5 Ways Apple Can Improve iPhone’s Messages in iOS 13

Michael Grothaus 09/01/2019 – 2:36pm

Apple’s messaging app is one of the best, but it could be improved.

When Apple introduced iMessage in 2011, it was revolutionary for its time. It was the first large-scale app to combine digital messaging with regular text messaging, meaning you could get your instant messages and SMS’s in one app.

Over the years Apple has steadily improved iMessages–which is now simply called “Messages”. The company added support for getting regular SMS texts on non-cellular iPads and Macs, added its own Messages app store, and even lets people create custom emojis of themselves to use in the app.

However, Messages is far from the only messaging app on iOS. Other big ones include WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger. If Apple wants its Messages app to stay at the top, it needs to add the following features.

Star Or Favorite Messages

It’s a little odd Apple hasn’t added the ability to star or favorite a message so you could quickly return to it later from another screen. WhatsApp does this–and it’s of great use to users. We’re hoping that in iOS 13, Messages gets the ability to be starred.

Show Security Notifications

One of the best things about Messages is that all iMessages (the name for all non-SMS instant messages sent in the Messages app) are end-to-end encrypted. This means no one but the sender (you) and the receiver can read the iMessages–not Apple, not governments, not hackers–no one.

Encryption works by devices sending keys along with the messages that allow the other person's device to decode them and be read by human eyes. When a person gets a new device, their encryption keys change, but right now Apple doesn’t notify the sender that their friend has a new encryption key.

It would be nice if Message did this. It would make iMessage security that much more transparent and give users an extra warning that their friend is using Messages on a new device–which you could then confirm with your friend that it’s actually them using the new device and not someone else who has logged in with their info.

Automatically Save Media To Camera Roll

It baffles me that Apple has not implemented automatically saving photos and videos received via Messages to the iPhone’s camera roll. One of the main ways people share photos and videos with their friends and family is by texting them.

Right now iPhone users must manually save a photo or video they receive in an iMessage to their iPhone’s camera roll. It’s an extra step which is unnecessary and can lead to people actually losing media they want to keep if they later decide to delete an old Messages thread.

Make It Easier To See Time Stamps

This is a small nitpick, but an improvement point Apple could make nonetheless. Right now you can see the timestamps of individual messages in Message, but they are hidden. You see the timestamps by swiping an iMessage screen to the left.

Apple should element the hiding of iMessage timestamps and just make the timestamp always viewable below the received iMessage.

Make It More Intuitive To Forward Or Delete Individual Messages

Right now in order to forward or delete an individual iMessage you need to tap a minimum of three buttons (first on the message you want to forward/delete, then on a “More…” button, then on a trash or forward button).

That’s too confusing as a regular user probably has no idea that the trash and forward buttons are hidden behind the “More” menu.

Instead, Apple should display the delete and forward options in the popup menu that appears right after you tap on the individual message.