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13 iMessage Tricks You Never Knew Existed

by POPSUGAR on February 20, 2015

by Nicole Nguyen

Hello, blue-bubble friends. Ready to master iMessage, Apple's texting messenger? You've come to the right place. Read on for the iPhone texting tips and tricks you might not know about!

1. Enable/Disable read receipts

Enabling read receipts means that the person you text can see when you've read their text message. This, obviously, has pros (transparency) and cons (you look like a jerk for not responding right away).

Open the Settings app, select Messages, and slide to enable or disable Send Read Receipts. Once it is enabled, the receipt will say "Read [time here]" beneath your latest text.

2. How do I write in all caps?

When the keyboard is open, double tap the shift key to turn it into the caps lock key. YOU'RE WELCOME.

3. Send texts from your Mac

Messages for Mac comes with OS X Mountain Lion (version 10.8) and up. It's basically the best way to send texts from school or work without looking down at your phone all. the. time. For now, you can only text iMessage users (people with iPhones) from your computer, but soon, with Mac OS X 10.10 Yosemite, you'll be able to text Android numbers from your Mac, too.

Apple has a great tutorial on how to set up Messages with your Apple ID. Essentially you'll need to sign in with your Apple ID on both your computer and mobile device. Then you'll need to open the Settings app, select Messages, and enable iMessage on your iPhone. Tap on where it says Send & Receive, and make sure the correct Apple ID and phone number is associated with your device.

Where it says "Start New Conversations From," you may want to select your phone number. Or else when you text people, your Apple ID email address would show up instead, which would be weird.

4. Send a precise location

This is a neat little feature in both Apple Maps and Google Maps. In Apple Maps, you can send your current location by selecting the arrow in the bottom left, then tapping the share button on the bottom right (looks like a rectangle with an arrow coming out of it). Select "Message" and it'll text a map image to your contact.

In Google Maps, press down and hold anywhere on the map to drop a pin. Tap the pin and select "Share" on the right, then Message. You can also tap "copy to clipboard" and paste that unique URL link into a text.

5. Block an annoying texter

If a salesperson, frenemy, or a random Craigslist patron keeps texting you, block them. Follow these instructions on adding a contact to a blocked list in iOS 7.

6. Fix iMessage when it's not working

Is iMessage working? Or is he just not that into you? Restore iMessage back to its former glory in iOS 7.

7. Delete a Text Message

In a text message thread, press and hold your thumb on an individual text. A black menu bubble will pop up. Press "More..." and you'll then be able to select one or more texts. Tap the trash can at the bottom left when you're ready to delete.

8. Get Emojis on Your Phone

Open the Settings app, and then select General. Scroll down to Keyboard, and tap where it says Keyboards. Then Add New Keyboard and select Emoji.

Now when you're sending an email or texting, tap the little world icon on the bottom left of your keyboard (left of the spacebar) to access emoji icons. Voilà! Now, try your hand at these unexpected uses for emojis.

9. How to tell if you're using iMessage

iMessage is exclusive to iPhone users. It's great because you won't use up your texts (if your plan has limited texts) since it uses Internet instead of your carrier network, you can group chat, you can tell when the message has been delivered, and you can send multimedia like video, images, and GIFs easily.

It's helpful to know when you're not using iMessage, so you can keep a close eye on your SMS limits. In a thread, if you see green bubbles, that means you are not using iMessage and texting someone who has disabled iMessages or uses an Android or Windows Phone device.

10. Force to send as an SMS message

If iMessage is down, a red exclamation point will appear. Tap that exclamation point and select "Send as Text Message."

11. Use accents

If you're feeling fancy, you can press and hold each letter to reveal every accent available to that letter!

12. See when each text was sent

In a text message thread, swipe your finger to the left — anywhere on the screen — to see timestamps for each text on the right.

13. Set up keyboard shortcuts

Keyboard shortcuts are awesome for phrases you text all the time like, "On my way" or "I'm late."

Set them up in the Settings app, then tap on Keyboard. Scroll to the bottom and tap Add New Shortcut to set up your own. Now every time you type "omw" (for example) it will automatically correct to, "On my way!"

[Images by Nicole Nguyen/POPSUGAR, Apple and Tsyhun / Shutterstock.com]


Topics

Phones and Mobile, iPhone/iPad Apps, Tips & How-Tos


Discussion loading

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From Buster Chappell on February 20, 2015 :: 12:47 pm


Tinkering with (entering incorrect) time and date info on your device will also screwup (disable) iMessage! grin

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From Jenna on February 26, 2016 :: 8:10 pm


How do I change the colour of the text bubble & this is very very helpful

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From Grace on May 24, 2021 :: 1:44 pm


Hi, I dont know how but I dont know how to start a chat, So I have a question for u, What if I think someone is being me, Like using my account>?

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From dispenser on November 02, 2016 :: 2:43 pm


this was unhelpful and dumb

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From Gayle on May 19, 2019 :: 9:57 am


I’m serious. Not very tech savvy but I have a sister in law who it seems to me that she has done something so my text messages only appear in iMessage and don’t see them as I don’t use it.

I also thinks she’s doing something with facetime. She can see into my devices. When Ivan changing my passwords, she waits to the nanosecond I hit send and erases the last letter so that the passwords never match.

Is there any truth here or am I am I giving her unearnedd super powers. Oh, she can also change my google passwords within minutes even with two factor authentication.

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From Josh Kirschner on May 20, 2019 :: 12:31 pm


Your sister in-law can’t see into your devices with Facetime. There was a recent bug with Facetime that could let a savvy user listen in on conversations, but that was patched back in February (make sure your phone is updated). There is also no way she could be erasing the last letter of your passwords, and I’m guessing that your Google password issues may be a similar type of user error.

Given your issues with passwords, you should strongly consider getting a password manager (which will also make your accounts more secure, if used correctly). These are our picks for the best password managers.

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From Jorge on January 15, 2017 :: 8:32 pm


You guys know like everyone knows how to do these things.

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From Akiya Barnes on July 19, 2017 :: 4:35 pm


So true

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From Deb on April 04, 2018 :: 4:34 pm


Thanks for the tips!

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From Tgp on June 17, 2020 :: 7:50 pm


When someone text me from an iPhone why does it always say under each text to double tap to like.

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From Hannah on September 18, 2020 :: 7:43 pm


This only happens on Instagram DMs

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From LOL on May 24, 2021 :: 1:44 pm


Hah! Your right!

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