10 Life Hacks Every Apple Messages User Should Know
Messages is the default chat app for billions of Apple users. If you own an Apple device (especially an iPhone), you likely open it dozens of times a day. Yet this simple app can do so much more than just send text messages. Whether you use it on your iPhone, iPad, or Mac, you can use these 10 tricks to make Messages a better and more productive chat app.
Adjust your spam filtering settings for messages.
When you receive a new message, you want it to be from a friend, not an obvious scam. Unfortunately, the latter is all too common. But in recent years, Apple has added several useful tools for filtering messages from unknown senders and sending obvious spam to a separate folder.
To set this up, go to Settings > Apps > Messages , then select Filter Unknown Senders and Filter Spam. The latter will simply send suspicious spam to a separate folder, while the former has additional options. Tap Allow Notifications, and you’ll see four options: Timeout is on by default and allows notifications from unknown senders if your device deems them urgent or important. However, the remaining options are off by default: Personal — messages from unknown senders that are unlikely to be affiliated with a business or organization; Transactions — messages or receipts for online orders; and Promotions — offers and updates from businesses. If you don’t take action, all of these types of messages will arrive silently, so you won’t be alerted every time you receive a coupon from a company you bought something from. But you can customize these settings to your liking. For example, if you want to make sure you don’t miss a message from a new contact, you can turn on notifications in the Direct Messages section to continue receiving notifications about such messages.
Now return to Messages. Tap the three bars at the top to find filter categories. “Messages” will display only messages from known contacts; “Unknown senders” will display messages from contacts your device doesn’t recognize; and “Spam” will display all messages that are likely spam. These filters will help keep the Messages app clean and also make it easy to check whether the filters have mistakenly detected legitimate messages.
Use the “When sending messages” feature to remember to mention this the next time you message a contact.
Apple’s Reminders app has evolved over the years into a great tool for maintaining focus throughout the day. If you need to send a friend a message but don’t want to contact them directly yet, you can set a reminder to send them a message later. Or, even better, you can use the reminders feature to naturally remind you of your next message.
First, open the Reminders app, then create a new reminder. To do this, tap the (i) icon, then scroll down to the “Places & People” section. Tap the toggle next to “When sending messages,” then select “Choose a contact” to choose the person you want to send the reminder to. Finally, tap the checkmark in the upper-right corner, and you’ll see a new message below the reminder, “Messages: [Contact Name].”
Use the hidden shortcut to access photos to share them with contacts.
There are several ways to share photos with others in Messages. Of course, you can share them directly from the Photos app, but you can also use the Photos menu (+). There’s nothing wrong with this method, but when you know you want to send a specific photo, it can be a bit inconvenient to tap (+) , then Photos, and then wait for the images to load. Instead, the next time you want to share a photo in Messages, simply hold (+) . This will instantly open the Photos app, which can save you some time.
Use this hidden feature to write handwritten notes.
In the Apple Messages app, you have several communication methods to choose from. Of course, you can type text messages and send audio messages. But as it turns out, you can also write messages by hand. You just need to know where to look.
First, make sure Portrait Mode Lock isn’t enabled on your iPhone. To do this, open Control Center (swipe down from the upper-right corner) and make sure the Portrait Mode icon (the lock with an arrow) is unchecked. Now, open a conversation in Messages and turn your iPhone sideways. Open the keyboard, and you’ll see a new icon that looks like a handwritten letter. Tap it, and a blank canvas will open where you can draw. (The last 24 handwritten messages you’ve sent will also be saved and displayed at the bottom of the screen, so you can send them again with a tap.) If needed, you can swipe two fingers across the canvas to create more space. When finished, tap “Done,” and you can send your handwritten note immediately.
Sort your quick menu apps to prioritize the ones you actually use.
The (+) menu contains a number of interesting features. You can use “Check Arrival” to automatically confirm your arrival at your destination with friends and family, “Polls” to start a poll on any topic you’re interested in, or “Send Later” to schedule a message for a future date and time. Apple has organized its apps as it sees fit, but if you frequently use an app at the bottom of the list, you might find this layout a bit annoying. Fortunately, you don’t have to settle for the default app layout. You can customize it to suit your needs.
