iMessage results: Learn how to animate and format your textual content messages

iMessage results can add additional that means, emotion and enjoyable to your texting. In Apple’s Messages app, you’ll be able to add daring, italics, underline and strikethrough textual content, similar to in a formatted doc. You’ll be able to even select from a bunch of cool, animated results, together with full-screen blasts of lasers, confetti and fireworks.

Apple’s textual content message results could make fairly an impression. You may make congratulations extra bombastic (to rejoice in somebody’s best moments). Or, you should use formatting and results to convey sarcasm, stress and sorrow extra clearly.

These textual content results are enjoyable and extremely helpful. Preserve studying under or watch our video.

Learn how to use all of the iMessage results in your iPhone

Textual content messaging is extremely prevalent lately — and may also be extremely difficult. It’s all about reaching the correct tone.

Simply as selecting a sure emoji (or creating the proper Genmoji) can change the temper of a message, utilizing these iMessage results can alter the best way a textual content lands. Employed correctly, they’ll make a contented message extra thrilling or lighten the tone of a textual content that the receiver in any other case would possibly misconstrue.

Briefly, iMessage results can add far more that means, emotion and enjoyable to your texting.

The one actual disadvantage is that, since they solely work with iMessages, they solely work on Apple gadgets (iPhone, iPad and Mac) working comparatively latest working programs. As Apple says, “To ship and obtain messages with textual content formatting or textual content results, you and your recipients have to be utilizing iMessage with macOS 15, iOS 18, iPadOS 18, watchOS 11, visionOS 2, or later. Messages seem in plain textual content when despatched to gadgets with earlier (or different) working programs.”

Desk of contents: Learn how to use all of the iMessage results

1. Textual content formatting for daring, italics, underline and strikethrough
2. Animated phrase results
3. Textual content bubble results
4. Full-screen iMessage results
5. Extra options in Messages

Textual content formatting for daring, italics, underline and strikethrough

Able to jazz up an iMessage? Open the Messages app in your iPhone. (These work equally on iPad and Mac.) Within the toolbar above your iPhone’s keyboard, you’ll see a Textual content Results button on the best. Faucet on that to open the menu of choices for formatting textual content.

Alongside the highest, you’ll see the traditional formatting choices of daring, italicize, underline and strikethrough. Faucet and drag to pick out the textual content you wish to format; faucet a number of of those choices to use the format you need.

On a Mac, you should use the usual ⌘B, ⌘I and ⌘U to use these. Strikethrough is obtainable within the Format menu within the menu bar, or within the context (right-click) menu.

Animated phrase results

In the identical Textual content Results menu, under the traditional choices, you’ll see varied animated textual content results. They’re: huge, small, shake, nod, explode, ripple, bloom and each espresso fiend’s favourite — jitter.

You’ll be able to apply these to your entire textual content message, or to particular phrases in it. You’ll be able to even apply a number of results to totally different phrases in the identical message by choosing totally different phrases or parts. However, understandably, you’ll be able to’t mix results on the identical choice — you’ll be able to’t make phrases each huge and small. That might be foolish.

On a Mac, you will discover these choices within the Format menu within the menu bar — though they’re not as enjoyable and animated as they’re on iOS.

Textual content bubble results

And it’s not simply textual content you’ll be able to alter. You’ll be able to make use of different animations and iMessage results so that you actually ship a message. After writing your textual content, faucet and maintain the Ship button to convey up a particular results menu:

• Slam throws the message bubble down on the display screen, with a poof of mud, prefer it’s being dropped on the desk.
• Loud makes the message bubble develop and shake, to get the recipient’s consideration.
• Mild makes the textual content shrink down, and slowly develop again in — as if it’s being whispered.
• Invisible Ink covers the message with static that the opposite particular person must swipe away to disclose.

Faucet to pick out an impact, then faucet the Ship button to ship the message with that impact. In case you change your thoughts, faucet × (Cancel Impact) to shut the menu.

Full-screen iMessage results

Apple additionally cooked up full-screen animations you should use when sending an iMessage. On the high of the display screen, faucet the Screen tab to attempt them out. Swipe left and proper to flick through all the results:

• Echo: Copies of the message echo throughout the display screen, increasing and shrinking as they rise, swirl and disappear.
• Highlight: The dialog darkens, then a vibrant highlight illuminates your message as particles of mud move by the white gentle.
• Balloons: Multicolored balloons float up from under.
• Confetti: Multicolored confetti cascades from above.
• Love: A crimson, heart-shaped balloon inflates from behind the message, then floats up and away.
• Lasers: Multicolored laser lights sweep throughout the display screen, scanning up and down.
• Fireworks: Fireworks burst and fade over a black backdrop.
• Celebration: White gentle bursts from the highest proper nook, as sparks rain down the display screen in a celebratory deluge.

Faucet Ship to ship the message with the chosen impact, or faucet × (Cancel Impact) to shut the menu.

Extra superior options in Messages

• Edit or unsend messages, quickly after sending them, if you happen to make a mistake.
• Schedule texts to ship in a while iPhone to be sure you always remember to ship a reminder, birthday greeting or early morning message for somebody in a distinct time zone. You’ll be able to schedule a complete slew of texts as much as per week prematurely, with hyperlinks, photographs, attachments and extra.
• Test In is an iPhone characteristic that tracks your travels and lets contacts know if you’ve safely reached your vacation spot.
• RCS messaging makes options like learn receipts, video and file attachments and named group chats — beforehand unique to iMessage (and a few apps) — doable between iPhone and Android.
• Scheduled automated Apple Money funds to ship cash to your pals or household regularly.
• Ship messages by way of satellite tv for pc when you’ve got an iPhone 14 or newer and also you’re out of cell service.

We initially printed this text on iMessage results on February 15, 2025. We up to date it with the newest data on July 4, 2025, and April 21, 2026. 

D. Griffin Jones is a author, podcaster and video producer for Cult of Mac. Griffin has been a passionate pc fanatic since 2002, when he acquired his first PC — however since getting a Mac in 2008, he hasn’t turned again. His abilities in graphic and net design, together with video and podcast enhancing, are self-taught over 20+ years. Griffin has a bachelor’s diploma in pc science and has written a number of (unpublished) apps for Mac and iOS. His assortment of outdated computer systems is made up of 40+ desktops, laptops, PDAs and gadgets, courting again to the early ’80s. He brings all of those artistic and technical abilities, together with a deep data of Apple historical past, into his work for Cult of Mac.