iOS 26 Messages: 7 biggest changes you need to know

Tom's Guide

9 hours ago

Messages is one of the more popular apps on the iPhone, so Apple's not going to let any opportunity to add new features to its built-in messaging tool go by. So even though the focus with this year's iOS 26 update remains squarely on overhauling the iPhone software's interface, Apple still found room to usher in new features for Messages.
Group chats stand to be the big beneficiary from iOS 26, with several additions aimed at sprucing up mobile conversations involving multiple people. And in keeping with iOS 26's themes of simplifying communication, the new version of Messages adds filters that strip out some of the clutter from your list of ongoing conversations.
While I've installed the iOS 26 developer beta to get a sense for what's changing on the iPhone, I'm holding off on a full evaluation of the update until I've had a chance to use it more regularly. But ahead of the public beta's release in July, I can share what I've seen so far in Messages based on both my time with the app as well as Apple's public pronouncements on the new Messages capabilities.
Let's take a closer look at what you experience the first time you fire up Messages in iOS 26.
I imagine a lot of the conversations people have in Messages involve multiple people. I mean, I'm a reluctant texter at best, and I find myself participating in half-a-dozen group chats with carpool participants, friends, family members and collaborators. So a lot of the Messages improvements in iOS 26 are aimed squarely at making group chats more cohesive and productive.
A big addition to that end figures to be the inclusion of a new Polls feature. As described by Apple, Polls will allow you to post multiple choice options in group chats so that people can log their preference while making it simple to keep track of who voted for what. It's the sort of thing that comes in handy when trying to plan outings, figure out what to eat or decide what time everyone can be ready to go.
To add a poll to your chat, tap the Plus button next to the Message field and select Polls from the same menu where you would access stickers, photos and other features. From there, you populate the fields of the chat with choices and press send. The other members of the group chat tap their choice, with the bars adjusting to indicating the most popular option. As a handy visual cue, the chat avatars of each person appears next to their choice.
Get instant access to breaking news, the hottest reviews, great deals and helpful tips.
Don't worry about making sure that you've covered every option under the sun. There's an Add Choice command right under the poll that anyone in the group chat can tap to insert their own suggestion.
You'll get the most use of polls in group chats, obviously, where different people will weigh in with different choices. But I've confirmed via the iOS 26 developer beta that the Polls option is also available in your one-on-one Messages conversations to simplify multiple choice questions and answers.
You've been able to send Apple Cash to individuals in Messages for a while now. I routinely use the feature to settle up expenses with a friend with whom I attend college football games. It's a pretty convenient way to split costs without having to turn to third-party payment options like Venmo or, horror of horros, exchange paper money.
Now that convenience is coming to group chats, where you'll also be able to access the Apple Cash option from that ever-helpful Plus menu. (To be fair, the Apple Cash option appears in that menu for iOS 18, but if you tap it in a group chat, you get a terse reminder that payments are not available in group conversations.)
The convenience of this iOS 26 addition should be readily apparent. Now when you got out for dinner in a group and once person picks up the bill, everyone in the group chat can send them their share of the costs directly through Messages.
There's one other group chat addition coming via iOS 26. Apple is adding typing indicators — a much requested feature according to the WWDC 2025 keynote section on Messages' new features.
A big part of the iOS 26 changes seems to be about banishing unwanted alerts from view — the Call Screening features coming to the Phone app are a prime example of this. But Messages is getting its own measure of streamlining with a feature that removes texts from unknown senders from the rest of your conversations. Think of it as a spam filter, but for texting.
From the main Messages screen, tap a new filter control in the upper right corner, selecting Manage Filtering from the menu that appears. That takes you to the Message section of Settings where you can turn on a slider to screen unknown senders. Once turned on, the menu in Messages adds a Unknown Senders section where messages from people you don't know will appear. You won't be notified when an unknown sender texts you.
How well this feature works depends on how easy you'll be able to mark senders as known if they're not already in your Contacts. A Mark as Known button will apparently appear at the bottom of screened texts.
Apple also says that time-sensitive texts — think access codes sent to you for two-factor authentication or reservation notifications — won't be screened as unknown senders. We'll have to see how that works in practice once we spend more time with iOS 26 Messages.
It's not the most earth-shattering change, but you can now put a stamp on your Messages conversations by adding backgrounds. You'll find collections of curated selections from Apple organized in categories like Color, Sky, Water and Aurora. You can also pick one of your own photos for the background.
Just tap on the header for the conversation — the bit that contains the picture or icon for the person or group you're texting with — and tap Backgrounds on the scroll bar that appears in the top third of the screen.
Any Messages background you pick will be visible to the other people in that conversation, whether it's an individual or a group. And yes, they'll be able to swap in a background of their own preference if they're so inclined.
Apple bills this as a way to personalize your various conversations. In a group chat I have for people who produce a "Magnum, PI" podcast with me, I've added a photo of the Kauai coast to set a proper mood, and it's a fun little detail that makes me smile.
The Liquid Glass design is very much in effect in iOS 26 Message. You only need to tap on the top of each conversation to see the effect it has on the look of the information page for the person you're chatting with.
The blocky buttons to call, FaceTime, or email that person are now rounded circles. That new submenu that lets you change conversations backgrounds also has filters for the photos, links, and documents they've shared with you via text — handy when you know they've sent you a particular photo but can't remember exactly when in the conversation it happened. The panel is also a little more translucent keeping with iOS 26's overall look.
If you're the type of person who finds themselves talking with people from around the world, you'll appreciate that Messages is part of iOS 26's push for automatic translations. Should a text come in that's in a different language, on-board AI should be able to translate that text automatically.
I say "should be," because this is an Apple Intelligence-powered feature meaning you'll need to be running iOS 26 on an iPhone 15 Pro or later to see it in action. Alas, I have the developer beta running on an iPhone 15, so when my wife texts me in German as she is wont to do, I can't be sure exactly what she's saying to me.
That's an overview of what's different in the new version of Messages. It's possible we could uncover more features as we spend more time with iOS 26 ahead of the public beta release in July and the full release later this fall.
At this point, the biggest thrust appears to be in streamlining the app with text filtering while also building up the capabilities of group chats. Given the importance iPhone users place on Messages, I'll be paying special attention to how well these new additions integrate into the app.