Here’s everything new coming to Messages in iOS 18

Apple is delivering major upgrades to the Messages app in iOS 18, macOS Sequoia, and iPadOS 18.

This fall, when these major OS updates arrive, Messages will add new tapback options, message scheduling, bold and italic text formatting, new effects, RCS support, and more.

Here’s everything coming to Messages in iOS 18.

Emoji Tapbacks and New Tapback Templates

Tapbacks have remained unchanged on the iPhone for years, but in iOS 18, they’re finally getting some big improvements.

For starters, you’ll be able to send any emoji as a message reply. Gone are the days when you were limited to a handful of message reply reactions. Now you can send a message reply with the staring eyes emoji, the puking emoji, or any other emoji that suits the occasion. If the emoji options aren’t enough, you can also use stickers as a message reply.

Your most frequently used emoji and stickers will be accessible by swiping left on the initial set of tapback options that appear, sliding these default options to present your most used emoji and stickers.

Speaking of those default options, they’re getting a facelift in iOS 18. The classic thumbs-up, heart, and more are getting splashed with bright colors and new designs that will help them fit in better with the wide range of new tapback options.

Schedule messages for later

We’ve all wanted to send a message later. With iOS 18, that’s finally possible. No more asking Siri to remind you to send something later, you can just schedule it yourself.

Prepare a message in iOS or iPadOS 18, and if you don’t want to send it right away, you can choose a later day and time for it to be sent automatically. The option is available by tapping the + button on the left side of the screen and selecting the new Send Later option.

Text formatting and special effects

Messages was the last major Apple app to support text input, but it never supported rich text formatting options like bold and italics. That changes in iOS 18, where you can customize the formatting of words in your message to implement the four standard formatting styles:

• Bold
• Italics
• Emphasize
• Rod

In addition to these options, there are eight interesting special effects that can also be applied for each character:

• Big
• Little
• Shake
• Nod
• Explode
• Ripple
• Bloom
• Jig

I’m not sure what messaging occasions will require some of these effects, but they’re nice options to have nonetheless.

RCS Support

Apple previously announced that it would support RCS in 2024, and iOS 18 is when it’s expected to arrive.

RCS is a newer, more powerful text messaging protocol that is the successor to SMS and MMS. By adding RCS support in iOS 18, Apple will make your conversations with Android users more reliable than ever before.

When you communicate via iMessage, everything stays as is. Your conversations in the blue bubble don’t change. But in situations where, for example, you’re in a group chat that includes a friend in the green bubble, RCS should improve the experience for everyone.

Everything else

Genmoji:While not exclusive to Messages, you’ll likely be using Genmoji most often in your conversations with friends and family. These AI-generated emojis will offer endless potential for future emoji communications.

Playground for images:Similarly, new Image Playground tools for creating AI images in a variety of styles will be a useful option to integrate into the Messages app when it launches later this year, alongside other Apple Intelligence features.

Satellite messages:Messages in iOS 18 also includes support for a new Messages via Satellite feature designed to help you in situations where you don’t have access to a Wi-Fi or cellular connection.

Conclude

Messages in iOS 18 brings a variety of new tools and features that are bound to get a lot of use. While the core of the app remains the same, Apple has provided some improvements that I think should benefit a lot.

What are your favorite features in the Messages app in iOS 18? Let us know in the comments.