19 Tips and Tricks to Master Messages on iOS 10

In iOS 10, Apple introduced major new features for the Messages app that brought an entirely new experience of communication. Some of the new features in iOS 10 Messages include stickers and effects, new bubble animations, tapbacks, and more. There are a lot of other new features that you may have not discovered yet.

To help you get the most out of Messages in iOS 10, we've compiled a list of the essential tips and tricks needed to master Messages on iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch.

19. Send Handwritten Messages

Want to send a customized message to someone? With iOS 10, you can now send handwritten messages by writing on your iPhone's screen. When you're in a conversation, turn your iPhone to landscape orientation and a white board appears where you can draw on it to compose a handwritten message.

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18. Copy, Delete, or Forward Messages

Copying, deleting, and forwarding messages are the basic features of the Messages app and something that you'll definitely use at some point. Here's how to use them:

• Copy: To copy a message in a conversation, tap and hold on it until a menu pops up. Select Copy from the list.
• Delete: Deleting one or more messages is quite simple. Tap and hold on a message which you'd like to remove, then choose More. Now tap on the trash icon in the bottom left corner to delete the message or tap on multiple messages to select them and then delete.
• Forward: Forwarding messages is similar to the delete method. Tap and hold on a message and choose More. Next, tap on the forward icon in the bottom right corner and choose the contact(s) to whom you'd like to forward the message. You can also forward multiple messages at once.

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17. Send iMessage Effects

iOS 10 now allows you to send amazing effects when using iMessage. You can either send a bubble effect or a full-screen effect.

1. To send an effect, type your message in the text field.
2. Then tap and hold on the Send button.
3. Next, select the effect which you'd like to send from the list.
4. To send a fullscreen effect, tap on the 'Screen' tab and swipe the screen to choose the effect you wish to send.

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16. iMessage Stickers and Apps

Stickers allow you to express your ideas and feelings visually and in a more entertaining way. iOS 10 comes with an iMessage App Store where you can download tons of different apps and stickers.

1. To get started, open a conversation and tap on the the App Store (A) icon next to the text field.
2. A tray opens where you can swipe left or right to view all the available stickers and apps.
3. To install new ones, tap on the grid icon in the bottom left corner and then press the + button.

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15. Send iMessage as an SMS

When you're messaging a contact that has iMessage enabled, the message will be automatically sent as an iMessage. But sometimes it won't go through, maybe because of internet connection issues or other problems. If this happens, you can send the message as an SMS instead. To do so, tap and hold on the message and choose Send as Text Message to send it as an SMS.

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14. View and Manage Attachments in a Conversation

iOS 10 has made it easier to view and manage all the attachments and media files you've sent or received from a conversation in Messages.

1. Open a conversation and tap on the (i) button in the top right corner.
2. On the new screen that opens, you'll find an Images tab and an Attachment tab where you can view all the files you've sent and received.
3. To delete a file, tap and hold on it and then choose Delete.

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13. Send Digital Touch Messages

Digital Touch messages are animated handwritten messages or symbols such as heart, fireball, or a kiss.

1. To send a Digital Touch message, tap on the heart icon next to the text field in a conversation.
2. Now draw on the black board to compose an animated handwritten message. If you wish to send an animated symbol, you have to perform its corresponding tap gesture on the black board.

Here are the available symbols and their required gestures:

• Fireball: tap and hold with a finger.
• Kiss: tap with two fingers.
• Heartbeat: tap and hold with two fingers.
• Heartbreak: tap and hold with two fingers, then drag down.

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12. Reply with Tapbacks

Tapbacks are quite similar to Facebook Reactions, which allows you to react to messages. To add a Tapback to a message, tap and hold on it. A popup appears above the message with a collection of available tapbacks to choose from.

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11. Quickly Replace Words with Emojis

Many people prefer to use emojis to express their feelings, reactions, and emotions more accurately. iOS 10 takes on this trend by highlighting words that can be replaced with their equivalent emoji.

When you've typed your message, switch to the Emoji keyboard. You'll notice that some of the words are highlighted in yellow, which indicates that they can be replaced with an emoji. Tap on a highlighted word to replace it with its equivalent emoji.

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10. Send Lower-Quality Images to Save Data

To avoid wasting your cellular data bandwidth, iOS 10 can automatically compress and send low-quality images. To enable this feature, go to

1. Settings.
2. Messages.
3. Toggle on Low-Quality Image Mode.

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9. Search Through Messages

Searching for messages in the Messages app is quite easy. When you're in the conversation list, just swipe down to reveal the search bar, and then tap on it to type what you're looking for.

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8. Automatically Delete Old Messages

If you have a lot of messages stored on your device, you can have the old ones removed automatically to save space, rather than then being stored on your iPhone forever. To turn on this space-saving feature..

1. Open Settings.
2. Tap Messages.
3. Tap Keep Messages.
4. Choose either 30 days or 1 year.

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7. Send Voice Messages

Chatting via voice message has become the norm. With iOS 10 Messages, you can easily send and receive audio messages from friends and family.

When you're in a conversation in Messages, tap and hold on the microphone icon next to the text field, record your voice message, and release your finger when done. You can then replay your voice message, delete it, or proceed with sending it.

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6. Send Voice Messages that Expire

Inspired by Snapchat, Messages gained the ability to send audio messages that expire automatically after a certain duration. This is useful when you're sharing a sensitive information via voice message and want it to expire automatically after the recipient listens to it.

To send audio messages that expire..

1. Open Settings.
2. Tap Messages.
3. Under the Audio Messages section, tap on Expire and choose 'After 2 Minutes'.

By enabling this feature, your voice messages will be removed two minutes after the recipient has listened to it.

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5. Hide Contact Photos

One of the new features of iOS 10 Messages is that it displays the contact photos within Messages. This is a good feature if you've assigned images to most of your contacts, but if this isn't the case, you can easily hide them. To do so..

1. Open Settings.
2. Tap Messages.
3. Turn off the Show Contact Photos toggle.

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4. See When a Message Was Sent or Received

To view when a message was sent or received, open the conversation and swipe left to reveal its timestamp.

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3. Create Keyboard Shortcuts

This is one of the features that not many people know about. You can easily create keyboard shortcuts for the phrases that you type more often. For example, you can type "omw" and it will be automatically converted to "On my way!". To create a keyboard shortcut, go to..

1. Settings.
2. General.
3. Keyboard, then tap on Text Replacements.
4. Press the + button in the top right corner to create your own text shortcut.

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2. Disable Read Receipts for All Contacts or Specific Contacts

Read receipts allow you to view when your message has been read, and vice versa. Luckily, you can disable this feature so that no one can view when you've read their messages. To do so, go to

1. Settings.
2. Messages and toggle off Send Read Receipts.
3. Keep in mind that you also won't be able to view when others read your message.

You can also disable read receipts for specific contacts only. Open a conversation where you wish to disable read receipts. Tap on the i icon in the top right corner and then toggle off Send Read Receipts.

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1. Draw on Photos

iOS 10 has made it possible to annotate and draw on photos right from the Messages app.

1. Tap on the camera icon when in a conversation and snap a picture or choose a photo you wish to send. When the image appears in the text box, tap on it to open.
2. Now press the Markup button in the bottom left corner to start drawing on the image.
3. Once done, press the Save button and send it.

These are some of the best tips and tricks for Messages on iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch. Hopefully this article helped you learn more about Messages on iOS 10 and inspired you to take advantage of its hidden features.