12 hidden iMessage features every iPhone user should try
Macworld For many iPhone users, iMessage is the definitive communication app, an intuitive instant-messaging platform for texting and sharing media with friends and family. And it keeps getting better and better. Over the years, Apple has steadily expanded the service with support for new attachment types and add-ons, including dedicated mini apps. Yet many users stick to iMessage for basic texting, unaware of how much more it can do. If you’re looking to take your conversations to the next level, it’s worth familiarizing yourself with these hidden iMessage features. If you’re an iPhone user who mainly relies on iMessage for basic texting, this guide will help you discover features that go far beyond simple messages. If you want to save time, stay organised, or improve how you communicate, you’ll learn practical tools like scheduling, transcripts, and automations. If you’re curious about hidden or lesser-known iMessage features, you’ll uncover capabilities you may not have realised existed. And if you’re looking to make your chats more personal, expressive, or interactive, you’ll find plenty of ways to customise and enhance your conversations. What you’ll learn from this guide How to schedule iMessages in advance so you never forget important texts How to save time on voice notes with playback speed controls and transcripts How to use Check In for safety, sharing your location and arrival status How to translate messages automatically in multilingual conversations How to automate actions and replies using the Shortcuts app Plus a range of customisation and fun features (effects, backgrounds, games, handwritten notes) Scheduling This tip is useful if you forget birthdays or send late-night texts. iMessage lets you schedule messages up to 14 days in advance, making it easier to avoid unnecessary late-night texts or to ensure you don’t forget to reach out on an important special occasion. Hit the plus button, select Send Later, pick a date and time, and type your message. Once scheduled, iMessage will store the text in Apple’s servers and deliver it on the chosen day—even if your iPhone isn’t connected to Wi-Fi or 5G. If you suspect you’ll forget to send a time-sensitive message, schedule it in advance.Mahmoud Itani / Foundry Checking In Here’s a tip for staying safe when travelling alone. If you’re heading home at night or taking a route through a sketchy area, it might be wise to use the built-in Check In app in iMessage to grant a trusted contact access to your location. With your permission, it will show them exactly which road you’ve taken and when to expect you to arrive at the chosen destination. It’s one of the lesser-known iMessage perks that can make you feel safer. Voice memo speed This is helpful when friends send long voice notes. You’re probably aware of the Audio app in iMessage, which lets you instantly record and send voice memos to express yourself. Sending voice memos can be fun and convenient. Receiving them, not so much. If you tend to receive long audio messages from your friends, and would like to save a little time while listening to them, tap and hold the play button to reveal 1.25x, 1.5x, and 2x playback speeds. Alternatively, you can hit the small arrow under the audio message to read an auto-generated transcript of detected speech. Listening to voice memos can be tedious. Speed things up and save time, or just read a transcript.Mahmoud Itani / Foundry Translations To understand messages instantly and reply naturally use Translate. With remote work culture making it practical for digital nomads to work from the country of their choice, making foreign friends has become more common. iMessage accommodates multilingual conversations through its translation feature. Simply tap and hold a foreign text and tap Translate. If the entire chat is in a foreign language, you could alternatively tap on the recipient’s profile photo to view their contact card and enable the Automatically Translate toggle, then select a language from the 12 options. This will effortlessly translate the entire chat to your native language. Message effects You can make important messages stand out and convey tone clearly with this tip. iMessage supports bubble and screen effects, which animate texts you send on the recipient’s end. To mark a spoiler, for example, you could use the invisible ink effect, which conceals text and media. Likewise, you could release some balloons or confetti in the chat by picking the relevant effect when congratulating someone. All you have to do is tap and hold the send button and choose one of the listed effects. iMessage’s range of screen effects include a spotlight for added drama.Mahmoud Itani / Foundry Text Formatting Format text to emphasise key words or points. For something a bit more subtle, you could opt for text formatting. Select the desired word(s) in the iMessage text box, and tap on Text Effects. This will reveal formatting options, such as bold and italics, along with less dramatic animations that don’t take over the entire screen. Automations Let your iPhone trigger helpful actions for you automatically. iMessage caters to power users through native integrations with the Apple Shortcuts app. You can program the system to run tasks automatically whenever a chosen contact texts you or you receive a specific keyword. To get started, head to the Automation tab in the Shortcuts app, create a new automation, and pick Message. Pick a sender and/or a keyword to trigger the automation, and go for the Run Immediately option to avoid having to confirm manually each time. You can then proceed to the next screen to choose the tasks iOS should perform whenever the automation is initiated. Conversely, you can create a reminder in the Reminders app and set it to alert you about a certain matter whenever you text a person of your choosing. Simply enable the When Messaging toggle in a reminder’s settings and pick a contact. Handwritten notes Make messages feel more personal and thoughtful. There’s arguably no text more personal than a handwritten one, and iMessage happens to support that. Open any of your iMessage chats and rotate your iPhone sideways. The default iOS keyboard will then reveal a concealed scribble button (the cursive loop at the bottom-right) exclusive to the landscape orientation. Write a note, or doodle a picture, and then hit send. Handwritten messages become possible when you flip the iPhone on its side.Mahmoud Itani / Foundry Social heartbeat Demonstrate your emotions. If you’re looking to send an even more intimate message, you could share your actual heartbeat with an iMessage contact. Tap on the plus (+) button in a chat to reveal the list of installed iMessage apps and choose Digital Touch. Tap and hold with two fingers on the black canvas and release when you’re ready to send. With your permission, the feature will read and imitate your recent heart rate records and display an accurate animation on the recipient’s end. It’ll even vibrate accordingly if they’re wearing an Apple Watch. If you don’t use an Apple Watch or a compatible accessory that adds heart rate data to the Health app, you could still send a generic heartbeat animation using the same command. Multiplayer games Turn a passive chat into a shared activity. The Messages app’s usefulness extends beyond traditional texting. If you and a friend are bored, you could search the App Store for iMessage games and download a few that catch your eye. Once installed, you can launch the game using the plus button in an iMessage chat to initiate a round. Typically, iMessage games are turn-based, so you can make a move, send the session to the other party, and wait for them to reciprocate. It’s a fun, simple way to spend time with someone while apart. Conversation backgrounds A characterful background is just the thing for livening up a conversation.Mahmoud Itani / Foundry Make chats easier to recognise at a glance. iMessage has become increasingly customisable, with chat backgrounds one of the most recent additions. To set this up, tap the contact card in the desired chat (the recipient or group name at the top of the screen) then select the Backgrounds tab. This will let you pick a photo, color mix, default pattern, or AI-generated illustration. It’s worth noting that chat backgrounds appear on both ends of the conversation, so your friend will see what you pick and vice versa. Name and photo sharing Make conversations feel more personal and trustworthy. Messaging platforms such as WhatsApp and Telegram have long supported profile photos and display names. This helps people identify you, especially when you contact them for the first time. iMessage recently adopted a similar functionality that updates your contact card on their devices. On the Messages app’s main screen, tap the Edit button in the top-left corner, then hit Set Up Name & Photo. You can then proceed to pick an avatar, poster, first name, and surname, along with adjusting the privacy settings of this feature. It’s an underused way to make your chat more “you” on your friends’ iPhones. So much for the positives. But if you’re having problems, you may next wish to read How to fix iMessage.

