How To: 22 Cool Changes Apple Made to the Messages App in iOS 16 and iPadOS 16

The iOS 16 and iPadOS 16 updates for iPhone and iPad include significant improvements to the Apple Messages app, and some of the new features are things users have been asking for for a long time.

Among the new features is the ability to edit and undo posts, a theme that has already drawn both praise and negative criticism. Components can help clean up conversations and make messaging more efficient, but they can also be used maliciously to confuse or harass people.

But those aren’t the only big tools and improvements coming to the Messages app. Some updates directly target messaging competitors like Messenger, Signal, Telegram and WhatsApp, while others take advantage of other services available on iOS and iPadOS like Siri, Dictation and Focus.

Apple will release these changes to the stable iOS 16 and iPadOS 16 operating systems this fall. The software is currently in beta testing for developers and a public beta will be available soon. So if you like living on the edge to test new technology features, you can install the beta. Just be aware that you may experience bugs, crashes, and reduced battery life. Otherwise, you can live indirectly by checking out all the new stuff coming in the posts below.

You can edit posts

We never thought Apple would do this, but starting with iOS and iPadOS 16, you’ll be able to edit iMessages after they’ve been sent.

So far, this feature has drawn criticism that people could abuse it to harass and deceive message recipients and even end marriages. However, for non-malicious users, this is a useful tool that can help you quickly fix spelling confusion, auto-correct errors and other erroneous content without bombarding people with additional messages explaining the problem. However, there are a couple of caveats:

First, you can only edit messages for 15 minutes after the message has been sent. After 15 minutes, the option will disappear from the quick actions menu. But within 15 minutes, you can edit the post as many times as you need. When editing, the label “edited”will appear below the message.

Secondly, it only works with iMessage, so nothing can be fixed in SMS chats.

Third, it only works with other users running iOS 16, iPadOS 16, macOS 13 Ventura, and watchOS 9. You can still edit iMessages sent to users running iOS 15, iPadOS 15, macOS 12 Monterey, or watchOS 8, but they won’t be able to see your changes. It can be confusing if you’re editing something to say one thing and they don’t understand what you’re talking about. There are currently no warnings when trying to edit messages with someone using the old software, and nothing will happen on their device to tell them that you even tried to edit something.

You can cancel sending messages

Reverting a message you’ve sent is another feature introduced in iOS and iPadOS 16 that’s seen as a double-edged sword with the same downsides as editing messages.

When you select “Undo Send”from quick actions, it shows a “poof”animation that “pops up”when the sound is on and disappears from the conversation forever. As with editing messages, there are some things to be aware of about unsent messages, many of which come with the same limitations.

This only works in iMessage conversations and you only have up to 15 minutes to unsend a message. If you do, the alert will say “You didn’t send a message”where it was. The other end will say “[your name] didn’t send a message.”

Also, it only works with other users running iOS 16, iPadOS 16, macOS 13 Ventura, and watchOS 9. You can still revoke an iMessage sent to users running iOS 15, iPadOS 15, macOS 12 Monterey, or watchOS 8. but they will still see it in their chat thread. And unlike redacted messages, the Messages app warns you when you unsend a message in a chat with a user running an older operating system:

You have sent a message. [Name] may still see your message on devices with earlier versions of iOS.

You can mark messages as read or unread

I’ve been waiting for this feature for a long time: the ability to mark messages as unread. That way you won’t forget to come back to that post or group of posts later when you have time to reply.

When you mark a message as unread, you only mark it as unread on your side. So it will still say when you first read the message if you have “Send read receipts”enabled. If you want to skip reading a message but want to mark it as read, you can do that too. This feature works for both iMessages and SMS/MMS.

To mark messages as read or unread, swipe right on a conversation in the list view (this previously pinned chats). You can also press and hold on a discussion and select “Mark as unread”or “Mark as read”which is handy for pinned conversations.

If you have Filter Unknown Senders enabled in your Messages settings, you’ll also see a new Unread Messages section when you click Filter to switch between unknown and known senders.

You can show and recover deleted messages

Like notes, photos, and mail, iOS and iPadOS 16 give you a Recently Deleted section in the Messages app. It’s like a trash can on your computer or email account, just for text messages and iMessage.

Deleted messages will be automatically deleted from Apple’s servers after 30 days. You can also manually erase the deleted content before. You can also restore messages if you accidentally delete something or change your mind.

