What is the unicode variation selector

Question

I was wondering. What is the unicode Variation Selectors U-FE00 to U-FE0F used for.

Example: ︀︁︂︂ 

Answer 1

Your guess is as good as mine.. but according to this source...

has got it...

Emoji Character Encoding Data Hints: 1 In iOS 5 / OSX 10.7, the underlying code that the Apple OS generates for this emoji was changed.2 The code generated for this emoji was changed slightly in iOS 7 / OSX 10.9 (a variation selector was added) to make it easier for this emoji to be identified and shown in OSX and iOS. We don't mind Apple, thank you! We just love our emojis!

Their chart goes on to note that this "new", post-10.9 version

has a UTF-8 Character Count of 2 vs the previous 1... if that helps.