Have you ever wished that you could correct a typo or replace a silly word that you sent in a message from your phone, but you couldn't because the message was already delivered to the person on the other end? Well, fret not, because Apple might have a solution for you soon.
If you own an iPhone or iPad and use iMessage to send messages you will soon be able to edit messages that you have already sent.
iMessage patent suggests editing sent messages
A new patent application filed with the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), discovered by AppleInsider, suggests the iPhone maker is working on a number of ways to make the iMessage experience better, and the most notable feature among them, is the ability to edit texts sent via iMessage.
The feature could be one of the most welcome upgrades for those of us who tend to make a lot of typos.
Apple patent application
The patent application specifically describes features of a "messaging user interface of a message application" that are not currently available in iOS, which include ways to easily acknowledge messages, display private messages, synchronize viewing of content between users, translate foreign text, and combine messages into a group.
However, the images in the patent show the familiar contextual menu that shows up when you long press on a particular text in iMessage to copy or delete a message or react to it using different emojis from your iPhone or iPad.
Edit button within iMessages
But the most striking feature presented in the new version of the menu is the "edit" button, which brings full text-editing capability for sent messages. This option will allow you to edit a mistake or add additional content to a message that has already been delivered to the recipient. This ability will surely come in handy in those cases when you want to correct a typo or want to add more context to a message to make things clearer for the receiver.
There's a small catch
While you can change the iMessage texts with the suggested option, don't expect the feature to be useful for making very major changes such as taking back nasty or abusive messages, though.
The patent images also suggest that the feature will be implemented in a way that the edited messages will be marked as such, and that users could see the edit history of the iMessages that have been altered via a dedicated "show edits" button. This way the feature would ensure more transparency than the popular "unsend" or delete "delete message for everyone" options that are available on WhatsApp and other messaging services.
Along with the message editing options, the Apple patent also envisions improved use of Apple Pay in iMessage, as well as new full-screen special effects, such as the one that you would get when you text someone "congratulations."
Availability
Since it is just as patent as of now, there's no guarantee that all or any of these iMessage features will come to iOS 14 or a future software update, unless there's an official word on this from Apple.
