I’ve been known to communicate with crazy gestures in private, which doesn’t happen when I’m texting friends. With Apple’s new text formats and animations in the Messages app in the newly released iOS 18 update, anyone can express themselves with more energy (and less arm waving) on their iPhone or iPad.
During its WWDC 2024 keynote on Monday, Apple focused on the personal aspects of using its products, from using Apple Intelligence to put together information to using your handwriting when writing with Apple Pencil. What could be more personal than sending a message to your friends and family? Based on what Apple has announced so far, here’s how the New Messages feature on iPhone and iPad works.
If you’re a registered developer, you can install the iOS 18 beta now, but since this is the first pre-release version of the software, which isn’t expected until September or October, you should think twice about installing it. It is installed on your device.
Tap color and any emoji on iPhone and iPad
Sometimes, you just need to give a thumbs up to reply to someone’s text message. iOS 18 turns flat, solid-color “tapbacks” that hang around the edges of messages into full-color emoticons with some shading. You’re also no longer bound by the usual six reaction diagrams. You can choose from the entire collection of emojis as well as stickers you make as click icons.
This is an example of what Apple calls a “tapback,” also known as an emoji.
Communicate boldly (or italics or… you get the idea)
To emphasize words or phrases, you can style them using bold, italics, underline, or strikethrough formatting. A new button to the right of the suggestions bar appears to open a panel containing these options. We’ll know when we get a chance to try it out for ourselves, but this is what I gathered from what Apple shared during the demo.
The ability to add underline, bold, and strikethrough to words is a new feature for Apple Messages.
More lively conversations in messages
If the traditional format is still too mundane, you can get really dramatic. In the same panel, Messages includes eight animations that apply to selected text, such as making the text grow or shrink in size, shake, shake, or explode.
Two new features in iOS 18 are Vibrating Text and Exploding Text to add life to your messages. You can also use small text (whisper) or shout in large font.
These are just some of the iOS 18 features Apple announced at WWDC. Messages will also get RCS in Messages, but there is little acknowledgment of this today.
