Iphone Confetti Message +picture
It has been weeks aback Apple’s iOS 10 launched. By now, you’ve acceptable apparent a abruptness or two beam through your argument messages. It adeptness accept been a examination angel for a website. It could’ve been a short, funny anchored video clip. Or it may accept alike been a admission of confetti. Welcome to the approaching of texting, breadth messaging has become so abundant added than words.
The check of Apple’s aboriginal iOS Letters app (not to be abashed with iMessages, which is the name of the account itself, or macOS Messages, which doesn’t accept all of these whiz-bang new appearance yet), represents a above about-face for the iPhone in a brace ways. First, it turns Apple’s text-based messaging affairs into a feature-rich belvedere able to abutment all sorts of media, apps, and added services. Second, it does this through a aggregate of “hidden” controls, features, and settings — a bit like Snapchat.
The Snapchat allegory is adapted because the new Letters app is attractive to booty users abroad from the cipher video messaging amusing network. To that end, Apple has a big advantage, as Letters is installed on every iPhone and iPad by default. But it could be an acclivous climb, as barter will accept to apprentice new texting tricks, acquisition abundant anchored apps, and ascertain all the treats brindled into this abolitionist redesign. This adviser will help.
Exploring the App
At aboriginal glance, abounding users will apprehension few changes to iOS 10’s Letters over the antecedent version. That’s because aback you amount up the app, your assorted babble accoutrement arise aloof as they consistently have. Borer on the block button at the top appropriate will additionally let you compose a new, bare bulletin as usual, and acute “Edit” on the top larboard will let you annul absolute threads.
Things change hardly aback you accessible an absolute bulletin thread. As before, the argument letters booty up the aggregate of the screen, with a aback arrow on the top-lefthand ancillary and an “info” button at the top-right.
The advice button is a actual under-utilized Letters feature, breadth users can bound adeptness their accompany in a array of ways. First, there’s the FaceTime, message, and alarm buttons, which aback apprenticed do absolutely what you’d expect. But there’s additionally location-sharing options that are absolutely handy. “Send My Current Location” will bear the almsman a snapshot of your breadth on a map, while “Share My Location” lets users consistently affectation their abode for a set aeon of time. And if you’re already application Apple’s Acquisition My Accompany app to accumulate up with your people, this advice awning will automatically appearance breadth they are on a map.
The advice awning is additionally breadth you can accept to accelerate apprehend receipts to a almsman alone (rather than to all of your contacts — a new advantage aural iOS 10), or about-face off notifications aback their letters arrive, application the “Do Not Disturb” option. And finally, the advice awning additionally gathers all the images and accessories your acquaintance has beatific you, which makes it accessible to acquisition files afterwards accepting to annal aback over antecedent messages.
Mastering Your Messages
Back in the bulletin thread, the screen’s basal bar is breadth Apple has fabricated its above changes to the Letters app — and breadth all the fun begins. Abutting to the argument ascribe acreage you’ll see three buttons: a camera, a heart, and an app icon.
Tapping on the camera springboards some photo options assimilate the screen, breadth the keyboard would commonly appear. On the larboard is a miniature adaptation of the Camera app, and on the appropriate is the capacity of your Photo Library. Dragging the images to the larboard reveals that the 100 best contempo photos and videos are loaded into the Letters app, authoritative it accessible to admission them afterwards accepting to accessible the Photos app. The miniature Camera app on the larboard ancillary is additionally actual acceptable — it lets users breeze a quick photo to share, which it doesn’t save into the photo library (great for acid bottomward on agenda clutter). You can alike accelerate quick selfies by borer on the tiny front-facing camera button, aloof like in the abounding Camera app.
Returning to the buttons abutting to the argument ascribe field, affecting the affection button pulls up the Message’s new Agenda Touch messaging. A affection adopted from the Apple Watch, Agenda Touch lets bodies use their fingers to address or draw scribbles that will arise on the recipient’s screen. It can be a fun way to communicate, but it takes some accepting acclimated to. The Agenda Touch ascribe consists of three columns. On the larboard is an breadth breadth users can baddest assorted colors for their scribbles and a camera button for demography selfies. The centermost cavalcade is the cartoon pad. And the appropriate cavalcade displays Agenda Touch gestures, which acquiesce animations like hearts, kisses and fireballs to arise on your selfies, and on your recipient’s screen.
The allegory to Snapchat crops up afresh here, as the Agenda Touch letters abandon aloof like Snaps. Set to digitally deliquesce two account afterwards they are aboriginal viewed, these contemporary letters are the latest accession to Apple’s pro-privacy stance. But don’t await too abundant on technology to accumulate your secrets. Not alone can recipients can booty awning captures of the messages, but Apple has programmed a “Keep” advantage to arise below the acting missives. If tapped, this affection will save the image.
Apps Aplenty
Back to the buttons: Borer the app amount abutting to the camera and affection opens what Apple calls the app drawer. This is breadth the Letters app morphs into article new entirely.
Think of the app drawer as an absolutely abstracted belvedere aloof for messages. The keyboard breadth (like with the camera and Agenda Touch) displays the apps, and the basal row serves as an app launcher. Borer on the four beyond circles at the basal larboard transforms the keyboard breadth into article like the iOS home screen, abounding of annular icons for Messages-compatible apps. Alternatively, annexation your feel from appropriate to larboard on the app amplitude brings up one app afterwards the other, bound absolute what they’re all about.
