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14 Ways Apple Is Improving Messages in iOS 27

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Apple at this year's WWDC emphasized that its approach to iOS 27 development was to add fewer newer features and instead make existing features better. Examples of that approach can be seen across the operating system, but it is arguably most obvious in the changes coming to Messages.

ios-27-messages.jpg

That's not to say there's nothing original coming to Messages in iOS 27. For instance, one new Apple Intelligence feature brings content-aware suggestions directly into conversations. If someone asks for photos, for example, Messages can recognize what's being discussed and suggest searching your photo library, using details like people, places, and keywords to surface relevant images.

The app can also detect when a conversation would benefit from creating a reminder or note and offer a shortcut to do so without leaving the thread. Apple is also bringing drawing tools directly into Messages, allowing users to create and share hand-drawn sketches within conversations.

Otherwise, Apple's focus has been on making the following enhancements and improvements to its broader Messages platform:
  • Faster message loading: Large conversations, especially those containing years of history and thousands of attachments, should load and scroll more quickly.
  • Improved syncing across devices: Apple says Messages, read states, reactions, and attachments sync more reliably and quickly between iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch, and Vision Pro.
  • Find offloaded media in Messages: Search can surface photos and videos that have been offloaded from local storage and stored in iCloud.
  • Thumbnails for offloaded media: Offloaded photos and videos now get visible preview thumbnails instead of generic placeholders, making older media easier to identify.
  • Personalized Smart Reply suggestions: Apple Intelligence-generated Smart Reply suggestions can now reflect a user's own writing style, making suggested responses feel more natural and personal.
  • Consolidated notifications for multiple Tapbacks: Multiple reactions to a message are grouped into a single notification rather than generating separate alerts.
  • Continuous sending of photos, videos, and text: Messages continue sending in the background and automatically resume when connectivity returns, reducing interrupted sends.
  • Search conversations by phone number or nickname: Conversation search now works with saved nicknames and phone numbers, not just contact names.
  • Faster access to recent camera captures: Newly captured photos and videos appear more quickly in the Messages media picker.
  • Failed messages automatically retry sending: Messages that fail because of temporary network issues will automatically attempt to resend without the user's intervention.
Early adopters of iOS 27 will receive access to the public beta next month, when they can try out the new features and improvements themselves. Apple is expected to make a general release available in the fall.

Article Link: 14 Ways Apple Is Improving Messages in iOS 27
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2026/06/10/everything-new-messages-ios-27/
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Reactions: Z-4195 and fatTribble
The fact that they only this year thought about the miserable experience that was sending multiple photos, videos or texts is telling.
Until there is a way to archive chats, like it’s possible in any other messaging app, iMessage will continue to be looked down by non-US residents. Even grouping chats for like work, private, family, etc. would be a big step up. But no.
 
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Parowdy said:
The fact that they only this year thought about the miserable experience that was sending multiple photos, videos or texts is telling.
Until there is a way to archive chats, like it’s possible in any other messaging app, iMessage will continue to be looked down by non-US residents. Even grouping chats for like work, private, family, etc. would be a big step up. But no.
Click to expand...
May I add:
1. selecting and sending files from iMessage.
2. Have a reliable Android app already (one can dream)….. jokes apart, I really am looking forward to delete WhatsApp.
 
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Reactions: sos47 and Parowdy
And still no select all button to mass delete old and useless attachments that I have already saved in the Photo App and don't need twice? I'll continue to stick with WhatsApp for that reason alone. Ain't got no time to open the list of photos in messages to tap on each one by one. Ridiculous
 
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Parowdy said:
The fact that they only this year thought about the miserable experience that was sending multiple photos, videos or texts is telling.
Until there is a way to archive chats, like it’s possible in any other messaging app, iMessage will continue to be looked down by non-US residents. Even grouping chats for like work, private, family, etc. would be a big step up. But no.
Click to expand...
Feature implementation is a matter of priority, not that it hasn’t been thought about. Personally the notion of archiving chat threads sounds like meaningless busywork to me with little to no tangible benefit, so I’m glad they deprioritized such a thing.
 
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Reactions: fzJNotIBOxgnbqejSeVCvJScL, Parowdy and SqlInjection
My favorite is how many news outlets (not Macrumors though to my knowledge) are touting "you can now draw in iMessage!"

Yes, that features been around since I think like iOS 6 or 7, it's just very hidden and requires you to turn your phone into landscape mode.
 
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Reactions: decypher44, sos47 and con2apple
How about adding some of that "intelligence" to autocomplete and, just to pick a egregious example that I see repeatedly, guess that it's 1000x more likely that I meant to type "Thanks" and not "Tusks" as the first word of a reply.
 
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Reactions: AppleWes
Messages on macOS needs better storage management syncing with iCloud. Photos can manage photo/video storage in iCloud automatically which saves of a lot of local storage space, but Messages just creates a huge local directory of photos/videos.
 
Breaking news!
With os27.xx iMessage is becoming just as good as Messengers were five years ago.

Holy mono… ummm, Apple.
Holy Apple the Greatest.
 
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Reactions: miq
mdelvecchio said:
Feature implementation is a matter of priority, not that it hasn’t been thought about. Personally the notion of archiving chat threads sounds like meaningless busywork to me with little to no tangible benefit, so I’m glad they deprioritized such a thing.
Click to expand...
Cool. So because you don’t need it there can’t be a reason someone else needs it? I often get SMS about upcoming appointments and shipments that are then at the top of my chats, always. That’s annoying and not a problem in other messaging apps even without SMS.

Honestly, you’re GLAD a small but handy feature that’s available in all other messaging apps that would not bother you ONCE and could be hidden behind a swipe gesture or in a menu was “deprioritized”?
You’re glad about that… telling
“I don’t need the feature so I’m glad it doesn’t exist, even though it would take practically no time to develop and implement and wouldn’t ever be in my way”
 
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Reactions: Eddie Beeps
I’m glad someone at Apple finally had enough and said fix what’s there and has been problems for 5-10 years in some cases.
 
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