Read more »

12 hidden iMessage features every iPhone user should try
Macworld For many iPhone users, iMessage is the definitive communication app, an intuitive instant-messaging platform for texting and sharing media with friends and family. And it keeps getting better and better. Over the years, Apple has steadily expanded the service with support for new attachment types and add-ons, including dedicated mini apps. Yet many users stick to iMessage for basic texting, unaware of how much more it can do. If you’re looking to take your conversations to the next level, it’s worth familiarizing yourself with these hidden iMessage features. If you’re an iPhone user who mainly relies on iMessage for basic texting, this guide will help you discover features that go far beyond simple messages. If you want to save time, stay organised, or improve how you communicate, you’ll learn practical tools like scheduling, transcripts, and automations. If you’re curious about hidden or lesser-known iMessage features, you’ll uncover capabilities you may not have realised existed. And if you’re looking to make your chats more personal, expressive, or interactive, you’ll find plenty of ways to customise and enhance your conversations. What you’ll learn from this guide How to schedule iMessages in advance so you never forget important texts How to save time on voice notes with playback speed controls and transcripts How to use Check In for safety, sharing your location and arrival status How to translate messages automatically in multilingual conversations How to automate actions and replies using the Shortcuts app Plus a range of customisation and fun features (effects, backgrounds, games, handwritten notes) Scheduling This tip is useful if you forget birthdays or send late-night texts. iMessage lets you schedule messages up to 14 days in advance, making it easier to avoid unnecessary late-night texts or to ensure you don’t forget to reach out on an important special occasion. Hit the plus button, select Send Later, pick a date and time, and type your message. Once scheduled, iMessage will store the text in Apple’s servers and deliver it on the chosen day—even if your iPhone isn’t connected to Wi-Fi or 5G. If you suspect you’ll forget to send a time-sensitive message, schedule it in advance.Mahmoud Itani / Foundry Checking In Here’s a tip for staying safe when travelling alone. If you’re heading home at night or taking a route through a sketchy area, it might be wise to use the built-in Check In app in iMessage to grant a trusted contact access to your location. With your permission, it will show them exactly which road you’ve taken and when to expect you to arrive at the chosen destination. It’s one of the lesser-known iMessage perks that can make you feel safer. Voice memo speed This is helpful when friends send long voice notes. You’re probably aware of the Audio app in iMessage, which lets you instantly record and send voice memos to express yourself. Sending voice memos can be fun and convenient. Receiving them, not so much. If you tend to receive long audio messages from your friends, and would like to save a little time while listening to them, tap and hold the play button to reveal 1.25x, 1.5x, and 2x playback speeds. Alternatively, you can hit the small arrow under the audio message to read an auto-generated transcript of detected speech. Listening to voice memos can be tedious. Speed things up and save time, or just read a transcript.Mahmoud Itani / Foundry Translations To understand messages instantly and reply naturally use Translate. With remote work culture making it practical for digital nomads to work from the country of their choice, making foreign friends has become more common. iMessage accommodates multilingual conversations through its translation feature. Simply tap and hold a foreign text and tap Translate. If the entire chat is in a foreign language, you could alternatively tap on the recipient’s profile photo to view their contact card and enable the Automatically Translate toggle, then select a language from the 12 options. This will effortlessly translate the entire chat to your native language. Message effects You can make important messages stand out and convey tone clearly with this tip. iMessage supports bubble and screen effects, which animate texts you send on the recipient’s end. To mark a spoiler, for example, you could use the invisible ink effect, which conceals text and media. Likewise, you could release some balloons or confetti in the chat by picking the relevant effect when congratulating someone. All you have to do is tap and hold the send button and choose one of the listed effects. iMessage’s range of screen effects include a spotlight for added drama.Mahmoud Itani / Foundry Text Formatting Format text to emphasise key words or points. For something a bit more subtle, you could opt for text formatting. Select the desired word(s) in the iMessage text box, and tap on Text Effects. This will reveal formatting options, such as bold and italics, along with less dramatic animations that don’t take over the entire screen. Automations Let your iPhone trigger helpful actions for you automatically. iMessage caters to power users through native integrations with the Apple Shortcuts app. You can program the system to run tasks automatically whenever a chosen contact texts you or you receive a specific keyword. To get started, head to the Automation tab in the Shortcuts app, create a new automation, and pick Message. Pick a sender and/or a keyword to trigger the automation, and go for the Run Immediately option to avoid having to confirm manually each time. You can then proceed to the next screen to choose the tasks iOS should perform whenever the automation is initiated. Conversely, you can create a reminder in the Reminders app and set it to alert you about a certain matter whenever you text a person of your choosing. Simply enable the When Messaging toggle in a reminder’s settings and pick a contact. Handwritten notes Make messages feel more personal and thoughtful. There’s arguably no text more personal than a handwritten one, and iMessage happens to support that. Open any of your iMessage chats and rotate your iPhone sideways. The default iOS keyboard will then reveal a concealed scribble button (the cursive loop at the bottom-right) exclusive to the landscape orientation. Write a note, or doodle a picture, and then hit send. Handwritten messages become possible when you flip the iPhone on its side.Mahmoud Itani / Foundry Social heartbeat Demonstrate your emotions. If you’re looking to send an even more intimate message, you could share your actual heartbeat with an iMessage contact. Tap on the plus (+) button in a chat to reveal the list of installed iMessage apps and choose Digital Touch. Tap and hold with two fingers on the black canvas and release when you’re ready to send. With your permission, the feature will read and imitate your recent heart rate records and display an accurate animation on the recipient’s end. It’ll even vibrate accordingly if they’re wearing an Apple Watch. If you don’t use an Apple Watch or a compatible accessory that adds heart rate data to the Health app, you could still send a generic heartbeat animation using the same command. Multiplayer games Turn a passive chat into a shared activity. The Messages app’s usefulness extends beyond traditional texting. If you and a friend are bored, you could search the App Store for iMessage games and download a few that catch your eye. Once installed, you can launch the game using the plus button in an iMessage chat to initiate a round. Typically, iMessage games are turn-based, so you can make a move, send the session to the other party, and wait for them to reciprocate. It’s a fun, simple way to spend time with someone while apart. Conversation backgrounds A characterful background is just the thing for livening up a conversation.Mahmoud Itani / Foundry Make chats easier to recognise at a glance. iMessage has become increasingly customisable, with chat backgrounds one of the most recent additions. To set this up, tap the contact card in the desired chat (the recipient or group name at the top of the screen) then select the Backgrounds tab. This will let you pick a photo, color mix, default pattern, or AI-generated illustration. It’s worth noting that chat backgrounds appear on both ends of the conversation, so your friend will see what you pick and vice versa. Name and photo sharing Make conversations feel more personal and trustworthy. Messaging platforms such as WhatsApp and Telegram have long supported profile photos and display names. This helps people identify you, especially when you contact them for the first time. iMessage recently adopted a similar functionality that updates your contact card on their devices. On the Messages app’s main screen, tap the Edit button in the top-left corner, then hit Set Up Name & Photo. You can then proceed to pick an avatar, poster, first name, and surname, along with adjusting the privacy settings of this feature. It’s an underused way to make your chat more “you” on your friends’ iPhones. So much for the positives. But if you’re having problems, you may next wish to read How to fix iMessage.

