What you need to know about the new edit and unsend options for iMessage

( Business) — For anyone prone to making typos, sending messages to the wrong person, or sending regrettable thoughts, there is now some hope. Apple reveals two of its most requested features: the ability to edit and unsend iMessages.

This week, Apple released its latest operating system, iOS 16, which allows users to edit an iMessage up to five times within 15 minutes of sending and to unsend any message up to 2 minutes after it is sent. Users just need to tap and hold on the sent message, then select “edit” or “undo send.”

However, there are some caveats. It’s not exactly a stealthy effort to begin with: Recipients get an alert that the message wasn’t sent or was edited, but they don’t see the specific change.

Both users must also send messages on Apple devices, so it won’t work for Android exchanges. It works best when the recipient is also using iOS 16; otherwise, you’ll get an awkward timeline of the changes you’ve made. SMS messages can also not be canceled or edited.

Also, the sender must wait until the recipient has previewed the original message on the lock screen before editing or canceling it.

Apple catches up with platforms like Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp, and Gmail, which also offer options to edit or delete messages after they’re sent. Twitter ad recently it is testing users’ ability to edit tweets.

“With Twitter and Apple now also enabling this feature, it’s clear that this is a trend that many mobile users are demanding from these platforms,” ​​said Lian Jye Su, director of research at market research firm ABI Research. “Since the barrier to switching messaging platforms is almost zero, easy-to-use and rich features have become a critical competitive advantage.”

While popular requests, editing and unsending messages could have an unintended impact on transparency and accountability, especially on public platforms, by removing or altering the written record. By making it clear that the message was edited, Apple could help maintain some transparency, according to Ramón Llamas, an analyst at IDC.

Even with these new options, however, Lllamas recommends that people read what they submit “because it can come back to haunt you… even if you edit it.”

iOS 16 is available for any iPhone model since iPhone 8, which was released in 2017. Other noteworthy new iMessage features include the ability to mark messages as unread so it’s easier to reply to them later, and the option to retrieve them. messages deleted for up to 30 days.