The Unicode search guide

The right symbol.
Without the hunt.

Unicode assigns code points to characters. Uniboard helps you find and understand individual characters and complete emoji sequences, then copy or type them with an iPhone or iPad keyboard.

Search by character name or description

Try an English Unicode name such as infinity, Greek small letter pi or rightwards arrow. Search also considers the catalog's aliases and descriptive annotations. Results depend on the source data; they are not generated by AI.

Search by code point

The familiar U+ notation uses hexadecimal. For example, U+03C0 identifies π and U+1F680 identifies 🚀. Uniboard also accepts a 0x prefix and bare hexadecimal queries containing a numeric digit. For letters-only hex, keep the prefix: U+FACE.

For explicit decimal search, write decimal:128640. Unicode scalar values exclude surrogate code points. A visible character or emoji sequence may contain several scalars. Character tiles use one scalar; entries in the Emojis tab preserve the complete official sequence.

Browse or search Unicode blocks

Blocks group ranges of Unicode code points. Open Blocks to browse, or search names such as Arrows, Mathematical Operators or Greek and Coptic. Scroll through the paginated character grid, then open a tile for its name, code point and encoding details.

Find and insert complete emoji

Open Emojis and search an English name such as woman technologist, a group such as flags, or a sequence of code points. The catalog contains fully qualified emoji, including joined sequences, variation selectors, skin tones, flags and keycaps. Copying or inserting an entry keeps every scalar in the sequence. Its details list the component names and code points.

Choose an edition and version order

The edition menu offers Unicode 18, the latest release, and the Unicode 19 development draft. Both are bundled offline; the draft is selected by default. The app and keyboard remember their own choices. During draft development, the two editions may contain the same assigned characters.

Newest first browses assigned characters across the catalog by their official Unicode Age: the version that introduced the character. Choose Oldest first or Code point when needed. Emoji order uses each emoji’s introduction version, shown separately from the Unicode ages of its component characters.

Insert symbols with the iOS keyboard

Enable Uniboard in keyboard settings and switch with the globe key. Its own search keys keep the query out of your document. Tap a result to insert the scalar or complete emoji where your cursor is. Space, return and the globe menu are built in. Backspace stays at the top right; hold it for repeating deletion. While search is open, the query keys, space and backspace edit the query rather than your document.

Read properties without inserting

Hold a keyboard key, or pause a pointer over it, to open a scrollable properties panel. Inspect the official name, available description, code points, Unicode age, block, category, script, bidirectional class, combining class, decomposition and UTF-8 bytes. Emoji details also show introduction version and component names. Use Back to return, or Save to keep a favorite. In the containing app, tap, hold or hover a tile to open its details.

Understand combining marks and invisible characters

Some characters combine with neighboring text, change layout, or have no visible glyph. Uniboard uses a dotted circle or an explanatory preview marker where useful, and copies or inserts only the original scalar. Check the details before using an unfamiliar character.

Why a new Unicode character may not render

Unicode data and fonts are different things. Selecting a newer Unicode catalog does not install fonts. Your iOS fonts may show a box for a valid character, or several symbols for a complete emoji sequence. Names, available descriptions and properties remain readable, including on older iOS versions. Draft assignments and names can change before the standard is finalized.

Reference

Character data comes from the Unicode Character Database, the official Unicode emoji data, and the official Unicode development repository, under the Unicode License v3.