Read more »

12 hidden iMessage features every iPhone user should try
Macworld For many iPhone users, iMessage is the definitive communication app, an intuitive instant-messaging platform for texting and sharing media with friends and family. And it keeps getting better and better. Over the years, Apple has steadily expanded the service with support for new attachment types and add-ons, including dedicated mini apps. Yet many users stick to iMessage for basic texting, unaware of how much more it can do. If you’re looking to take your conversations to the next level, it’s worth familiarizing yourself with these hidden iMessage features. If you’re an iPhone user who mainly relies on iMessage for basic texting, this guide will help you discover features that go far beyond simple messages. If you want to save time, stay organised, or improve how you communicate, you’ll learn practical tools like scheduling, transcripts, and automations. If you’re curious about hidden or lesser-known iMessage features, you’ll uncover capabilities you may not have realised existed. And if you’re looking to make your chats more personal, expressive, or interactive, you’ll find plenty of ways to customise and enhance your conversations. What you’ll learn from this guide How to schedule iMessages in advance so you never forget important texts How to save time on voice notes with playback speed controls and transcripts How to use Check In for safety, sharing your location and arrival status How to translate messages automatically in multilingual conversations How to automate actions and replies using the Shortcuts app Plus a range of customisation and fun features (effects, backgrounds, games, handwritten notes) Scheduling This tip is useful if you forget birthdays or send late-night texts. iMessage lets you schedule messages up to 14 days in advance, making it easier to avoid unnecessary late-night texts or to ensure you don’t forget to reach out on an important special occasion. Hit the plus button, select Send Later, pick a date and time, and type your message. Once scheduled, iMessage will store the text in Apple’s servers and deliver it on the chosen day—even if your iPhone isn’t connected to Wi-Fi or 5G. If you suspect you’ll forget to send a time-sensitive message, schedule it in advance.Mahmoud Itani / Foundry Checking In Here’s a tip for staying safe when travelling alone. If you’re heading home at night or taking a route through a sketchy area, it might be wise to use the built-in Check In app in iMessage to grant a trusted contact access to your location. With your permission, it will show them exactly which road you’ve taken and when to expect you to arrive at the chosen destination. It’s one of the lesser-known iMessage perks that can make you feel safer. Voice memo speed This is helpful when friends send long voice notes. You’re probably aware of the Audio app in iMessage, which lets you instantly record and send voice memos to express yourself. Sending voice memos can be fun and convenient. Receiving them, not so much. If you tend to receive long audio messages from your friends, and would like to save a little time while listening to them, tap and hold the play button to reveal 1.25x, 1.5x, and 2x playback speeds. Alternatively, you can hit the small arrow under the audio message to read an auto-generated transcript of detected speech. Listening to voice memos can be tedious. Speed things up and save time, or just read a transcript.Mahmoud Itani / Foundry Translations To understand messages instantly and reply naturally use Translate. With remote work culture making it practical for digital nomads to work from the country of their choice, making foreign friends has become more common. iMessage accommodates multilingual conversations through its translation feature. Simply tap and hold a foreign text and tap Translate. If the entire chat is in a foreign language, you could alternatively tap on the recipient’s profile photo to view their contact card and enable the Automatically Translate toggle, then select a language from the 12 options. This will effortlessly translate the entire chat to your native language. Message effects You can make important messages stand out and convey tone clearly with this tip. iMessage supports bubble and screen effects, which animate texts you send on the recipient’s end. To mark a spoiler, for example, you could use the invisible ink effect, which conceals text and media. Likewise, you could release some balloons or confetti in the chat by picking the relevant effect when congratulating someone. All you have to do is tap and hold the send button