IMessage Has a Hidden Bookmark Feature

When you think of iMessage, it’s easy to focus on all the cool full-screen effects, emoji reactions, and even hidden flight tracking . However, one thing no one thinks about is bookmarking. It turns out that iMessage has a Hidden Bookmarks feature that makes it easier to keep track of the links people share with you.

I keep forgetting to open links people send via iMessage, and I’ve always wanted a really easy way to bookmark these web pages. It turns out that your iPhone allows you to do this, but the feature is hidden under a little-known option. Daring Fireball recently discovered this feature and it has finally found its place in the sun.

How to use iMessage’s built-in bookmark feature

Whenever you receive a link in iMessage, press and hold the link, then click the “Pin” button in the small pop-up menu. This will add a link to the Safari start page for quick reference, and it will also save the bookmark in an easily accessible place within the messages themselves. Two clicks are enough to save useful links for later and access them in your spare time.

On the Safari start page on your iPhone, you’ll see all pinned links under Shared with You . Under all of these bookmarks, a pin icon appears to help you identify which of the links are your bookmarks. You can pin links you’ve sent or received – as long as the link is in iMessage, you can bookmark it this way.

To find pinned links in Messages, open the chat where the link was pinned and tap the contact’s name at the top. The contacts screen will open. You can scroll down to the Pins section to find all your iMessage bookmarks from this chat. Here you will only see contacts from individual chats. If you’ve pinned a link from a chat with a friend, it won’t show up in the Pins section of any other chat. The global collection of all these iMessage bookmarks only appears in Safari.