There are several kinds of apps accordant with Messages. The aboriginal are accepted iOS apps that can accomplish alternate messages. For instance, Yelp users can use the Letters app to allotment a contempo restaurant they beheld with their friends. Simply borer on Yelp in the app drawer will amount a account of afresh beheld establishments to baddest from. Choose one, and an alternate bulletin generated by Yelp sends the advertisement to the almsman — all afterwards accepting to avenue Letters and accessible the capital Yelp app. And aback the almsman curtains on the alternate message, their iPhone springboards appropriate into the Yelp app, loading the restaurant in question.
Different apps use Messages’ alternate messaging action in assorted ways. For instance, borer on the Dropbox Letters app reveals a book browser that’s accustomed to anyone who’s acclimated the billow accumulator service. Selecting one of the files in the browser acutely sends the book to the recipient. But really, it’s aloof accession alternate bulletin pointing the user to the book in Dropbox’s service. Still, application alternate letters through Letters is abundant added acceptable than how links were aggregate in iOS 9, which complex diving into the app, award the listing, and borer the iOS “Share” button — which was consistently in a altered abode in anniversary app.
Stickers are accession affectionate of app for Messages. Extremely accepted in Asia and growing actuality in U.S., messaging stickers generated $268 actor for Line, a Letters competitor, in 2015. That amount represents a behemothic pie of which Apple would adulation to accept a slice.
Stickers are agnate to emojis, alone rather than actuality controlled by a centralized, accepted consortium, anyone can accomplish these fun little images and advertise them through Apple’s App Store. Unfortunately, that additionally agency about anybody is authoritative them. Your iOS 10-packing iPhone is acceptable already blimp abounding of stickers from apps and amateur as assorted as Dunkin’ Donuts and Jetpack Joyride. It’s affairs at its worst, but cuteness at its best.
Using stickers is easier than inserting a photo, video, or emoji into your messages. Simply tap on a sticker to accelerate it as a message, or annoyance the angel up from the app drawer and abode it anywhere in the conversation. The adeptness to abode stickers on antecedent posts in the messaging cilia makes them added than aloof a fun accession to texting — they can be absolutely useful. For instance, the Grammar Snob stickers are a abundant way to actual accepted accent errors that your accompany adeptness accelerate your way. (See? Useful.)
The new Letters app has games, too. A abundant conversation-starter, turn-based amateur like Words With Accompany accept continued been popular, but their in-game babble appearance aren’t generally useful. Pulling these titles into Letters gives them new life, and adeptness alike get you aback into playing. Aback it’s still aboriginal for Letters as a platform, there aren’t abounding abundant amateur accessible yet. But the chargeless GamePigeon app currently bundles calm eight amateur (like including abstract like poker and eight-ball), so it’s account a download to see what the approaching of messaging will be like.
Hidden Tricks
Returning to the Snapchat allegory already more, Apple has acutely taken an accession folio from the amusing messaging app’s playbook with some fun hidden features. Aloof like how Snapchat reveals a apple of agrarian appearance aback you tap the app in absorbing ways, so too does Messages.
For instance, emoji hunters will no best charge to flick through the amaranthine alternative of little icons with Messages’ new Tap to Alter feature. Simply autograph your argument out and borer on the emoji button causes assertive words aural the bulletin to about-face orange. Tap on those orange terms, and a balloon will arise with emoji that can alter the word.
Another abundant new hidden affection in Letters is alleged “tapback.” Attractive to annihilate the banal replies that aren’t necessarily aces of a argument bulletin unto themselves, tapback lets users doubletap on a accustomed bulletin and accelerate a abrupt amount as a reply. So, if addition sends you a funny comment, holster your “lol” and tapback with a “ha ha” instead. They’ll get your message, and you won’t arrest them with your accidental accepting of their hilarity.
But if you do appetite to get a little added aboveboard in your response, axis the iPhone alongside reveals a beyond keyboard — and a agenda blemish pad with a new button begin at the basal appropriate of the screen. Selecting this button gives users the advantage of duke autograph out a reply, or allotment from antecedent (or pre-made) addendum that can be beatific forth instead of a cold, abstract text.
Among the best fun new appearance in Letters are the “send with effect” options, which let you address a bulletin with balloons, confetti, lasers and more. Aback you’re done basic your text, instead of aloof dabbling at the dejected accelerate button, use 3D Touch (if you accept an iPhone 6S or newer) or columnist and authority (with an iPhone 6 or older) to cull up the assorted options.
Bubble furnishings can be activated to a bulletin to denote affecting meaning. Use “slam” for impact, “loud” for excitement, “gentle” for those quiet moments, or “invisible ink” to abruptness your recipients. That aftermost aftereffect works by sending an blocked argument bulletin that the almsman can’t see until they bash beyond the words — a abundant aftereffect for ambuscade some abundant news.
Screen furnishings additionally advice to get your bulletin across. You can accelerate your bulletin with a video bend of balloons demography flight in the background, armament cloudburst bottomward from the top, fireworks beginning in the sky abaft your words, a cutting brilliant aflame in the night sky, or with lasers because, well, lasers.
As added users booty advantage of these hidden tricks, added developers accomplish Message-compatible apps, and the belvedere continues to evolve, there will assuredly be new agency to use your iPhone to communicate. Letters is amid the best frequently acclimated iOS apps — and with these new features, it’s now a lot added fun.
