Rich Communication Services messaging is new to iPhone, and it makes chatting with Android users much more fun. RCS messaging makes features like read receipts, video and file attachments and named group chats — previously exclusive to iMessage (and some apps) — possible between iPhone and Android.
What RCS features can you take advantage of? Keep reading or watch our video guide.
In iOS 18, Apple’s Messages app gains five great new features that will make texting all the more fun. New message effects let you bold and animate text. If you’re the forgetful type, you can schedule your messages to send later — automatically. You can reply to a message using any emoji you like. Finally, texting will get easier with your friends on Android — and in the middle of the Gobi desert.
Watch our video or keep reading to see the best new Messages features after you upgrade to iOS 18. (You can find the new iPhone operating in Settings > General > Software Update.)
After spending a few days trying out all the new features in iOS 18, I think it really is one of the biggest updates in a long time. However, hands-on testing shows there’s a lot that needs cleaned up before September, when it’s expected to ship.
The new customizable iPhone Home Screen opens a wide world of possibilities — but you’ll have to wait for third-party apps to update their icons to really make it sing. I’m impressed with the level of customization in Control Center, too, though it’s understandably pretty buggy in this first developer beta. The new Photos app is proving controversial, and I think there are some obvious areas it could be improved, but I like where it’s going overall.
I think there’s a lot to look forward to in iOS 18.
You will soon be able to send and receive texts via satellite, Apple said Monday.
In addition, the Messages app will also support message scheduling, plus reacting to texts with any emoji.
“Now you can use the satellite capabilities on iPhone 14 and later to connect to satellites hundreds of miles above the Earth to text your friends and family when you’re off the grid,” said Apple exec Ronak Shah during Monday’s WWDC24 keynote.
Knowing how to unsend an iMessage can help you out of a pickle if you accidentally shoot off a text to the wrong person. You also can edit a message after it’s sent to fix a grave typo you didn’t catch. Like if you accidentally text your mom “Finally got laid today!” when you meant to type “paid.”
Keep reading to see how to unsend or edit an iMessage on your iPhone, or watch our quick video tutorial.
The best way to send someone a great article you just read online is to share a link with quoted text: It highlights whatever you found interesting in the post and encourages them to click the link.
Usually, you would have to copy the quote and paste it with the link, but there’s a hidden way to do it in Safari. It’ll properly format the rich link with the quoted text highlighted above.
If you want to quote a specific line from an article or a how-to (like this one), sending it with a pull quote is easier and looks nicer than copying the text you want and putting it in quotation marks as a separate text.
And it takes just a second! Here’s how it’s done.
The European Union may force Apple to make big changes to its App Store as well as services like FaceTime and Messages, if a leaked version of an EU antitrust proposal becomes law.
The draft is said to be the “final version” of the Digital Markets Act, provisionally approved by EU regulators in March. It seeks to restrict how tech giants operate in order to foster greater competition.
Some iPhone and iPad users are being plagued by a Messages bug that causes read receipts to be sent even when they are disabled. The problem seems to affect devices running iOS 15 or later.
There is no permanent fix for the issue yet, but there is one thing you can do that may eliminate the problem for a short time.
Starting with iOS 15.2, iPhones will be able to detect if an iPhone or iPad user gets or sends a text with sexually explicit photos. The goal is to protect children from sexual predators.
The feature is optional and uses on-device machine learning so that Apple does not have access to the images.
An international coalition of more than 90 policy and rights groups is urging Apple to drop plans to scan user photos for child abuse material (CSAM).
In an open letter addressed to Apple CEO Tim Cook, published on Thursday, the coalition said it is concerned the feature “will be used to censor protected speech, threaten the privacy and security of people around the world, and have disastrous consequences for children.”
Apple defends its plan to scan user photos for child sexual abuse imagery in a newly published FAQ that aims to quell growing concerns from privacy advocates.
The document provides “more clarity and transparency,” Apple said, after noting that “many stakeholders including privacy organizations and child safety organizations have expressed their support” for the move.
