn't arrived in a release shown on the site.

Practical takeaways

  • Use Most Wanted to find gaps. If an idea you need isn't near the top, it likely has fewer requests — and adding your request raises its count.
  • Don't treat a high count as a promise. A top-ranked emoji can still be absent from iOS Released.
  • Check Just Added before requesting. Your idea may already be in the pool, in which case supporting it is more useful than duplicating it.
  • Treat totals as platform activity. The 8 million figure describes how much requesting has happened on Emoji Request, not how many emoji exist or have been approved.

To submit or support an idea, see the site's request flow; the counts you see there are the same demand signals described above.