To start, tap and hold (+) any Messages app you want to move. After a moment, you’ll feel haptic feedback confirming you’ve selected the app. Now drag it anywhere in the list. Personally, I drag all Apple AI apps, like Genmoji and Image Playground, to the bottom of the list, and move more useful or frequently used apps, like Send Later and #images, to the top.
Use this setting to automatically translate conversations.
If you have friends or family members who speak a different language, Messages can make it easier to communicate. Open your chat, then tap your contact’s name at the top. Scroll down and tap the toggle next to “Automatically translate.” If you already have chats in a language different from your device’s target language, Messages will automatically suggest a language for translation. Otherwise, you can select your contact’s primary language from Apple’s list. A new “Translate [target language]” button will now appear at the bottom of the chat, allowing you to stop translation at any time. Simply encourage your contact to do the same.
Lock the Messages app to prevent unauthorized access.
Everything that happens in Messages stays in Messages, meaning interested parties may want to view your chats to peek into your secrets. If you have conversations you don’t want others to see, or you simply want to enhance your privacy, you can lock the Messages app with Face ID, Touch ID, or a passcode. This way, even if you hand your unlocked iPhone to a friend or it’s snatched from your hands while you’re using it, no one will be able to open your Messages app without your face, fingerprint, or PIN.
To lock Messages, long-press the app icon on the Home screen, then select “Require Face ID” (or “Require Touch ID” or “Require Passcode,” depending on your device and its settings). Apple will display a pop-up warning that other apps won’t be able to access your content without your authentication, and that you won’t see Messages content in Preview or Spotlight. If you’re happy with this, tap “Require Face ID” again, and your iPhone will scan your face or fingerprint, or request your passcode. Once confirmed, Messages will be locked.
Use RCS to send encrypted messages to friends on Android.
One of the best steps Apple has taken in recent years was the introduction of RCS support . Now, you can finally message your Android friends in Messages without any hassle. While the pop-ups are still green, the interface is generally the same as iMessage: you can send high-resolution images and videos, create functioning group chats, and see typing indicators. We’ve come a long way.
Perhaps the biggest advantage here, however, is support for end-to-end encryption (E2EE). Previously, Android users’ text messages were completely unencrypted, while iPhone users relied on iMessage’s built-in E2EE feature. Fortunately, RCS supports E2EE, but Apple only implemented E2EE support in RCS in May . That’s a lot of acronyms: your Android chats can now be encrypted, but you need to ensure you’ve configured your conversations correctly.
First, you’ll need to make sure your iPhone is running iOS 26.5 or later, and that your Android friend is using a chat app that supports end-to-end RCS encryption (in most cases, this will be Google Messages). Then, go to Settings > Apps > Messages > RCS Messages and ensure both “RCS Messages” and “End-to-End Encryption (Beta)” are enabled. Now you won’t need another chat app to send secure messages to friends who don’t have an iPhone.
Use advanced data protection to encrypt backups of your messages.
Speaking of encryption, although your iMessages are end-to-end encrypted, they may not actually be completely secure: if you back up your messages to iCloud, there’s a good chance the backup itself isn’t encrypted, making your messages vulnerable if Apple’s servers are hacked. Furthermore, by not encrypting your backups, Apple gains access to your message backups, creating a privacy and security hole.
To fill this gap, you can use Enhanced Data Protection , which encrypts most of the data you back up to Apple servers. This will protect data like message backups, as well as your device backups, iCloud Drive, notes, photos, and more. This is great for privacy, but it comes with a risk: since Apple will no longer have access to your data, they won’t be able to help you if you lose access to your recovery information. So, proceed with caution. For setup instructions, go to Settings > [Your Name] > iCloud > Enhanced Data Protection .
Use this setting to automatically remove one-time passwords.
The most popular feature of the Messages app online is the automatic appearance of one-time passwords on the iPhone keyboard. This is truly great, but there’s one problem it doesn’t solve: these codes remain in the Messages app unless you manually delete them. Therefore, I strongly recommend enabling another, lesser-known Messages setting to automatically delete one-time passwords after use.
To enable this feature, go to Settings > General > Autofill & Passwords , then under Verification Codes, tap the toggle next to “Delete after use.” From now on, every time you use Autofill to enter a one-time password, your device will delete it from the Messages app.