and choose one of the listed effects. iMessage’s range of screen effects include a spotlight for added drama.Mahmoud Itani / Foundry Text Formatting Format text to emphasise key words or points. For something a bit more subtle, you could opt for text formatting. Select the desired word(s) in the iMessage text box, and tap on Text Effects. This will reveal formatting options, such as bold and italics, along with less dramatic animations that don’t take over the entire screen. Automations Let your iPhone trigger helpful actions for you automatically. iMessage caters to power users through native integrations with the Apple Shortcuts app. You can program the system to run tasks automatically whenever a chosen contact texts you or you receive a specific keyword. To get started, head to the Automation tab in the Shortcuts app, create a new automation, and pick Message. Pick a sender and/or a keyword to trigger the automation, and go for the Run Immediately option to avoid having to confirm manually each time. You can then proceed to the next screen to choose the tasks iOS should perform whenever the automation is initiated. Conversely, you can create a reminder in the Reminders app and set it to alert you about a certain matter whenever you text a person of your choosing. Simply enable the When Messaging toggle in a reminder’s settings and pick a contact. Handwritten notes Make messages feel more personal and thoughtful. There’s arguably no text more personal than a handwritten one, and iMessage happens to support that. Open any of your iMessage chats and rotate your iPhone sideways. The default iOS keyboard will then reveal a concealed scribble button (the cursive loop at the bottom-right) exclusive to the landscape orientation. Write a note, or doodle a picture, and then hit send. Handwritten messages become possible when you flip the iPhone on its side.Mahmoud Itani / Foundry Social heartbeat Demonstrate your emotions. If you’re looking to send an even more intimate message, you could share your actual heartbeat with an iMessage contact. Tap on the plus (+) button in a chat to reveal the list of installed iMessage apps and choose Digital Touch. Tap and hold with two fingers on the black canvas and release when you’re ready to send. With your permission, the feature will read and imitate your recent heart rate records and display an accurate animation on the recipient’s end. It’ll even vibrate accordingly if they’re wearing an Apple Watch. If you don’t use an Apple Watch or a compatible accessory that adds heart rate data to the Health app, you could still send a generic heartbeat animation using the same command. Multiplayer games Turn a passive chat into a shared activity. The Messages app’s usefulness extends beyond traditional texting. If you and a friend are bored, you could search the App Store for iMessage games and download a few that catch your eye. Once installed, you can launch the game using the plus button in an iMessage chat to initiate a round. Typically, iMessage games are turn-based, so you can make a move, send the session to the other party, and wait for them to reciprocate. It’s a fun, simple way to spend time with someone while apart. Conversation backgrounds A characterful background is just the thing for livening up a conversation.Mahmoud Itani / Foundry Make chats easier to recognise at a glance. iMessage has become increasingly customisable, with chat backgrounds one of the most recent additions. To set this up, tap the contact card in the desired chat (the recipient or group name at the top of the screen) then select the Backgrounds tab. This will let you pick a photo, color mix, default pattern, or AI-generated illustration. It’s worth noting that chat backgrounds appear on both ends of the conversation, so your friend will see what you pick and vice versa. Name and photo sharing Make conversations feel more personal and trustworthy. Messaging platforms such as WhatsApp and Telegram have long supported profile photos and display names. This helps people identify you, especially when you contact them for the first time. iMessage recently adopted a similar functionality that updates your contact card on their devices. On the Messages app’s main screen, tap the Edit button in the top-left corner, then hit Set Up Name & Photo. You can then proceed to pick an avatar, poster, first name, and surname, along with adjusting the privacy settings of this feature. It’s an underused way to make your chat more “you” on your friends’ iPhones. So much for the positives. But if you’re having problems, you may next wish to read How to fix iMessage.

Read more »

