iPhone Message Effects and Tricks: The Ultimate Cheat Sheet

Do you remember the days when semicolons and brackets turned into winky faces ? Then came emojis, making expressions effortless and fun. Over time, messaging has evolved beyond simple text and symbols. Nowadays, sending a simple text doesn’t do it anymore; we crave interactive features that add personality to every line.

Now, there are iPhone message tricks that take things even further, allowing enhanced animations, styles and creative effects. Plus, with the latest iOS 18.3 update (released in January 2025), Apple has introduced even more ways to bring your conversations to life.

The new text effects, formatting options and interactive features make messaging more expressive than ever. We’ll talk about all these add-ons and more in this blog. So, let’s dive in and explore the coolest ways to level up your conversations, starting with text effects.

Exploring iPhone Text Message Effects

iPhone text effects let you send personalised messages through iMessage. With the latest iPhone message tricks, your texts can shake, glow or even light up the screen with fireworks. Here’s how you can bring your messages to life with these exciting enhancements:

• Bubble Effect

  Bubbles add motion to your iMessage texts, making conversations more expressive. This animates the text bubble, ensuring your message stands out on the recipient’s screen. This feature is easy to use and offers four fun effects:

  • Slam: It makes your message slam down onto the receiver's screen. This effect adds intensity and emphasis, which makes it great for messages that express excitement or urgency.

  • Loud: This effect briefly expands and shakes before settling down, which makes it look large, bold and attention-grabbing. For instance, if you have a friend who is always late, send a message with this feature.
  • Gentle: Displays your text in a smaller, subtle way, which makes it perfect for soft reminders or heartfelt messages.
  • Invisible ink: The text or image is hidden under a shimmering layer. It only reveals itself when the recipient swipes over it, ideal for surprises or secret messages.
  

• Full-screen Effects

  Unlike Bubble Effects, Screen Effects animate the entire background of your conversation, creating a more immersive experience. With effects like fireworks, lasers, balloons, and confetti, your messages become visually stunning.
  To use these features, type your message, long press the send button, and choose between Bubble or Screen Effects before tapping send. Here’s what you can do with Screen Effects:
  • Confetti: Showers the screen with colourful confetti, well-suited for celebrations.
  • Echo: Repeats your message multiple times, filling up the entire screen for dramatic effect.
  • Balloons: This releases floating balloons across the screen, adding a festive touch.
  • Spotlight: Highlight your message with a single spotlight while dimming the rest of the screen.
  • Fireworks: Just like it sounds—fireworks explode on the screen.
  

• Text Strings

  One of the fun features buried within messages is the range of animations that are triggered while typing special words. These include some of the common phrases you would send at events. A few examples are listed below:
  • Happy Birthday: A cascade of balloons rises from the bottom of the screen.
  • Happy New Year: It’ll trigger a fireworks show.
  • Congratulations: Confetti showering down from the top of the screen.
  • Pew Pew: Laser beam shooting out from the text.
  These are just the tip of the iceberg, though. With the latest iPhone message tricks, you can explore even more fun text effects, especially with the release of iOS 18.

• Happy Spring Text Effect

  Nothing says spring like flowers. With the iPhone’s text effects, you can brighten someone’s day with a text that blossoms on their screen. Here’s how to create a stunning floral effect in just a few taps:
  • Open the ‘Messages’ app and select the contact you want to text.
  • Tap the iMessage window to bring up the keyboard.
  • Press the emoji button 😀 in the lower-left corner.
  • Use the Search Emoji bar to quickly find spring-themed emojis.
  • Tap to add any of the different flower emojis, like Hibiscus, Tulip, Cherry Blossom, or Fluttering Leaves.
  • Open the effects menu by holding down the blue send arrow.
  • Select ‘Screen’ at the top, then choose ‘Echo’. This fills the screen with multiple copies of your message.
  • Tap the send arrow, and when the recipient opens it, their screen will bloom with flowers.

• Handwritten Messages

  Sending handwritten notes to your loved ones feels personal and thoughtful. Now, you can bring that charm to your messages. Whether it’s a heartfelt note or some fun doodling, here’s how to do it:
  • Open iMessage and tap the compose button to start a new message.
  • At the lower right corner of the keyboard, tap on the handwriting button.
  • With the help of your finger, write a message or select a saved message on the screen.
  • Once done, click on the send button to send your message.
  Besides text effects, there are other iPhone message tricks, including camera effects, GIFs and Memoji sticker effects.

