You can send traditional text messages via Messages, in most cases you will use iMessage. These are messages that only Apple users can exchange with each other. You also have access to mentions in group conversations and in-line answers.
With the help of group conversations you can keep in touch with multiple people in one chat conversation. Thanks to the mentions you can immediately address a person in a message. Using mentions you can respond directly to a message by replying to it. This is not only possible with groups, but also with individual chats.
Quote with inline replies for iMessage
Do you want to specifically reply to a message during a conversation? Then you can use the ‘quote option’.
- Open the Messages app for iPhone or iPad
- Navigate to a conversation
- Put your finger on a message
- Wait a few moments
- Tap ‘Reply’
On a Mac with macOS Big Sur or later, you can do this by using a secondary click (right mouse button) to click on a message. Then select ‘Reply’.
Then type your message to send the reply. You can view the answers in the conversation as a whole, but also as a message series in itself, so that you are less distracted. You do the latter by tapping or clicking on the message and the entire inline conversation is immediately shown.
Swipe to comment
Do you want to respond quickly to a message? Since iOS 17 and iPadOS 17, you can swipe from left to right over a message to immediately activate the reply function. Just type your message and send. Thanks to the swiping motion, this is now much faster than the step-by-step plan above.
You can also apply this on a Mac. Hover over the message and swipe from left to right on the trackpad with two fingers to activate reply, or right-click the message and choose Reply.
Using mentions via iMessage
You can also use mentions. To do this, type a name if a message is intended for someone personally. The name will highlight and by tapping it you can link the person. The mentioned person will then be additionally informed and it is even possible to set notifications only when you are specifically mentioned. You can easily hide the notifications for messages, but when you are mentioned, you will receive a notification.