Click “Edit”in the list of conversations, then “Show Recently Deleted”to view, delete, or restore content. If “Filter unknown senders”is enabled in your message settings, tap “Filter”and open the “Recently Deleted”folder.

There are more Memoji style options

If you enjoy using Memoji, more customization options are available in iOS and iPadOS 16. Specifically, there are 14 new hairstyles, three updated hairstyles, nine new nose designs, a hat-style headwear option, and three new neutral lip colors.

There are new expressions for Memoji stickers

What would an update be without something new for Memoji?! In iOS and iPadOS 16, there are six new expressive poses for all your custom Memoji. If “Memoji stickers”are enabled in the keyboard settings, these options will be available in their usual “Frequently Used”location to the left of emojis. You can also access them using the Memoji Stickers button in the app drawer.

You can assign any Memoji sticker as a contact image

There used to be 12 unique sticker poses for Animoji and Memoji when using them as profile pictures for contacts or as your iMessage photo, but you couldn’t use any of the stickers available in Memoji Stickers. It’s not like that anymore.

Now you can use any of these unique profile photo poses or any of the Memoji sticker options available. You’ll see the ones you’ve assigned to contacts in the Message app.

As before, you can change the profile pictures for your contacts directly from the message thread; Tap the person at the top of the conversation, select Info, then Edit, tap the profile picture, and select the Memoji you want. To change your iMessage photo, go to Settings -> Messages -> Share name and photo.

There are 3 more poses for contact photos

Speaking of unique sticker poses for contact photos and profile pictures, there are three more unique poses. While you won’t be able to send them to people in chats, you can still assign poses to your profile or a contact’s profile.

You can SharePlay while messaging

Apple introduced SharePlay starting with iOS and iPadOS 15.1, which allows you to share synced experiences in other apps with other people via FaceTime. Now you can also share synced activities to other apps via Messages. You can watch a movie together, listen to music, play games, and work side by side while chatting in Messages, just to name a few, complete with shared playback controls.

Image via Apple

Extended project collaboration

Starting with iOS and iPadOS 16, you can collaborate more effectively on projects with colleagues, students, and collaborators right from Messages. To invite a person or group in Messages to collaborate on your project, you select them on the shared sheet and then send the invitation. Everyone in this chat gets immediate access to start working on a project in real time.

You’ll be notified of any document changes you missed, and new activities will appear at the top of the conversation in Messages. You can click “Show”to navigate to the document and see the changes. From a project, you can go back to Messages or start a FaceTime call with everyone.

Enhanced collaboration through Messages works with Apple apps like Keynote, Numbers, Pages, Notes, Reminders, and Safari (for tab groups). Third party developers can use the Apple Messages Collaboration API to include support for this feature in their applications.

Image via Apple

While it’s not yet available in betas, Apple will also be using Messages Collaboration in its new Freeform product. The new whiteboard app will allow anyone with access to a shared project to take notes on a digital whiteboard canvas, draw diagrams, insert images, and more. It’s “coming out later this year,”which could happen when iOS and iPadOS 16 are released to the public or later.

Audio messages got its own app

In iOS and iPadOS 15, you could record and send voice messages using the audio button in the conversation text input field. The option in the text input field is now for dictation in iOS and iPadOS 16, and there’s a new audio-only app available from the Messages app drawer.

The microphone button appears when you press the icon in the application list, prompting you to press or hold to record. If you hold it down, an audio message will be sent immediately. If you click it, you need to click the stop button and manually submit the file.

If you never send audio messages, you can move the tool out of the favorite apps section or remove it from the app drawer altogether.

You can dictate text more easily

As the iOS and iPadOS 16 updates expand the dictation experience with support for emoji, automatic punctuation, and other useful features, Apple has decided to make using dictation in Messages as easy as possible.

To start dictation, tap the new microphone button in the conversation text input field, which replaces the audio message button. When there is already text in the text input field, the submit button will replace it, as it did before with the audio message button.

Instead of showing an audio waveform while dictating, it highlights the microphone button on the keyboard so you know what it’s listening to. If you’re not speaking, the text entry menu displays a microphone button with an “X”that you can press to stop dictation. You can also stop dictation using the microphone button on your keyboard.

Dictation turns off after a short period of inactivity, but you can always reactivate it from the keyboard or, if there’s nothing in the text input field, using the new microphone button.

You can enter and edit text with active dictation

When dictation is active, you can say whatever you want to write, but you can also type and edit text while dictation is active. This is the most important feature that dictation has to offer in iOS and iPadOS 16. You simply can’t type or edit text during a call, as it will just listen to one or the other.

