ON the surface, emojis seem laughably trivial—cartoon faces and tiny icons cluttering our phones. Yet behind their colorful simplicity lies a fascinating story of 21st-century global culture. These ...

In addition to knowing the meaning of some important screen icons on iPhones, you'll benefit from learning exactly what these mysterious Android symbols are trying to tell you.

Among these universal icons is the recycling symbol, conceived in 1971 by Gary Anderson, an architect and designer who was a student at the University of Southern California.

The icons have been created to integrate with San Francisco, the system font that Apple uses for its devices. There are more than 5,000 symbols in total, with SF Symbols 5 adding 700 characters.