Here’s everything new coming to Messages in iOS 18

Apple has some big upgrades coming to its Messages app in iOS 18, macOS Sequoia, and iPadOS 18.

When these major OS updates are released this fall, Messages will get new tapback options, the ability to schedule messages, bold and italic text formatting, new effects, RCS support, and more.

Here’s a look at all the features coming to Messages in iOS 18.

Emoji Tapback and New Tapback Design

Tap Backs has remained unchanged on iPhone for years, but iOS 18 finally sees major improvements.

Firstly, you can send any emoji as a tapback in your messages. Gone are the days when tapback reactions were limited to just a few. Now you can send a tapback with an eye-like emoji, a vomit emoji, or any other emoji that suits the situation. If the emoji options aren’t enough for you, you can also use stickers as tapbacks.

Your most used emojis and stickers can be accessed by swiping left on the first set of tapback options you see, sliding out those default options to reveal your most used emojis and stickers.

Speaking of those default options, they’re getting a makeover in iOS 18, with classic icons like the thumbs up icon, heart icon, and more getting a full-color redesign to better blend in with the broad array of new tapback options.

Schedule a message for later

We’ve all wished we could send a message later, and with iOS 18, you can finally do just that. No more asking Siri to remind you to send a message later – just schedule it yourself.

If you prepare a message in iOS or iPadOS 18 and don’t want to send it right away, you can choose a later date and time for it to be sent automatically. You can find this option by tapping the + button on the left side of the screen and selecting New[後で送信]This is available when you select the option.

Text formatting and special effects

Messages was the last major Apple app to support text input, but it didn’t support rich text formatting options like bold, italics, etc. This changes in iOS 18, and now you can customize the formatting of words in your messages to implement the standard four formatting styles.

• bold
• Italics
• Underline
• Strikethrough

In addition to these options, there are eight cool special effects that can be applied per character.

• big
• small
• Shake
• Nod
• explode
• Ripple
• bloom
• jitter

We’re not sure exactly what messaging occasions would call for these effects, but they’re a useful option nonetheless.

RCS Support

Apple Previously Published Support for RCS is expected to arrive in 2024, with iOS 18 expected to be released soon.

RCS is a newer, more capable text messaging protocol that’s the successor to SMS and MMS. Essentially, by adding RCS support in iOS 18, Apple is making conversations with Android users more reliable than ever before.

If you communicate through iMessage, everything will remain the same — your blue bubble conversations will remain the same — but in situations where you’re in a group chat that includes, say, your green bubble friends, RCS should improve the experience for everyone.

Everything else

Genmoji: Not limited to messages, but definitely used in Genmoji Most commonly used in conversations with friends and family, these AI-generated emojis open up endless possibilities for future emoji communication.

Image PlaygroundSimilarly, new Image Playground A tool to create AI images in a variety of styles will be a useful option when built into the Messages app, which will be released alongside other Apple Intelligence features later this year.

Message via satelliteMessages in iOS 18 has a new Message via satellite It’s a feature designed to be useful in situations where you don’t have access to Wi-Fi or a cellular connection.

summary

Messages in iOS 18 comes with a variety of new tools and features that I’m sure many of you will find useful. While the core of the app remains the same, Apple has provided some enhancements that I personally find very useful.

What is your favorite feature in the Messages app in iOS 18? Let us know in the comments.