If you use Apple’s standard Messages app regularly, you can use cool new features starting in iOS 18, iPadOS 18, and macOS Sequoia. For example, Apple has added scheduling messages, text effects, RCS and responding with an emoji or sticker.
Scheduling Messages and support for RCS is especially a nice addition. RCS stands for Rich Communication Services, and it is a communications standard for mobile networks intended to improve on traditional SMS (Short Message Service).
Schedule messages
Sometimes a message is too important to forget, or it is too late at night to send it. That’s why, starting with iOS 18, iPadOS 18 and macOS Sequoia, you can now schedule messages so that they are sent at a specific time. You can do this with the ‘Send later’ option.
- Open the Messages app for iPhone, iPad, or Mac
- Go to the conversation
- Tap or click the plus button
- Choose ‘Send later’
- Type your message
- Adjust the shipping time in the blue bar
- Tap or click the send button
The message will be sent at the time you choose. Please note that your iPhone, iPad or Mac must also be turned on and connected to the network at that time. Otherwise the message will not be sent. This may be less of a problem on an iPhone than on a Mac.
Add effects to text in messages
Next to fat, italics, underline and strikethrough, you can now also add animated effects to letters, words, sentences and emoji in Messages.
- Open a conversation in the Messages app on your iPhone or iPad
- While typing, select the text you want to provide an effect
- Tap the A with three lines at the top of the keyboard
- Choose a desired effect to add to the text
- Repeat this for all the text you want to animate
- Tap the send button to send
On a Mac you can add text effects in a similar way. Highlight the text in a conversation and secondary click (right mouse button) on the selected text. Then choose ‘Text Effects’. Choose an effect and add it, repeat it for all the text and then send your message.
RCS for iPhone
RCS stands for Rich Communication Services and is a communication standard for mobile networks that is intended to improve traditional SMS (Short Message Service). RCS is based on an open source protocol and offers a range of advanced features and capabilities similar to WhatsApp and iMessage. You can read all the benefits and functions of RCS in our RCS manual.
For the time being, Dutch providers do not yet support RCS, but from iOS 18.1, customers of Base, Proximus and Telenet can use RCS in Belgium.
Google has supported RCS in the standard Messages app for Android since 2019. This will make it easier to chat with Android users from the Messages app without the intervention of other applications, including WhatsApp.
The EU also wants services in the long term be merged in the standard Messages app of smartphones. For example, they want you to be able to contact people from these apps who, for example, only use WhatsApp.
Tapback expanded with emoji and stickers
Using tapbacks, you can give short responses to received and sent messages on your iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch and Mac. These responses allow you to quickly give your opinion about a message without having to send just one word of text.
Tapbacks are small symbols that you can link to a message, such as a thumbs up, heart, question mark, etc. These short responses are universal, easy to use and can only be used in the Messages application in combination with iMessage.
From iOS 18, iPadOS 18, macOS Sequoia and watchOS 11, the short responses have been updated and you can now respond with all emojis. You can also immediately add a sticker as a comment. You can read how to use the tapbacks in the highlighted article below.
‘; (function($) { $(‘#vodafone’).replaceWith(vodafone); })( jQuery );