@daringfireball When I updated my iPad to iPadOS 26.4 and sent a distorted face emoji, it originally showed up as a missing icon in Messages on my Sequoia machine. But after 10-15 minutes the new emoji appeared in Messages on Sequoia.

@daringfireball Historically, you have been able to copy `/System/Library/Fonts/Apple Color Emoji.ttc` from a newer OS and install it as a user font. I'm not sure if this still works in Sequoia or later, however.