The FAQ explains the differences between child sexual abuse imagery scanning in iCloud and the new child-protection features coming to Apple’s Messages app. It also reassures users that Apple will not entertain government requests to expand the features.
Apple will soon offer a new tool to protect children from sexual predators. The Messages application will be able to detect if an iPhone or iPad user gets or sends sexually explicit photos.
The process will use on-device machine learning so that Apple does not have access to the images.
iOS 15 just made the jump from rumor to reality. Apple is bringing major new features to FaceTime, Messages, notifications, and more. Many of the applications that come bundled with iPhone are getting updates, like Apple Maps and Weather.
However, some features people had been hoping for didn’t make the cut, like interactive widgets.
iOS 14 gives us the ability to “pin” important contacts and group chats inside the Messages app for the first time. Pinned conversations stay at the top of the list so they’re always easy to find.
Here’s how to use this handy new feature.
Apple looks to be gearing up to port iPad’s built-in Messages app over to Mac. The move could immediately fix Messages’ biggest problems on Mac, including its glaring lack of features.
The desktop version of the app still does not support iMessage apps, Apple Pay, message effects and other key features. Evidence of the move has been uncovered in leaked iOS 14 code, indicating it could be executed this fall when Apple drops its next major macOS update.
Apple designed a workable system to let people edit text messages after they send them. But now we have to hope it’ll be implemented.
This is potentially great news for everyone who ever wished they could fix an embarrassing text.
This sweet Apple Watch concept imagines a brand-new voice messaging feature that would allow watchOS users to send each other voice messages.
Apple Watch already allows users to make calls and send texts, but voice messaging is not yet part of its default featureset.
Apple is reportedly testing a number of new iMessage features that could debut with iOS 14 later this year. They include the ability to retract messages after they’re sent, and to tag other people in group chats. We could also get the option to mark messages as unread.
Did you know that you can take remote control of another Mac’s screen via iMessage screen sharing? If you’re troubleshooting a family member’s Mac, for example, you can ask them to share their screen with you, and then take over from your own Mac. This is a hell of a lot quicker than trying to talk them through the deeper recesses of their Mac over the phone.
And, of course, it’s pretty easy to set up. Let’s take a look at how to share screens using Messages on the Mac.
Apple is continuing its push to patch the numerous bugs that still plague iOS 13 with a new software update for iPhones and iPads.
iOS 13.2.3 was released this morning as a free update that promises to fix a number of issues with the system search on iOS while also resolving issues with the Mail app and problems with iMessage.
Apple will roll out a software update later this year that eases some of the Siri restrictions for third-party messaging and phone apps.
Siri currently defaults to using Apple’s own apps when sending messages and making calls. But it will later default to the services that are used most frequently, based on specific contacts.
The trouble with modern technology is that anyone can try to reach you, at any time. Your boss can leave a passive aggressive email at the top of your inbox overnight, so you see it when you want to check personal mail. Anyone can send you an SMS or iMessage. And anyone with your phone number can spam you, any time.
Currently in iOS, you can block iMessage senders. But in iOS 13, you gain two new ways to keep stalkers, weird friends and over-sharing co-workers out of your digital life. Now you can block unknown phone callers and email senders.
Apple has no intention of scrapping iMessage games — despite some of the rumors you might be reading online this week.
Stories surrounding the supposed move started trending on Twitter, causing some fans to freak about the feature’s removal. But at no point has Apple stated that it will close the iMessage App Store.
Security researchers have uncovered new flaws in iMessage that could give hackers control of your iPhone or iPad.
Apple has already patched five similar bugs, but several are still present in recent versions of iOS. What makes these particularly concerning is that a potential attack requires no input from the user.
Delta has become the first airline to adopt Apple’s Business Chat feature.
The service will be used to conveniently connect customers to a Delta representative when they need support. It will be tested with a select group of users over the summer before expanding its reach this fall.