What’s new in ios 16 messages?

2 min read

Delete and Recover Messages, and Report Junk

1 To delete messages, open the conversation and long-tap on a message, and tap More in the options window that pops up. Tick bubbles are shown next to the messages. Tick the messages you want to delete, then tap the dustbin icon (bottom left).

2 To recover deleted messages, go to Settings > Messages and turn on Filter Unknown Senders. On the conversation list, tap Filters in the top-left. Open Recently Deleted, tick anything you want to recover then tap the Recover All option.

3 To recover a conversation individually, long-tap and tap Recover. If you open a message that might be spam, tap the Report Junk link that appears under it, then tap Delete and Report Junk to alert Apple and your network provider.

Unsend and Edit Sent Messages

1 You can recall a message up to two minutes after sending it. Simply long-tap the message in question, then tap Undo Send. It disappears from your screen, but unless you’re sending to an iOS 16 device, the recipient still has it.

2 You can edit a message for up to 15 minutes, but again, unless you sent it to an iOS 16 device the recipient can see both the old and the new one. Long-tap the message, then select Edit, and make changes then tap the tick.

Mark Unread

To mark a message as unread, either swipe the conversation to the right and tap the speech bubble icon, or long-tap the conversation and in the options window that appears, select the Mark as Unread option. A blue dot appears next to the message.

More great Messages features

Using emojis

Emojis, including smiley faces, can be found by tapping and holding the keyboard’s Globe icon and selecting Emoji. Slide them right and left for more. An emoji sent on its own is shown larger.

The hold bubble

Tap and hold on a message you’ve received and a bubble appears above it. This bubble offers a range of options. You can like or unlike the message with a thumb icon, send a heart, a laugh or question mark and more.