December 2008

The Apple Logo in Unicode

Please avoid using it on the web

Some people have noticed, and begun using, the unicode values for the Apple Logo.

This is probably fine for Mac-only applications. But it is NOT appropriate, and even WRONG, and it will NOT work properly as a general web page character. The problem is that the unicode value used is one of several that is set aside for private use. That means that each operating system, or application, or implementation is free to use those unicode characters for anything they want. It just so happens that Apple has chose to to use unicode character U+F8FF (decimal value 63743, or on the web as either  or ) as the Apple Logo. But some Windows fonts put in a Windows logo. And some other fonts put in a Klingon Mummification glyph. Or elven script. Or anything they want. And if it isn't defined in your local font, you'll just see a square. So who knows what you might see when I put the character in right here: 

Yes, on a Mac, you probably see an actual Apple Logo. But on other systems, you probably see other things. So what is it good for? You can use it on Mac-only programs, and it'll probably work fine (especially if the application explicitly sets the font to one where you know this character is defined as the Apple Logo). You can even use it on Mac-only web pages if you are absolutely sure that you don't care if it is wrong on non-Mac browsers.

But you can not claim surprise when people say they see a Windows Logo on your Apple web-page.

Slightly More Useful Mac characters

Unicode does define some other characters which are sort of Mac-specific.

⌘ - ⌘ - ⌘ - the Command Key symbol
⌥ - ⌥ - ⌥ - the Option Key symbol
⇧ - ⇧ - ⇧ - the Shift Key (really just an outline up-arrow, not Mac-specific)
⎋ - ⎋ - ⎋ - the Power Button (also not Mac-specific; described as "BROKEN CIRCLE WITH NORTHWEST ARROW", or an escape character from ISO 9995-7)

Even though these are defined in standard Unicode, there is no guarantee that they will exist in the font of the receiving browser, but they're at least globally defined, so they're fair game.

Peeve

And as long as we're on the subject, it's a peeve of mine how pedantic some people get about unicode. There is no proper power button symbol in Unicode. (The actual symbol in wide use by Mac, and a very large number of other manufacturers is an IEC power/standby icon). Some pedantic unicode people claim it has no place in Unicode, but the fact that Apple is using something that is merely close suggests that clearly there is a need for this in text. And of course Unicode is littered with an arbitrary set of cute little pictures, most of which are far less useful, but they won't put in standard things like this. An even better example would be the lack of audio-visual symbols, such as play, stop, and pause symbols. You can try to cobble these things together from some of the geometric shapes and block symbols, but even if you manage an adequate look in one font, in another these same shapes may look completely unmatched and innappropriate.

Feh.

Reader Comments (Experimental. Moderated, expect delays. Posts may be edited or ignored. I reserve the right to remove any or all comments, at any time.)

No comments

Add a comment

More Mac OS X Stuff

Fine's Home

Send Me Email