First, we need to get a copy of the older beta release notes at the Web Archive. For example, here are snapshots for Xcode 11 Beta 2 and Beta 3. They correspond to these original page URLs: beta 2 and beta 3. This also works for comparing iOS, tvOS, watchOS and macOS beta release notes. Just make sure to create a new web archive snapshot for each new beta.

Next, compare them using some visual page comparison tool, like ChangeDetection. I’m sure there are other online and offline tools for this.

Voila! There’s just a few neatly highlighted paragraphs of added and removed text to process.

Love it or hate it, but emojis are ubiquitous. Looking for ways to make my app stand out and delight, I’ve gradually came to a state where my app is infused with emojis through and through.

Emoji License Keys

Let’s start with the best part. Behold! The first ever Digital Rights Management system based on emojis. Yes, that’s the world we’re living in now. Brace yourself. 🔑🔒

I’ve been selling HazeOver on the Mac App Store since 2011, but I’ve just started selling the app directly to overcome some restrictions. Having to deal with product keys is a tedious necessity both for developers and for the users. Developers have to come up with a licensing system and users have to input and manage license keys. Off with the old boring alphanumeric keys. Reportedly receiving and using an emoji license key brings smiles to the users of my app. And no, you don’t have to manually type it in.

What about compatibility? You don’t want to frown upon a set of blank squares, do you? I carefully picked a subset of Unicode 6.1 emojis that are available since 2012 in OS X 10.7 and iOS 6. That OS support extends way beyond what I expect my customers to have.

Emoji Code

OK, the users are amused, but what about the developer. I think, you know where this is heading. Both app and server-side components of the licensing system contain emoji code. Sparingly used emoji symbols are like the little gears that make the system tick, keeping me entertained in the process of writing the code.

Built-in support for emojis in Swift programming language is here to blame. There’s something ancient and downright primordial in writing code where a class defined as a graphic symbol inherits from another semantically appropriate symbol.

If programming was a thing in ancient Egypt or among cave men, pictograms would be the way to go.

Emoji Marketing

This one is both simple and complicated. Some companies overuse emojis in their marketing copy. To the point where consumers or bloggers roll their eyes and delete an email the moment they see an emoji in the subject field. Consider emoji a spice — it’s delicious where appropriate and numbingly painful when overused. My main inspiration here is Product Hunt — their emoji and GIF game is impeccable.

I use just a single emoji on HazeOver home page, but the product order page has a few of them sprinkled to better illustrate the intent:

Giving a gratitude here is an appropriate personal gesture that makes both the user and the developer feel better about their input in each others’ lives. And yes, I do indulge myself with a ☕️ or a 🍺 from time to time, having a moment of introspection and thinking that I’m making something users are grateful for.

Emojis are silly, fun, lighthearted and social. Consider ways emoji could add value to your design or copy without being distracting or annoying. I’ve got positive feedback on my use of emojis throughout the product, which means they serve their purpose right.

After all it’s all about the message you convey.

P.S. If you like this, there’s one more emoji—click the 💚 below.

Emojis in DRM, Code, UX and Marketing was originally published in HazeOver on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.