Recipients name appears in blue when wrote in an iMessage

[Fatboy71]

Just wonder if anyone can help me with this question please ?

Since updating to iOS 16, when I am sending an iMessage to one of my contacts and type their name in the message by selecting the middle predictive text choice (see the screenshot with the three suggestions shown in the predictive text area).

Their name (in the text body of the message) changes to blue and the recipient tells me it is blue when they read it. I cannot for the life of me understand what this feature is or what it is supposed to be for, and wondered if it’s possible to switch this feature off. I know it’s only started happening with iOS 16.

Thanks.

 

[0128672]

It's the same difference as the Messages bubble colors. Blue is another iMessage user and green is SMS.

What is the difference between iMessage, RCS, and SMS/MMS? - Apple Support

Learn why some of your message bubbles are blue or green.

support.apple.com

 

[Paddle1]

It's a "mention" like if I type @Fatboy71 , it will send a notification to that person directly and highlight their name. Used in group conversations when you want to tag a specific person.

 

[BigBlur]

It's a mention, and has been there since iOS 14. I never used them much, but I think iOS 16 tweaked how they work by putting it in the predictive text. Before, you had to tap the name to change it to a mention.

How to Use Mentions in the iOS 14 Messages App

In iOS 14, Apple has added several new features to its native Messages app, including the ability to mention people in a group conversation. When...

www.macrumors.com

 

[0128672]

do SMS contact mentions show up in green?

 

[Fatboy71]

@Paddle1 It's only started happening though since iOS 16, and find it strange why they would provide a feature that would highlight a name in blue to signify they are another iMessage user, when you can see already by the blue up send upward facing arrow that they are an iMessage user.

 

[Paddle1]

@Paddle1 It's only started happening though since iOS 16, and find it strange why they would provide a feature that would highlight a name in blue to signify they are another iMessage user, when you can see already by the blue up send upward facing arrow that they are an iMessage user.

The purpose of the feature is not to highlight that they are an iMessage user.

If there is a busy group chat and someone doesn't want their phone spammed with notifications from 5 people every 10 minutes they may disable the general notifications for the group chat. The mention feature allows someone to still send a person a notification specifically for them if it's something important even if they have the general group chat notifications silenced.

I guess the reason it works in non-group chats is in case someone wants to turn off normal notifications but still wants to be mentioned if it's important.

 

[Fatboy71]

It's a "mention" like if I type @Fatboy71 , it will send a notification to that person directly and highlight their name. Used in group conversations when you want to tag a specific person.

Arr I see.
Is there anyway to switch off this group conversations feature, as I never send iMessages to more than one recipient at a time. I would think if I could switch it off, I would then lose the "mentions" feature that is the cause of the blue text.

Thanks.

 

[Fatboy71]

do SMS contact mentions show up in green?

No.
Their name is the same colour when typed, as the rest of the text in the message.

 

[Paddle1]

Arr I see.
Is there anyway to switch off this group conversations feature, as I never send iMessages to more than one recipient at a time. I would think if I could switch it off, I would then lose the "mentions" feature that is the cause of the blue text.

Thanks.

There's no way to disable it. The recipient can turn off notifications when they get mentioned but that won't stop the name from turning blue. All you can do is type the name in full instead of tapping the prediction.

 

[Fatboy71]

Thanks very much everyone for the help, its much appreciated