12 hidden iMessage features every iPhone user should try
Macworld For many iPhone users, iMessage is the definitive communication app, an intuitive instant-messaging platform for texting and sharing media with friends and family. And it keeps getting better and better. Over the years, Apple has steadily expanded the service with support for new attachment types and add-ons, including dedicated mini apps. Yet many users stick to iMessage for basic texting, unaware of how much more it can do. If you’re looking to take your conversations to the next level, it’s worth familiarizing yourself with these hidden iMessage features. If you’re an iPhone user who mainly relies on iMessage for basic texting, this guide will help you discover features that go far beyond simple messages. If you want to save time, stay organised, or improve how you communicate, you’ll learn practical tools like scheduling, transcripts, and automations. If you’re curious about hidden or lesser-known iMessage features, you’ll uncover capabilities you may not have realised existed. And if you’re looking to make your chats more personal, expressive, or interactive, you’ll find plenty of ways to customise and enhance your conversations. What you’ll learn from this guide How to schedule iMessages in advance so you never forget important texts How to save time on voice notes with playback speed controls and transcripts How to use Check In for safety, sharing your location and arrival status How to translate messages automatically in multilingual conversations How to automate actions and replies using the Shortcuts app Plus a range of customisation and fun features (effects, backgrounds, games, handwritten notes) Scheduling This tip is useful if you forget birthdays or send late-night texts. iMessage lets you schedule messages up to 14 days in advance, making it easier to avoid unnecessary late-night texts or to ensure you don’t forget to reach out on an important special occasion. Hit the plus button, select Send Later, pick a date and time, and type your message. Once scheduled, iMessage will store the text in Apple’s servers and deliver it on the chosen day—even if your iPhone isn’t connected to Wi-Fi or 5G. If you suspect you’ll forget to send a time-sensitive message, schedule it in advance.Mahmoud Itani / Foundry Checking In Here’s a tip for staying safe when travelling alone. If you’re heading home at night or taking a route through a sketchy area, it might be wise to use the built-in Check In app in iMessage to grant a trusted contact access to your location. With your permission, it will show them exactly which road you’ve taken and when to expect you to arrive at the chosen destination. It’s one of the lesser-known iMessage perks that can make you feel safer. Voice memo speed This is helpful when friends send long voice notes. You’re probably aware of the Audio app in iMessage, which lets you instantly record and send voice memos to express yourself. Sending voice memos can be fun and convenient. Receiving them, not so much. If you tend to receive long audio messages from your friends, and would like to save a little time while listening to them, tap and hold the play button to reveal 1.25x, 1.5x, and 2x playback speeds. Alternatively, you can hit the small arrow under the audio message to read an auto-generated transcript of detected speech. Listening to voice memos can be tedious. Speed things up and save time, or just read a transcript.Mahmoud Itani / Foundry Translations To understand messages instantly and reply naturally use Translate. With remote work culture making it practical for digital nomads to work from the country of their choice, making foreign friends has become more common. iMessage accommodates multilingual conversations through its translation feature. Simply tap and hold a foreign text and tap Translate. If the entire chat is in a foreign language, you could alternatively tap on the recipient’s profile photo to view their contact card and enable the Automatically Translate toggle, then select a language from the 12 options. This will effortlessly translate the entire chat to your native language. Message effects You can make important messages stand out and convey tone clearly with this tip. iMessage supports bubble and screen effects, which animate texts you send on the recipient’s end. To mark a spoiler, for example, you could use the invisible ink effect, which conceals text and media. Likewise, you could release some balloons or confetti in the chat by picking the relevant effect when congratulating someone. All you have to do is tap and hold the send button and choose one of the listed effects. iMessage’s range of screen effects include a spotlight for added drama.Mahmoud Itani / Foundry Text Formatting Format text to emphasise key words or points. For something a bit more subtle, you could opt for text formatting. Select the desired word(s) in the iMessage text box, and tap on Text Effects. This will reveal formatting options, such as bold and italics, along with less dramatic animations that don’t take over the entire screen. Automations Let your iPhone trigger helpful actions for you automatically. iMessage caters to power users through native integrations with the Apple Shortcuts app. You can program the system to run tasks automatically whenever a chosen contact texts you or you receive a specific keyword. To get started, head to the Automation tab in the Shortcuts app, create a new automation, and pick Message. Pick a sender and/or a keyword to trigger the automation, and go for the Run Immediately option to avoid having to confirm manually each time. You can then proceed to the next screen to choose the tasks iOS should perform whenever the automation is initiated. Conversely, you can create a reminder in the Reminders app and set it to alert you about a certain matter whenever you text a person of your choosing. Simply enable the When Messaging toggle in a reminder’s settings and pick a contact. Handwritten notes Make messages feel more personal and thoughtful. There’s arguably no text more personal than a handwritten one, and iMessage happens to support that. Open any of your iMessage chats and rotate your iPhone sideways. The default iOS keyboard will then reveal a concealed scribble button (the cursive loop at the bottom-right) exclusive to the landscape orientation. Write a note, or doodle a picture, and then hit send. Handwritten messages become possible when you flip the iPhone on its side.Mahmoud Itani / Foundry Social heartbeat Demonstrate your emotions. If you’re looking to send an even more intimate message, you could share your actual heartbeat with an iMessage contact. Tap on the plus (+) button in a chat to reveal the list of installed iMessage apps and choose Digital Touch. Tap and hold with two fingers on the black canvas and release when you’re ready to send. With your permission, the feature will read and imitate your recent heart rate records and display an accurate animation on the recipient’s end. It’ll even vibrate accordingly if they’re wearing an Apple Watch. If you don’t use an Apple Watch or a compatible accessory that adds heart rate data to the Health app, you could still send a generic heartbeat animation using the same command. Multiplayer games Turn a passive chat into a shared activity. The Messages app’s usefulness extends beyond traditional texting. If you and a friend are bored, you could search the App Store for iMessage games and download a few that catch your eye. Once installed, you can launch the game using the plus button in an iMessage chat to initiate a round. Typically, iMessage games are turn-based, so you can make a move, send the session to the other party, and wait for them to reciprocate. It’s a fun, simple way to spend time with someone while apart. Conversation backgrounds A characterful background is just the thing for livening up a conversation.Mahmoud Itani / Foundry Make chats easier to recognise at a glance. iMessage has become increasingly customisable, with chat backgrounds one of the most recent additions. To set this up, tap the contact card in the desired chat (the recipient or group name at the top of the screen) then select the Backgrounds tab. This will let you pick a photo, color mix, default pattern, or AI-generated illustration. It’s worth noting that chat backgrounds appear on both ends of the conversation, so your friend will see what you pick and vice versa. Name and photo sharing Make conversations feel more personal and trustworthy. Messaging platforms such as WhatsApp and Telegram have long supported profile photos and display names. This helps people identify you, especially when you contact them for the first time. iMessage recently adopted a similar functionality that updates your contact card on their devices. On the Messages app’s main screen, tap the Edit button in the top-left corner, then hit Set Up Name & Photo. You can then proceed to pick an avatar, poster, first name, and surname, along with adjusting the privacy settings of this feature. It’s an underused way to make your chat more “you” on your friends’ iPhones. So much for the positives. But if you’re having problems, you may next wish to read How to fix iMessage.

