I use Handcent for texting, there is Emoji for Handcent also in the play store - think you need both. they seem to work for me, I can see emojis from Iphone users.
I havnt downloaded any app or anything, but can still use emoji's through custom SMS application. I am running 4.3 (Sense: 5.5). They work great in applications like Instagram, Twitter etc!
Croaker, Thanks for the Handcent Recommendation. Seems to work. More to come.
MrXiqbal, I think I may found my issue. You see how you have the row of icons above your 3 rows of emoji's? I do not have that row. How do I get that row
to be visible?