Must-know iPhone Message Tricks

Now, let’s explore several iPhone message tricks that can help you unlock the full potential of iMessage. Here are a few tips that will make every text unique and fun:

• Tapback Expressions

  React instantly to messages with a thumbs-up, heart, emphasis, question mark, or even a quick laugh.
  • In an iMessage thread, double-tap the message bubble, photo, video or GIF you want to react to.
  • Select a Tapback reaction from the options: heart, thumbs up, thumbs down, 'ha ha', exclamation points or a question mark.

• Send a GIF

  When words fail, GIFs allow you to express what you are thinking or feeling.
  • In an iMessage thread, tap the App button next to the message field.
  • Select the GIF finder (it’s a red icon with a magnifying glass).
  • Enter keywords to search for a GIF. Select one that describes your emotions.
  • Once the GIF loads in the message field, click send.

• Direct Reply

  Ever found yourself scrolling through a long conversation trying to figure out which message someone is responding to? The iPhone lets you reply directly to any message, making it clear what you are responding to.
  • In an iMessage thread, press and hold the message, photo, video or GIF you want to reply to.
  • Tap ‘Reply’.
  • Type your message and click the ‘Send’ button.

• Bold, Italicise and Animate Your Texts

  With iOS 18, you can format your messages with bold, italics, underline and strikethrough effects. Here is how you can do it:
  • Compose a text message in iMessage.
  • Double-tap a word or highlight the text you want to format.
  • Tap the ‘Formatting’ button or scroll through the menu and select ‘Text Effects’ (next to Cut, Copy and Paste).
  • Select from bold, italic, underline or strikethrough.
    

• Shake Your iPhone to Undo a Mistake

  Did you know your iPhone has a unique way to fix a typing mistake? The ‘Shake to Undo’ feature is a handy iPhone message trick that lets you quickly erase a typo. You don’t need to fumble for the backspace button. Simply shake your phone gently from side to side to trigger an alert, allowing you to undo your last action.

• Schedule a Text

  Do you plan to send a text later? iOS 18 makes it easy with a built-in scheduling feature in Apple Messages. Here’s how you to do this:
  • Open a conversation in messages.
  • Tap the ‘+’ icon and select ‘Send Later’.
  • Pick a date and time, then click on the blue arrow.
  With these steps, your message will be sent automatically at the chosen date and time.

• Check-in When You Arrive

  With iOS 17 and iPadOS 17, you can automatically notify a friend or family member when you reach a destination using the ‘Check In’ feature. Here is how you can set it up:
  • Enable Location Sharing: Go to Settings > Privacy & Security > Location Services and turn on Share My Location. Both you and the recipient must be using iOS/iPadOS 17 or later.
  • Initiate a Check-in: Open a conversation in Messages, tap the ‘+’ icon, select More > Check In and follow the setup steps.
  • Choose an Alert Type: Select ‘When I Arrive’, pick a location, select your mode of travel and set a time if required. You can also set a countdown for when the recipient should be notified.
  • Send It: Tap ‘Done’, then send the ‘Check In’ message. The person will get an alert when you arrive or when the timer runs out.

• Record and Add a Memoji

  Do you want to make your texts sound more engaging? Try sending an animated Memoji with your voice. Here is how:
  • Open the Messages app, swipe down the screen and select ‘Memoji’.
  • Choose your favourite character, then tap the red recording button.
  • Record your message. There’s a built-in feature that captures both your eye and mouth movements.
  • Once done, tap the recording button again and send your text.

• Pin a Conversation

  It can be tricky to find a specific chat in your messages app. However, you can pin up to nine conversations to keep them at the top of the inbox. Below are the methods to pin a conversation:
  • Method 1: Press and hold the conversation, then tap Pin.
  • Method 2: Drag and drop the conversation to the top of the list.
  • Method 3: Tap the ellipsis (•••) icon, tap on ‘Edit Pins’ and select the ‘Pin’ icon next to the chat.
  In case you want to unpin, here’s how you can do so:
  • Press and hold the pinned chat, then tap ‘Unpin’.
  • Tap (•••) > Edit Pins, click the minus (-) icon next to the conversation

Enjoy Personalised Messaging with Your iPhone

Messaging just got a whole lot more exciting with the iPhone. Hopefully, this blog gave you some cool ideas to enhance your experience. Whether you are using bold animations, scheduled messages or fun tapbacks, these hacks will bring any conversation to life. Keep these iPhone message tricks in mind when you get your next iPhone and take your texting game to the next level.

So, go ahead; surprise your friends with these effects and make your messages stand out. To make the most of Apple’s latest features for personalised messages, check out our range of refurbished iPhones. We have an extensive selection of models you can choose from. For details, reach out to Mobile Guru by calling us on 1300 362 017 or writing to us at hello@mobileguru.com.au.