Read more »

Report: iPhone Air is about twice as popular compared to the Plus model it replaced
According to cellular network data from Ookla, the iPhone Air is about twice as popular compared to the iPhone 16 Plus, in the comparable launch period for the iPhone 17 and year-ago iPhone 16 lineup. While the Air is seemingly the least popular model of the iPhone 17 generation, Apple will still consider it a relative success, as this report shows the Air has firmly eclipsed the sales performance of the outgoing Plus model. more…

Read more »

The iPhone 17e is bad in a really good way
Macworld I’ve been playing with the iPhone 17e for a few days now, and my skeptical first impressions are gradually mellowing into a sort of indulgent fondness. It isn’t the best iPhone I’ve tested, or even close to that. But it’s bad in a good way. Let’s quickly recap all the things that made me nervous about the 17e when Apple unveiled it earlier this month. It starts at $599, the same as the iPhone 16e, a lower price compared to the iPhone 17, granted, but a far cry from the budget appeal of the $429 iPhone SE. It has a binned processor (with one less functional core), and still has just a single rear-facing camera. And while it gains MagSafe, it’s an old version that is capped at 15W rather than the 25W you get on more recent models. I’m still mildly depressed about the price tag, although it’s worth bearing in mind that the final iPhone SE model had plenty of issues and actually wasn’t a terribly good choice for budget buyers. (A better option was to buy a second-hand unit of a more upmarket model, and that remains an option worth considering today. The iPhone 15 costs $529 from the Apple Refurbished Store, and you can bet there will be cheaper options if you buy elsewhere, or are prepared to go back a generation or two further.) So it was always asking a lot for Apple to release an uncompromised phone for less than $500. The binned processor, if I’m honest, was never that huge a deal to me either. In fact, my feeling about the iPhone 16e was that Apple focused too heavily on making it AI-ready, which meant a faster chip and more RAM than was strictly necessary at that price, and compromises in other areas. Sure, it was faintly annoying to be getting a binned processor among all the other limitations when the price was mid-market rather than budget, but even a binned A18 was fine for all tasks in the short term and most tasks in even the long term. And I feel largely the same about the 17e’s binned A19 now. The real revelation, however, has been MagSafe. I was severely hacked off by the lack of MagSafe last year, because it’s one of those small conveniences you take for granted until it’s gone: fiddling with a non-magnetic charging puck and hoping the phone stayed on the sweet spot all night (or using a cable) was surprisingly annoying. So to have that on the 17e is a big improvement. MagSafe being capped at 15W, meanwhile, like that binned processor, is more annoying in principle than in practice. I’m not entirely sure why this old version of the technology is being wheeled out again (you have to go back to the iPhone 15 for the last time it appeared in a new iPhone), but for me, as I’ve explained in a separate article, wireless charging speed simply isn’t much of a priority. At 15W, the 17e’s MagSafe is fast enough to charge the device from zero to full twice over during a single night’s sleep, and any time you need it to charge faster, you can use a cable instead. The value of MagSafe is convenience, not speed. Would I like to have 25W MagSafe? Sure. Of course. But nothing is free, and if using a slower version means we can have MagSafe on a $599 phone, I’m on board with that decision. Having no MagSafe at all (while packing 8GB of RAM and a frontline processor) was a bad compromise. Having slow MagSafe is a sensible compromise that I fully support. That’s not to say that all of my worries have been put to rest. The iPhone 17 has clearly spoiled me: The lack of an always-on display bothers me more than I expected, and I wish the camera setup were better, since that’s a high priority for most customers. But I will say that technology has advanced to the point where even single phone cameras will do the job for most people, most of the time. The e-class phones are worse than the flagships at portrait photos and cut out macro photography, but for day-to-day snapshots, they’re absolutely fine. My review will arrive later this week, but my feelings about the iPhone 17e are a lot more positive than I expected. It’s particularly surprising because only one of my issues with the 16e (the lack of MagSafe) has been addressed. But Apple slipped in a bonus upgrade: it doubled the starting storage allocation without increasing the price. Between that, the new processor, the inclusion of 15W MagSafe, and a tougher version of Ceramic Shield on the display, I’m feeling quite happy about the iPhone 17e. Even if it’s not what you’d call a good phone. Foundry Welcome to our weekly Apple Breakfast column, which includes all the Apple news you missed last week in a handy bite-sized roundup. We call it Apple Breakfast because we think it goes great with a Monday morning cup of coffee or tea, but it’s cool if you want to give it a read during lunch or dinner hours too. Trending: Top stories MacBook Neo is classic Apple, says Jason Snell: Moving fast and breaking stuff. While its competitors burn cash on AI, Apple is taking its usual slow and steady approach. And it’s paying off, writes the Macalope. Alex Blake offers 8 upgrades to make your old Apple gear feel new again. Roman Loyola tried to push the MacBook Neo to its limit. But it handled a week of stress better than he did. AirPods Max 2 may look old, but these big upgrades are inside. First-time customers are scooping up Neos at a record pace. The Mac just posted its ‘best launch week ever’ with non-Mac users. Podcast of the week In the latest episode of the Macworld Podcast, we review the new M5 MacBook Air, M5 Max MacBook Pro, and Apple Studio Display. Tune in and get all the details. You can catch every episode of the Macworld Podcast on YouTube, Spotify, Soundcloud, the Podcasts app, or our own site. Reviews corner Studio Display (2026): A great monitor if you can get it for half-price. BenQ MA270S: Studio Display specs for a whole lot less. DuckDuckGo VPN: Strong privacy, but missing key features. Sennheiser CX 80U: Affordable USB-C wired earbuds with impressive sound. The rumor mill Big changes are coming to iOS 27, but Liquid Glass is here to stay. Sorry. Software updates, bugs, and problems DarkSword malware targets iPhones that haven’t been updated yet. Here’s a mystery. Why did Apple just declare a 12-year-old iPhone obsolete? And with that, we’re done for this week’s Apple Breakfast. If you’d like to get regular roundups, sign up for our newsletters, including our new email from The Macalope–an irreverent, humorous take on the latest news and rumors from a half-man, half-mythical Mac beast. You can also follow us on Facebook, Threads, Bluesky, or X for discussion of breaking Apple news stories. See you next Monday, and stay Appley.

