CNET Tips_Tech
Someday soon, we're going to look back at texting and wonder how we managed to send and receive messages on our iPhones that were so bare and nondescript. No bold? No italic? Nothing ever exploded or jittered? The Messages app in iOS 18 adds those effects and much more.
Animated effects and text formatting make chatting more fun, and RCS support means your friends with Android phones can finally send high-resolution images. If your brain is active late at night, you can schedule texts to be sent at a more reasonable hour without waking up anyone. And don't forget the abilities to bounce texts from a satellite and create your own emoji with Genmoji -- an Apple Intelligence feature on iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 16 models.
Here are eight new features in the Messages app you should know about.
Read more: iOS 18 Review: Get Ready to Customize Your iPhone Even More
Also, if you're just getting started with the new system, be sure to check out the settings you need to change right now. And don't miss these nine hidden iOS 18 features.
Thanks to RCS messaging, you can better communicate with Android users
The addition of Rich Communication Services protocol to Messages should reduce friction when texting with friends who own Android phones. It enables read receipts and gives you higher-quality image transfers and end-to-end encryption (but keeps Android message bubbles green).
If your carrier supports RCS, it's likely you don't need to do anything to use it. Go to Settings > Apps > Messages > RCS Messaging and make sure the RCS Messaging is turned on.
Two iOS settings screens showing how to access the RCS Messaging feature in iOS 18.
RCS Messaging should be enabled by default. Screenshot by Jeff Carlson/CNET
You can also send text messages via satellite
The Emergency SOS via Satellite feature that was introduced with the iPhone 14 has been a literal lifesaver. When you have no cellular signal, you can connect to a satellite and exchange short text messages with emergency responders.
With that infrastructure in place, Apple is opening Messages up to nonemergency texts too. If you're out of range of cellular or Wi-Fi networks and own an iPhone 14 or later, Messages will prompt you to connect to a satellite. While connected, the Dynamic Island expands to help you stay pointed at the satellites overhead.
You can then text people like you normally would, and features like emoji and Tapbacks should still work. If you want to check out a demo of the feature, go to Settings > Apps > Messages > Messages via Satellite > Satellite Connection Demo. Or just go out into the middle of nowhere and try it out yourself.
messages on iphone by satellite
Apple/Screenshot by CNET
You can now format text in Messages
I don't want to come across as "that typography guy," but it has long bothered me that one of the only ways to emphasize text in Messages has been to put it in all caps. We as a society haven't developed typography over hundreds of years and invented the most sophisticated computing devices just to shout at each other over text.
So yeah, I guess I am that guy. I feel better now that I can express myself using bold, italic, underlined and strikethrough text in conversations with my friends who are also running iOS 18, iPadOS 18 and MacOS Sequoia.
You can apply formatting to an entire phrase, individual words and letters, or combinations of those, like so:
Type your message.
To apply formatting to the entire message, tap the Formatting button in the suggestion bar; all of your text is highlighted. Or, to add emphasis to only a word, double-tap to select the text and then press the Formatting button. You can also choose Text Effects from the options that appear above the selection.
Tap one of the options at the top of the formatting panel that replaces the keyboard: bold, italic, underline or strikethrough.
Two iPhone screenshots of the Messages app applying text formatting.
Apply text formatting to selected text or an entire message. Screenshot by Jeff Carlson/CNET
If you format a message that is sent to someone running an older system, they'll see only plain text, which could be confusing if you've used strikethrough to indicate removed words.
You can animate your text messages
Here's where I toss aside any pretense of being a typographical purist. A message or selected words or letters can be animated in one of eight styles. Need to deliver some big news with more emphasis than bold text? With iOS 18, there are several new animation options you can add to your text. The Big animation expands the size of your letters. Or perhaps just mentioning that it's freezing outside doesn't convey the teeth-chattering cold -- apply the Jitter animation to make the letters shake.
Adding animation is just as easy as formatting text:
Type your message.
Tap the Formatting button in the suggestion bar to select the entire text. Or, select individual words or letters and then press that button.
Tap one of the animation styles to apply it: Big, Small, Shake, Nod, Explode, Ripple, Bloom or Jitter.
iPhone screenshot showing iOS 18 Messages app applying animation to a text message.
