There is no consistency between iMessage on OSX and iOS. I know you can enable Emoji but that still doesn't make the graphical version of a smiley from iMessage appear on iOS. I don't see the point in that when they both support emotions.
I agree it's a very small issue but something that seems so simple that it should have been easy to implement.
I agree it's a very small issue but something that seems so simple that it should have been easy to implement.