Apple Is Bringing a Ton of New Features to Your Most Used iPhone App
A few have been highly requested. There are some welcome surprises, too.
Apple just announced iOS 26, the next big iPhone software update, and when it rolls out this fall, it promises to bring a ton of new features to your current iPhone.
These new features include a gorgeous 'Liquid Glass' design, an all-new Games app, an adaptive Lock Screen and various new abilities with Apple Intelligence. That said, some of the most significant improvements are coming to some of your most-used iPhone apps.
Chief among them, Messages.
That's right. Apple is finally delivering on one of the most highly requested iMessage features: typing indicators for group chats.
When running iOS chat, you'll be able to see who is currently typing in a group chat the same way you currently can in a regular one-on-one iMessage chat. Hallelujah.
Apple is adding the ability to create polls in iMessage. This feature will work in both one-on-one and group chats, allowing you to vote on various options. If in a group chat, each person will be able to see who voted for each option.
If you have an iPhone that supports Apple Intelligence, it'll be able to detect when a poll makes sense and prompt you with a 'Create a poll' suggestion. If created, you (or anybody in that chat) will be able to edit that poll.
This is a little nerdy, but fun new feature: with iOS 26, Apple will let you customize the background of different iMessage conversations.
You'll be able to pick a stock background (similar to a Home Screen) or one from your Photos. If you have an iPhone that supports Apple Intelligence, you'll be able to use Image Playground to create a custom background for your chat based on the topic of conversation.
Apple is rolling out a Live Translation feature to iMessages that promises to be a godsend for communicating with people who speak a different language. It'll automatically translate the message so you can understand.
This is an Apple Intelligence feature, so you'll need a newer iPhone to take advantage of it. For those who have a supported iPhone, Live Translation will also work in your iPhone's Phone and FaceTime apps, meaning it'll work for both text and audio messages.
Messages is also making it easier for you to filter out spam messages or texts from unknown numbers. Specifically, these messages can be sent to a new folder within the Messages app called 'Unknown Senders' folder.
You can then go into that folder and mark those messages as from a known number, delete them, or mark them as spam. It basically gives you a way to declutter your conversation list in Messages and thus gives you more peace of mind.
Tucker Bowe has been on Gear Patrol's editorial team since 2014. As a Tech Staff Writer, he tracks everything in the consumer tech space, from headphones to smartphones, wearables to home theater systems. If it lights up or makes noise, he probably covers it.
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