Xcode 26.3 not rendering Unicode/Emoji in Simulator or Canvas

Question

Created 1w

Replies 10

Boosts 16

Views 1.2k

Participants 10

I'm based in Australia, and am having the following issue. After leaving this message I received another response from someone else who is also havign the same issue, I've pasted that too. I'm quite surprised to not see it mentioned, could be local to language settings or something. Here is the issue:

Folk, I am having an issue where Xcode 26.3 with the new iOS26.2+26.3.1 Simulator update installed doesn’t render Unicode characters in the Canvas or in Simulator. They do render when running direct to a device. I’ve reset devices inside Simulator, cleared Derived Data, cleaned Build Folders etc but to no avail! Is anyone else seeing this, I can’t find a mention anywhere!! Thank you in advance.

Yep. Same here. Can't see emojis on the emoji picker keyboard.

Boost

Answer 1

Pollifrog OP

1w

I also have this issue in the Simulator with iOS26.2+iOS26.3.1, on what looks like all devices. It might happen for my phone as well if it was on iOS26.3.1, but I'm hesitant to upgrade it from iOS26.3 and have it break emoji entirely for who knows how long.

Opening the emoji picker keyboard in the simulator now looks like this:

Simulator Screenshot - iPhone 17 Pro - 2026-03-06 at 10.18.45.png

Removing and re-adding the emoji picker from the list of keyboards does not appear to help. Nor does disabling Stickers, as someone recommended in another forum.

I'm not sure what could be different about my setup (and those of the folks above) that makes the emoji break, when they aren't broken for most people. I'm located in the US, not Australia, so it's probably not that.

1

Answer 2

lukoman OP

1w

having same issue Captura de pantalla 2026-03-06 a las 18.04.01.png

1

Answer 3

Dec2025 OP

1w

I am facing the same issue 😠, and come on Apple Develop Team, this is so silly and shouldn't happen.

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Answer 4

Pollifrog OP

1w

The only workaround I have found is downloading the 26.1 runtime and using that instead.

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Answer 5

misacek OP

1w

+1, confirming, found out hard right after updating to Xcode 26.3 & getting the Simulator update.

The Emoji wallpapers look exceptionally wonderfur affected by this issue… 🫠 Right after our broken Markdown snapshot tests.

Screenshot 2026-03-10 at 21.17.02.png

Simulator Screenshot - iPhone 17 - 2026-03-10 at 21.22.27.png

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Answer 6

mctrama OP

1w

Same here. Works normally in Physical device. Need to fallback to iOS 26.1 in Simulator. Do we have any fix/updates so far?

1

Answer 7

matthewruzzi OP

1w

FB22206123

https://github.com/feedback-assistant/reports/issues/772

3

Answer 8

Efthymis OP

1d

Same here, located in Greece. At first I thought it was a caches thing, then I thought I might have somehow messed up the system fonts, then I hoped that I didn't have to format my mac.

At least I now know I'm not alone in this. Awaiting for a fix...

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Answer 9

Pueblo OP

1h

Same here

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Answer 10

DTS Engineer OP

Apple

37m

Thanks so much for this post and thanks for your patience on my replay.

When Unicode characters and emojis render perfectly on a physical device but appear as blank spaces or empty boxes in the Simulator and SwiftUI Canvas, in my opinion it means the Color Emoji font is missing and this is corrupted, or failing to load inside the Simulator Runtime.

Because the SwiftUI Canvas uses the exact same underlying simulator infrastructure as the standalone Simulator app, both break at the same time.

We identified this a bug and I would encourage you to use the physical device or to download the latest beta simulators iOS 24.4 RC https://developer.apple.com/download/os/ and let me know it the issue has been fixed.

Here are the most effective ways to resolve this issue:

Open Xcode and go to Xcode > Settings (or Preferences) > Platforms.
Find the iOS Simulator runtime you are currently using (e.g., iOS 26.3).
Right-click (or Control-click) it and select Delete.
Once deleted, click the "+" button at the bottom left to re-download and reinstall a fresh copy of the runtime.
Restart Xcode and the Simulator.

Since it renders fine on a physical device, you can safely continue development knowing your app will work in production.

Albert Pascual   Worldwide Developer Relations.

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