Have Text Regret? New Apple iPhone Update Will Add Edit and Undo Options to iMessage

young woman texting while sitting on bed — Pexels

Have you ever sent a text or message to someone — and then immediately wished you could take it back? Whether you want to recall a text because of an embarrassing typo or because you accidentally said something you regret, it looks like you may soon be able to take that message back, if you’re an Apple user.

Earlier this week at Apple’s World Wide Developers Conference, Apple CEO Tim Cook and other executives offered early glimpses into what the next software update that powers iPhones will look like — and it looks like the new iPhone operating system (iOS 16) will include “three highly requested features” for messaging capabilities, according to Craig Federighi, Apple’s senior vice president of software engineering.

What are the new messaging features for iOS 16?

While the iOS update means many changes and new features for Apple users, the messaging updates are especially intriguing for those of us who have suffered the bone-chilling feeling of having accidentally texted the wrong person or the wrong thing.

Notably, the three key iMessage changes will include:

The ability to edit recently sent iMessages — after they’ve been sent. As Federighi put it, this could mean that “embarrassing typos can be a thing of the past.”
The ability to unsend a recently sent iMessage entirely — which could come in handy if you accidentally sent a message to the wrong person.
The ability to mark a thread or conversation as unread — for times when you may have read something, but want to make it look like you haven’t yet and want to come back to view it later.

While these changes are promising for helping users save face in the future, they won’t be helpful in all instances — the new messaging options will only be available in instances where you’re having a text conversation and both users are using iMessage.

When will the iOS 16 update be available?

Ready to recall a text you sent today? You’re out of luck for the next few months, at least. No official launch date has been announced for the iOS 16 update yet, though some suspect that it will likely be released to the public in September.