Read more »

Your iPhone or iPad just replaced your bulky scanner for $26
Macworld TL;DR: iScanner App turns your iPad or iPhone into a scanner on the go, and now a lifetime subscription is just $25.97 (MSRP $199.90) through April 12. Our iPhones can do a whole lot, but now there’s an app that makes them even more productive. The iScanner App turns iPhones and iPads into scanning devices that can digitize documents from anywhere. Right now, you can snag a lifetime subscription for only $25.97 (MSRP $199.90) until April 12. Scan anything, anywhere — right from your iPhone or iPad Want to clear off some clutter in your office? Now you can ditch the bulky printer-scanner hybrids and just digitize things from your iPhone with the help of the iScanner App. This helpful tool makes it easy to scan anything, anywhere — from forms you need to fill out to sentimental documents you want to keep forever. iScanner makes scanning a breeze. All you have to do is point your phone or iPad’s camera at the page you need to scan and let the AI-powered features do the rest. The app detects and adjusts the document’s borders, giving you a top-quality scan. Its technology also helps with text translation, object counting, measurements, and more. After you scan something, you can adjust it with color correction and noise removal tools. You can also choose how you’d like to save the file — as a PDF, JPG, DOC, XLS, PPT, or TXT. If you pick PDF, you can sign, add text, or auto-fill the file right within the app, as it doubles as a PDF editor. iScanner can also manage your documents, organizing your scans as you go. If you scan something that includes sensitive information, you can add a PIN to files for extra privacy. Enjoy a lifetime subscription to the iScanner App for only $25.97 (MSRP $199.90) now through April 12. iScanner App: Lifetime SubscriptionSee Deal Want to see more deals? Visit the shop and use code MARCH15 to save an extra 15% sitewide through March 29. Exclusions apply. StackSocial prices subject to change.

Read more »

Galaxy S26 can now share files with iPhones using AirDrop
Quick Share on the Galaxy S26 now supports AirDrop, allowing native wireless file transfers with iPhones, iPads and Macs. (via Cult of Mac - Your source for the latest Apple news, rumors, analysis, reviews, how-tos and deals.)

Read more »

These are the best new MacBook deals right now: March 2026 Buyer’s Guide
In the era of Apple Silicon, MacBooks are more affordable than ever. Nowadays, you can buy a MacBook Air with 512GB of storage and 16GB of memory for $1099 directly from Apple, when such a configuration would’ve cost $1599 just a few years ago. And on top of that, we have MacBook Neo bringing the entry-point down substantially. Even with Apple’s prices coming down though, there’s still a number of deals to be found out there if you look just a little. more…

Read more »

Samsung rolling out AirDrop over Quick Share on Galaxy S26, more devices coming
Samsung has officially confirmed plans to start rolling out AirDrop support over Quick Share starting with the Galaxy S26 series this week. more…

Read more »

Apple already has the perfect platform for deploying conversational AI
When Apple initially rolled out Apple Intelligence, the company was pretty openly against the idea of creating a Siri chatbot. Now, things have changed a little – and the company is rumored to be deploying a Siri app in iOS 27, so users can chat with the next generation of Apple Foundation Models. While that’s a great starting point, I think theres a better idea to be tapped into here. more…

Read more »

Sunday Reboot: MotionVFX, celebrations, and questionable updates
In this week's "Sunday Reboot," AirPods Max 2 stretches the definition of the spec-bump update, the MotionVFX acquisition could benefit Creator Studio, and even more Apple celebrations.MotionVFX, AirPods Max 2, and a performance in China. Sunday Reboot is a weekly column covering some of the lighter stories within the Apple reality distortion field from the past seven days. All to get the next week underway with a good first step.This week, Apple lost in court but avoided another Apple Watch ban over blood oxygen patents, was dragged into a legal fight over AI data sourcing, and it came under fire for blocking some vibe coding apps in iOS. Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums

Read more »

iRacing on Vision Pro bringing ‘immersion and fidelity never before seen in sim racing’
iRacing on Apple Vision Pro will bring a “level of immersion and fidelity never before seen in sim racing,” says iRacing president Tony Gardner. more…

Read more »

Why Apple Temporarily Blocked Popular Vibe Coding Apps
An anonymous reader shared this report from the tech-news blog Neowin: Apple appears to have temporarily prevented apps, including Replit and Vibecode, from pushing new updates. Apple seems bothered by how apps like Replit present vibe-coded apps in a web view within the original app. This process virtually allows the app to become something else. And the new app isn't distributed via the App Store, but it still runs on the user's device... [S]uch apps would also bypass the App Store Review process that ensures that apps are safe to use and meet Apple's design and performance standards... According to the publication (via MacRumors), Apple was close to approving pending updates for such apps if they changed how they work. For instance, Replit would get the green light if its developers configure the app to open vibe-coded apps in an external browser rather than the in-app web view. Vibecode is also close to being approved if it removes features, such as the ability to develop apps specifically for the App Store. Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Read more »

Security Bite Podcast: Psylo app is setting out to change private browsing
9to5Mac Security Bite is exclusively brought to you by Mosyle, the only Apple Unified Platform. Making Apple devices work-ready and enterprise-safe is all we do. Our unique integrated approach to management and security combines state-of-the-art Apple-specific security solutions for fully automated Hardening & Compliance, Next Generation EDR, AI-powered Zero Trust, and exclusive Privilege Management with the most powerful and modern Apple MDM on the market. The result is a totally automated Apple Unified Platform currently trusted by over 45,000 organizations to make millions of Apple devices work-ready with no effort and at an affordable cost. Request your EXTENDED TRIAL today and understand why Mosyle is everything you need to work with Apple. In this episode, I sit down with Talal, one-half of the duo behind the Mysk security research X account and co-founder of Psylo, a privacy-focused iOS browser app that takes a fundamentally different approach to private browsing. We get into why not all VPNs are created equal, how exactly websites are identifying you and tracking your moments across tabs, and how Psylo tackles all of this by giving every tab its own isolated silo, complete with a separate IP address, memory, storage, and more. If you care about browser privacy on your iPhone, this one’s worth a listen. Here’s my conversation with Talal. more…

Read more »

This rumored MacBook Pro upgrade has me excited for the overhaul, and it isn’t OLED
Later this year, Apple is set to debut its first MacBook Pro redesign since 2021. With that redesign, we’re expecting OLED, touch displays, M6 Pro and M6 Max chips, a Dynamic Island cutout, and much more. There’s another big detail about these new MacBook Pro models, and I’m much more excited for that change. more…

Read more »

Today in Apple history: PowerCD paves the way toward a lucrative future
On March 22, 1993, Apple launched the PowerCD, a CD player that worked as an external CD drive for Macs. It was a sign of things to come. (via Cult of Mac - Your source for the latest Apple news, rumors, analysis, reviews, how-tos and deals.)

