3 changes coming to Apple’s Messages app in iOS 14

Apple’s iMessage is known for the love its users have for it, and in iOS 14, it’s receiving several organization updates. In a previous post, we covered changes coming to the world’s most popular messaging app, WhatsApp. Our attention is now moving to updates Apple announced in its recent WWDC 2020 Special Event Keynote.

According to Apple’s keynote, users’ messaging habits have increased by 40% over the last year, with twice as many group messages being used within the app. The following is a list of all the updates hitting Apple’s Messages.

Pinned Conversations

Today, your phone’s default messaging app sees a lot of traffic. Unless you have a dedicated work phone or you’re able to use a different messaging app for work conversations, all your work-related texts/messages flow through Messages on the iPhone. Additionally, confirmation codes from 2-step authentication, text promos, and other “stuff” collects in that inbox. That means sometimes the conversations you actually care about get pushed down significantly by the time you get around to replying or checking in with a loved one. Now, Apple Messages will let you pin conversations to the top of your inbox list. This will allow a conversation to sit atop the rest regardless of how recently it was updated.

While the benefits of this feature do seem aplenty, some questions arise about its implementation. Because the pinned conversations appear as a profile picture above your inbox list, will adding more and more pinned conversations continue to push your incoming messages further down to the point of not seeing your inbox at all? A new message might come in, and if you miss it in the notification area, you might not immediately notice it in your inbox because of how far down it is. This problem only arises if you pin a significant number of conversations, it is worth broaching and testing.

Memoji Updates

Some people might roll their eyes about Memoji getting this much screen time in a keynote. However, the topic gets that much time because visual expression through messaging is significant for communicators. It adds that layer of personality, tone, emotion, and fun that simple text cannot represent. While you could get many of those features through traditional emojis, these Memoji avatars allow a level of personal touch traditional emojis lack. In this update, Apple is touting even more customization, casually mentioning over a “trillion” combinations.

Group Conversation Improvements

Group conversations may also be a polarizing aspect of the Messages app. Some users complain about being on the wrong end of too many spamming groups that they keep trying to mute. While this update may not make fans out of everyone, Apple is adding a number of updates that look make group conversations more approachable and usable.

• Mentions: Much like tagging someone on a social media platform, you’ll now be able to type a user’s name within a group chat and direct a message at them. On the surface, this would make it easier for you to recognize if a conversation has become about you or let you know if you need to answer a question. On a deeper level, though, “mentions” can also fix much of what some do not like about group messages. You’ll be able to set the group convo to only push notifications when you’re mentioned in the conversation. In the past, muting a conversation would fix the issue of too many notifications, but you run the risk of missing something important. This feature will allow you to essentially “mute” the conversation, and then check it when someone mentions your name.
• Inline replies: This update seeks to clean up fast-pace group conversations. If someone asks a question that not everyone can respond to immediately, answers get lost among new messages or topics. With inline replies, you’ll be able to respond to a specific message, which creates a thread inside the conversation. For instance, a small link shows you how many replies have been sent answering your question. You can click the link to only view your messages and its responses.
• Group photos: You’ll now be able to assign a photo, Memoji, or emoji to the group conversation as a whole.

And that rounds out the updates coming to Apple’s Messages app in iOS 14. Small tweaks that Apple hopes will make a big difference in terms of organization and usability. If you’re an iPhone user, let us know what you think about these changes? And also, let me know what changes you hope to see in future updates. As we touched on in our recent WhatsApp post, these messaging apps are evolving quickly to keep people locked in on them, so if you don’t have what you want right this minute, it’ll likely show up soon! For now, I’m going to go try my best not to keep hating group messages (for iMessage at least…). I’ll keep my eye on what Apple does next with messaging and will keep you posted.