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

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: 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.

Same problem (or similar) on an M2 Pro here (Sequoia 15.4). Interestingly, the system doesn't freeze immediately; after I start dtrace I can switch windows, interact some with the browser, type things. But gradually each piece of the system freezes up and won't respond to anything. It feels like it's anytime something tries to fork a new process, it freezes. The clearest example is that typing a command in iTerm and hitting enter causes iTerm to freeze. Trying to launch something with Spotlight or the Dock or Quicksilver causes those components to freeze. Eventually everything is wedged enough that I have to hard-reboot. Does that match what you see, @zjz ?