Read more »

Apple’s busy March continues with three notable arrivals this week
Apple has had a jam-packed March so far after launching seven new products and surprisingly announcing an eighth. Looking ahead, there’s even more to come from Apple before the month is over, including three things to watch for this week. more…

Read more »

How 50 years of moving fast and breaking stuff led to MacBook Neo
Macworld What a funny coincidence that celebrations of Apple’s 50th anniversary would hit the same month that the company introduced the MacBook Neo, a $599 laptop that has the potential to take the Mac to new heights. The facts that Apple was founded in 1976 and the MacBook Neo exists in 2026 shouldn’t have anything in common but that they both involve a corporation called Apple. But that’s not right: Apple’s product philosophy is more continuous than you might imagine, and that string that starts with the Apple I ends, 50 years later, in a colorful new MacBook Neo. Apple was born in a chaotic world. Dozens of personal computer companies were building early devices, and each of them was its own island with its own software running on custom hardware. New chips and new hardware innovations like floppy disk drives (did you know that the earliest Apple computers could only read data from audio cassettes?!) meant that as a computer company, you evolved rapidly or you died. Most of them died, of course. But Apple didn’t, in part because it was always adopting the next big thing in order to survive. It was a mindset that I always connected to Steve Jobs, a man with absolutely zero sentimentality. Apple has always been a company that knows that it needs to move forward rapidly to survive. Steve Jobs believed in always moving forward and not getting sentimental about the past. That philosophy has served Apple well.Apple This has been a factor that has remained in the corporate culture, to varying degrees of strength, for 50 years. It’s not that Apple doesn’t care about taking care of its customers–it’s managed three chip transitions and one operating system transition on the Mac while providing solid support over a transitional period. One reason this culture got reinforced is that Apple has never been the dominant ecosystem player in any market it’s competed in. (The iPod was dominant, but not really much of an ecosystem.) When you’re dominant, like PCs driven by Microsoft’s DOS and Windows operating systems, the name of the game is compatibility. Once you’ve got the bulk of the market, it’s all about consolidation. Over time, stability and compatibility became a major reason why Microsoft was so successful. Old Windows apps just kept running. Microsoft built an entire culture about supporting its enormous base of customers, many of whom were using ancient hardware and software. The problem with that strategy is that it’s a really bad fit for times of great opportunity. As former Microsoft executive Steven Sinofsky wrote recently, Microsoft’s greatest strength suddenly became its greatest weakness. “The pull and push of forever compatibility was not just ‘Windows DNA,’ but it was the soul of what made Windows successful and was sacred.” Apple has the freedom to make game-changing moves to make better products.Apple The funny thing is that Sinofsky wrote that in the context of praising the MacBook Neo, of all things. Here’s why: Apple has constantly upgraded its operating system and ecosystem, from drivers to APIs to apps to the chips that run them. It’s been able to drag its technology forward in ways Microsoft never could. Part of that was embracing touch interfaces with the iPhone and iPad. It’s not that Microsoft didn’t have some great ideas about touch interfaces–some of the stuff it did was really cool!–but that in the end, its loyal customers pulled it backward into the abyss. The first touch-savvy version of Microsoft Office ran on the iPad. Microsoft’s own touch-friendly devices backslid to the old mouse-driven versions. The crowning achievement of all this was Apple’s embrace of its own, ARM-based chip architecture. Again, it’s not as if Microsoft and its chip partners didn’t see the strength that an Apple-style chip strategy might have. It’s that Microsoft’s customers just weren’t interested in losing compatibility with their enormous investment in Intel PCs, and Microsoft’s commitment to “run everything forever,” as Sinofsky calls it, hampered all attempts to see things differently. In the other corner: Apple, which for the last five-plus years has been shipping Macs running ARM processors, on top of a version of macOS that spent the years running up to that transition by killing off compatibility with a lot of old software that would’ve made that transition a challenge. Apple’s ability to advance its technology allows it to create a budget laptop that offers quality that its competitors can’t match.Eugen Wegmann This brings us to the MacBook Neo. It is the result of Apple being unafraid to break compatibility with 32-bit apps, with the old Carbon APIs, with Intel processors, the works. Part of the magic is that, as Mac users, we often don’t even notice when Apple does this, because it’s gotten pretty good at making it easy for us to migrate. (Software developers have had a harder time, often spending summers modifying their apps so that they still work when the new OS versions ship in the fall.) 50 years on, this is still Apple’s core approach: Don’t be afraid to change. Don’t be afraid to leave some old things behind. Not because change isn’t painful, because it often is. But because without change, without the ability to move forward, you’ll never be able to take advantage of new opportunities. And if you’re Apple, you’ll never be able to make a MacBook Neo.

Read more »

iPad with A18 chip on schedule for launch in early 2026
After updating its more powerful counterparts, Apple is still expected to update the base iPad with an A18 chip sometime in the first half of 2026.The entry-level iPad may finally get Apple Intelligence support soon. Apple's release schedule has been busy for the earliest months of the year. However, after having already moved iPad Pro to M5 and doing a similar M4 update to the iPad Air in March, Apple can now turn its attention to the lower end of the range.According to Mark Gurman in Sunday's "Power On" newsletter for Bloomberg, Apple is on track to refresh the entry-level iPad in the first half of 2026. Gurman doesn't say when exactly, but that it was originally to be released at around the same time as iOS 26.4. Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums

Read more »