Apple may add 6 new features to popular app in iOS 18 update
According to rumors, iOS 18 will add new features to the Messages app (Photo: Unsplash)
It is expected that Apple will announce iOS 18 in a week, and according to rumors, this update will include numerous new features for the Messages app on iPhone, according to the MacRumors website, which is associated with Apple products.
RCS support
Last year, Apple announced that it would add support for the Rich Communication Services (RCS) standard for cross-platform messaging in the Messages app starting from a "later timeframe" in 2024. Thus, this feature is likely to debut in iOS 18.
RCS support aims to enhance standard messaging exchange between iPhones and Android devices by introducing the following features:
- High-resolution photos and videos
- Voice messages
- Typing indicators
- Read receipts
- Messaging over Wi-Fi
- Improved group chats, including the ability for iPhone users to participate in chats involving Android users.
These features are already available for iMessage chats with blue bubbles, and RCS will extend these capabilities to green bubbles over both Wi-Fi and cellular networks. It's expected that SMS will remain as a fallback option.
Effects on individual words
According to sources familiar with the matter, Apple plans to introduce the capability to apply effects to individual words within text messages in the Messages app on iOS 18.
Currently, iMessage allows sending messages with effects for the entire bubble or the entire screen (such as invisible ink or confetti), but the new effects will enable animating specific words within the message.
There is also hope that Apple will add text formatting (bold, italic, underline), but this information has not been confirmed yet.
Proposed responses
According to Bloomberg and AppleInsider, iOS 18 will feature suggested responses generated by artificial intelligence. This function will analyze the recent messages in a conversation and offer several response options that users can select with a single tap to send.
User-generated emojis
Another rumored feature that is said to be powered by artificial intelligence is the ability to send user-generated emojis, which are automatically generated based on the context of recent messages.
Message summaries
There are rumors that iOS 18 will provide message summaries created using artificial intelligence from various apps, including those recently received in the Messages app.
New tap-back icons
New Reaction icons (heart, thumbs up, thumbs down, haha, exclamation mark, and question mark) that can be added to messages may be revamped in iOS 18, as Mark Gurman of Bloomberg reported.
And we also wrote that iOS 18 will introduce special capabilities, including eye-tracking technology for controlling the iPhone.