You will see content shared with you in third-party apps

Apple added Shared with You in iOS and iPadOS 15, giving you quick access to content in other Apple apps that you’ve shared with you through Messages.

For example, in the For You section of Photos, you can find pictures and videos that contacts have sent you in iMessage and MMS conversations. As another example, Apple News articles that you share with you in Messages will appear in a dedicated section of your feed or Subscriptions tab.

Apple has now created an API that allows developers to integrate Shared with You into their apps. Let’s say your contacts often share IMDb movie links with you in conversations. If IMDb includes Shared with You in their mobile app, you’ll be able to see all of these recommendations in one convenient place. This way, if the link is hidden in the message thread, you will find it the next time you open the linked app.

You can use Siri to send messages automatically

You used to be able to use Siri to compose a new message, but sending it always required confirmation. On iOS and iPadOS 16, you can skip the confirmation and have Siri send the message as soon as you dictate it.

This feature is disabled by default, but you can enable it via Settings -> Siri & Search -> Send Messages Automatically. When enabled, you can disable automatic sending when connected to headphones or CarPlay, and Siri will require confirmation before sending in these cases. Please note that Type to Siri will not automatically send messages.

Siri can still ask you if you want to cancel or send it, but it will automatically send it if you don’t say anything within five seconds. The countdown will appear visually on the Send button in the Siri interface.

Siri can also insert emojis for you

Siri has another cool feature in iOS and iPadOS 16: inserting emoji into messages. So if you want to use an emoji in a message you’re dictating to Siri, say the name of the emoji like “smiley”or “heart”followed by “smiley”and Siri will understand.

This feature only works on iPhone and iPad models with at least the A12 Bionic processor. It is available in multiple languages including Cantonese (Hong Kong), English (Australia, Canada, India, UK, US), French (France), German (Germany), Japanese (Japan), Chinese (Mainland China, Taiwan), and Spanish (Mexico, Spain, USA).

You can use Spotlight to search for images in messages

Starting with iOS and iPadOS 15, you can use Spotlight search on your home screen to find images in the Photos app by location, people, scenes, animals, cars, and more. You can even enter a contact’s name to see photos from your conversation in Messages.

With iOS and iPadOS 16, Spotlight image search is expanding to more apps, including Files, Notes, and Messages. You can search across all topics and even search for text in images. So if you’re searching for “cat pictures,”you should see results from “Messages”next to photos and web image recommendations—without having to add a contact name.

It only searches local files on your device, and Live Text photo search is only available on iPhone and iPad models with at least A12 Bionic processor. However, I haven’t been able to get it to work in beta yet, so it might not be fully implemented yet, or it might be taking a long time to catalog related keywords from your images.

You can respond to screen time requests

Apple is making it easier to manage Screen Time requests in iOS and iPadOS 16. If you’re a parent or guardian, all Screen Time requests from your kids will appear in the Messages app. You can immediately approve or deny requests for more in-app time, purchase authorization, and more without opening the Settings app.

Images via Apple

You can focus on specific conversations

You can customize every focus except “Driving”in iOS and iPadOS 16 to filter out unwanted content like certain calendars, emails, and Safari tabs. You can also add a focus filter to include or exclude conversations in messages from selected contacts.

When focus is enabled, a new bar will appear at the top of the chat list in Messages to let you know that content is being filtered by your focus. You can click Turn Off if you want to see all conversations, and you can always click Turn On to filter messages again.

You can switch focus status to conversation

One complaint from some users about the Focus feature in iOS and iPadOS 15 was that you couldn’t easily change if someone could see your focus status. This is no longer a problem. If you no longer want to share your focus status with people, you can change it in the details view of the chat thread. It’s a bit buggy right now, but hopefully it will improve as it goes through beta testing.

You can choose which apps to open links in

In iOS and iPadOS 16, you can choose from quick actions where you want to open certain types of links. For example, you can open the iCloud link for a shortcut in Safari or the Shortcuts app. Previously, you just saw “Open Link”with a Safari icon.

Right now, only a few types of links work with this feature. For example, I see options to open a podcast’s RSS feed in Podcasts or Safari, and a poor link to a specific episode, but not rich links or show links. It’s also unclear if this feature will work with third-party apps.

You can share your digital keys

Starting with iOS 16, you can securely share your car, home, or office key stored in your iPhone wallet through Messages and other platforms like Mail and WhatsApp. This option will only be available in apps that support Wallet.