Apply animated effects to messages. Screenshot by Jeff Carlson/CNET
You can mix animations within a message by making selections and applying different styles to them. However, you can't apply more than one animation to a selection; a word cannot shake and then explode, for example. As with text formatting, a message shows up as plain text for anyone not running iOS 18, iPadOS 18 or MacOS Sequoia.
Even with these new features, I want more: text formatting and text animation. Currently you can use one or the other. But if Apple's engineers can make something as complex as eye-tracking for the Vision Pro, they can make this happen in a subsequent update.
You can turn off auto-playing animations, if that's not your thing
Let's say your friend just installed iOS 18 and wants to try out all the animation effects in a series of messages, creating a screen full of pulsing, resizing, jittering and exploding texts. You think, with all that animation tempting a migraine, what has Apple unleashed?
Don't stress, because you can set the animations to not automatically repeat. Go to Settings > Accessibility > Motion and turn off Auto-Play Message Effects. Your friend can still send animated text that will play once when you receive it, but you won't be subjected to the animation repeating.
How to add any emoji or sticker as a tapback in Messages
Sometimes words are unnecessary. You could reply to someone's message using a Tapback icon to express love, agreement, disagreement, laughter, alarm or curiosity. They're quick to apply and get your reply across easily.
They've also been limited to just six icons, and in monochrome no less.
With iOS 18, Messages adds color (and some cartoony shading) to those icons, but also the ability to reply with any emoji or sticker. Here's how to do it:
Touch and hold a message until you see the Tapback bubble appear.
Tap the emoji button just below the other icons. Or, you can swipe left on the bubble to view recent emojis, stickers and a gray emoji button that leads to the emoji library.
In the emoji picker, choose a sticker (left side) or any of the hundreds of emoji.
Two iPhone screenshots showing how to add an emoji as a tapback reply in iOS 18.
Add any emoji as a Tapback reply. Screenshot by Jeff Carlson/CNET
Add unique emoji using Genmoji
One Messages-related feature of Apple Intelligence on the iPhone 15 Pro, iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Pro models is the ability to summarize incoming texts in their notifications. iOS 18.2 brings another option to the Messages app: Genmoji, a way to create your own emoji on the spot by describing what you want.
Before you start though, you'll need to sign up for the waitlist in the Image Playground app. Once you're accepted, you can do the following:
In a conversation with someone, tap the Emoji button to view the emoji options.
Tap the Genmoji button to the right of the Describe an Emoji field.
Type (or use dictation to speak) a description of what the Genmoji should look like. You can type something like "blue bird" or "crying emoji surfing" and the app will start creating variations of your descriptions.
Flip through the icons it creates until you find one you like. You can also edit the description to change the parameters of the generated image.
When you have a Genmoji you like, tap Add.
iPhone screenshots showing how to make a Genmoji of an espresso machine on fire.
Create custom emoji using Apple Intelligence. Screenshot by Jeff Carlson/CNET
The new emoji appears inline in your text and is added to your Recents collection of emojis. It also shows up as a sticker that you can add.
You can schedule text messages using Send Later
I know which friends are likely up at midnight to reply to a text, and which I'd probably wake up. Because I want the second category to continue to be my friends, the ability to schedule texts in the Messages app is great for when I want to share a thought but don't need an immediate reply.
To send a message at a specified time, do this:
Type your message.
Tap the More (+) button.
Tap Send Later; you may need to swipe up to find it in the list of apps and features.
In the time picker that appears, set a day and time to send the message.
Tap the Send Message button (the up arrow) to schedule it.
Two iPhone screenshots showing how to schedule an outgoing text in the Messages app using Send Later.
Up too early or too late? Schedule a message for later so you don't wake up the recipient. Screenshot by Jeff Carlson/CNET
Scheduled messages show up with a faint dashed border.
If you need to change the timing later, tap Edit above the message and then choose Edit Time from the menu. Also, if you find yourself scheduling messages often, I recommend moving the Send Later option higher in the More list so it's easier to access.
For more, see how Apple redesigned the Photos app in iOS 18 and learn everything about the new Passwords app that syncs across devices and platforms.
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