With the introduction iOS 26iPhones, starting with iPhone 11, are receiving a set of new updates and features. Some of these updates will affect the Apple Messages app.
All of these additions and tweaks are useful, and there's no doubt that Messages is better than ever. There are now features like custom backgrounds and polls (long available in other messaging apps).
Here we take you through everything that's new in iOS 26 for Messages.
Add your own background
Now you can add a personal touch to your chats with a custom background. For example, you can have different backgrounds for a family group chat and a work group chat so that each has its own feel.
Click the title at the top of any conversation, then select Backgrounds make changes. You can choose any of the suggestions here to apply a background that will include solid colors and natural scenes. Tap Photo to select an image from your camera roll.
If your iPhone supports Apple Intelligence, you can get AI help with your background: select Playground to run the AI ​​image generator, then describe how you want the image to look using the prompt field.
Creating surveys
Can't decide on a place for a family vacation? Trying to find a date when all your friends will be free? You can now add polls to conversations in Messages.
In a chat, tap + (plus) in the lower left corner, then select Polls. You can add up to 12 different voting options for each, and there's also the option to add a comment to the poll before submitting it.
Each chat participant can vote on as many options as they want—simply click on an entry in the list to select or deselect it—and anyone can also add new options to the poll by clicking the icon Add selection link below it.
Translate text in messages
iOS 26 brings Live Translation to a variety of apps and devices—you can translate spoken audio into your AirPods, for example—and one of the places the feature is available is in the Messages app.
Click on the title of any conversation, then scroll down to Automatic translation and turn on the toggle switch. Messages will try to determine the language the chat is in, but you can specify a different language if needed.
After this, the chat messages should be translated from and into the languages ​​you specified – you will see Translation… a label at the bottom of a conversation that you can click to see the original message again.
And one more thing…
There are also some small changes and improvements to be aware of. Group chats have typing indicators so you know when someone is composing a message, and Apple Cash is now supported in group chats.
iOS 26 now allows you to actually copy parts of a message rather than the entire message, a basic feature that Apple really should have introduced much earlier. Long press on the message and select Choose to make your choice.
Finally, there's a new filter to exclude unknown senders and spam from your main message list: you'll see it in the top right corner when viewing chats, and you can tap it to see the messages the app has automatically filtered out.
Amazon Prime Day Sale
