Unlock the Latest iOS 26 Messages App Features: What’s New?

With the release of iOS 26, iPadOS 26, and macOS 26, Apple has revamped its Messages app, incorporating modern features like group polls, visual customization, and real-time translation.

Real-Time Translation with Apple Intelligence

Real-time translation is currently a popular feature. Powered by Apple Intelligence, this feature automatically translates text, audio messages, and voice messages into the user’s language, all in real-time, directly within the app. This advancement is set to greatly simplify multilingual communications without the need for third-party applications such as Google Translate.

To activate it, go to the specific conversation, click on the icon of the group or individual > Automatic Translation > select your input and output languages. Then, the translation appears automatically in the chat. The languages are somewhat limited at the moment, and the function appears somewhat random, but it has only been a few hours since launch…

More Customization and Interaction

For this release, Apple has introduced new customization options in both individual and group conversations. It’s now possible to add a custom background to each chat, creating a more engaging interface.

Whether in a group chat or a private conversation, clicking on the recipient’s icon brings up new settings: info, backgrounds, sent photos, links, and documents. For backgrounds, you can also have fun creating unique ones through Image Playground…

Polls!

Finally, the company has added the ability to create polls, which can be initiated directly within conversation threads—for planning a dinner with friends or making a group decision without leaving the app. For those who are indecisive, you can also add choices on the fly, even if you did not start the poll, and provide multiple answers to a single question.

More Dynamic Groups and Smart Sorting

Group chats also benefit from enhancements: typing indicators are now visible for each participant, and it’s possible to send or receive money via Apple Cash right within the conversations (not available in Europe).

To enhance privacy and control, Apple has also introduced automatic filtering of messages from unknown senders, which are redirected to a separate folder. From this folder, users can choose to mark a number as trusted, request more information, or delete the message, all without disruption.

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