Apple Intelligence will be made up of various new features when it arrives later this year and some of those features will involve the power of generative AI. Users will be able to have Apple Intelligence create images based on their commands, but that feature is far from unique – and now even WhatsApp is getting in on the act.

While not yet officially announced, a new beta version of the WhatsApp app for the Android platform has detailed a new feature that will allow people to take a photo of themselves and then have generative AI use it as the basis for creating yet more images.

The idea is likely that this will be used to create new avatars for WhatsApp users and while it's yet to ship, it could be a useful feature for those who want something a little different from the usual selfie photo.

AI-generated avatars

The new addition was first spotted by the beta watchers over at WABetaInfo and while it made its debut in the Android app, we can surely expect it to also be added to the iPhone app in the near future.

Using Meta AI, the feature looks set to be popular among those who like to regularly update their avatar.

"This feature will allow users to take a single set of photos, which Meta AI will then use to generate AI images," WABetaInfo explains. "Users must take setup photos that will be analyzed to create these images, ensuring that the generated images accurately represent their appearance. It's important to mention that users will retain full control over this feature, as they can delete their setup photos at any time through the Meta AI settings."

There is currently no word on when this new generative AI feature will be available to the public, but WhatsApp is normally pretty good at progressing features from beta to the final version of the app.

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Have you just realized that someone in your family can see your texts and you can see theirs? If so, you've come across a problem that happens when you share an Apple ID. 

This happens if someone else has a hold of your Apple ID or you forgot to sign out of your Apple ID on a secondhand device, often leading to your data appearing in places you don't want it to.

Another big reason why this tends to happen is when friends or family are sharing accounts to access paid content like apps, music, games, and subscription services. Luckily, with Family Sharing, there's no real need to do this to play the best Apple Arcade Games or watch the best movies on Apple TV Plus. If you are borrowing someone else's account, make sure to create a new Apple ID now

Once you have done this, you can ensure a little bit of security on any device from older iPhones to the best iPhone, the iPhone 15 Pro Max.

How to fix someone else seeing your texts

What you'll need

Obviously, you'd only have these problems if you own an Apple device. But what if you're looking to upgrade? Here are some of our favorite iPhones on sale right now (just make sure you don't mess up the Apple ID sign-in):

Change which Apple ID iMessage uses on iPhone

4. Go to Settings
5. Tap on the Apple ID at the top
6. Go to the bottom and tap Sign Out

Once you have signed out of the Apple ID, make sure to sign in with your new one. Whoever originally owned the Apple ID doesn't need to do this. To sign back in, do the following:

6. Tap Use your Apple ID for iMessage
7. Log in with your Apple ID and Password
8. Tap Sign In

Disable an email that you can be reached at in iMessage

If there are any contacts associated with iMessages that you don't want to appear in your Messages app, you can disable it.

1. Open the Settings app
2. Select Messages
3. Select Send & Receive
4. Tap the email address that you would like to disable from your device. The check mark next to it will disappear

Other devices will still be able to receive iMessages at that email address. Make sure everyone in the family that was previously using the same Apple ID does the same.

One more thing...Make your messages your own

As great as it is to have everyone using Apple devices under one roof, problems may arise if you are all sharing the same Apple ID. That's why it's important for everyone to have their own individual Apple ID, so things like this don't happen. Plus, everyone likes some privacy, right?

Thankfully, the fix is pretty easy, and you can update your iMessage info at any time. Doing so shouldn't affect Family Sharing either, so you and your family can still share things like calendars, app and game downloads, subscriptions, and others if you want to. But for things like Messages, ensuring you're using your own Apple ID means everyone has their own privacy.

Many expert Apple users don't know you can track flights directly from Messages on iPhone, iPad, and Mac. Being one of the handiest features for regular flight takers, it's a great way of staying up-to-date without having to ask around at the airport and can help keep you on time as you leave the house. 

introduced alongside iOS 17, it's a bit of a secret hack that is incredibly easy to set up.

If you are a regular user of the Messages app, it can add greatly to the experience of flying, by giving you live tracking notifications on tons of flights, with details about landing and take-off times. Most importantly, if there's a delay, it can warn you to stop you from showing up hours earlier than you need. This hack works directly with the best iPhones out there, as well as iPads and Macs.

If you want to stay up-to-date with your next flight, here's how to track flights with Messages on iPhone, iPad, and Mac.

What you'll need

To track flights on Messages you'll need an iPhone, iPad, or Mac. Here are the best models currently available:

Track flights on iPhone or iPad

1. Open the Messages app. Find the conversation where a user has sent you flight information (you can send it to someone else if you haven't been sent it here). They'll need to type the Airline Name and Flight Number in succession. In most cases, this also works with the airline abbreviation and number
2. Tap the Airline Name/Abbreviation and Flight Number in Messages
3. Choose Preview Flight

That's it. You can now see all of the key details about the flight. 

Track flights on Mac

1. Open the Messages app. Find the conversation where a user has sent you flight information. They'll need to type the Airline Name and Flight Number in succession. In most cases, this also works with the airline abbreviation and number
2. Tap the Airline Name/Abbreviation and Flight Number in Messages to bring up the flight information

We love this hidden Messages trick and often use it when flying abroad for a vacation or for work. It's so easy to do and the kind of thing that once you learn about you'll wonder how you got by without it.

With WWDC 2024 and new software like iOS 18 and iPadOS 18 on the horizon, we can't wait to see what else Apple has up its sleeve and the new tricks we'll be able to do come September when the iPhone 16 is released.

If you're a WhatsApp user who happens to own an iPhone you might notice that your instant messaging platform of choice looks a little different soon. The Meta-owned outfit is rolling out a slew of changes to the way the app looks and works, and you might already have some of them on your device right now.

Meta says that it's been working to make using WhatsApp a better experience all around, noting that its team has "created three principles" that it used to guide the revamp. Those include making WhatsApp feel "fresh" while making it more approachable for people. Finally, the team wanted the new design to "enhance simplicity" while remaining scalable and future-proof.

The result is a number of changes including a new way to add attachments to chats as well as a new color palette that still revolves around the familiar green, albeit "a palette that allows for harmonious color pairings throughout the app."

Whats up, WhatsApp?

Meta made the announcement in a lengthy blog post that detailed changes coming to both the iPhone and Android versions of WhatsApp, beginning with that new palette. The company says that it's also tried to increase its use of neutral colors, giving it the option to be more selective about when it chooses to add the green we're all so used to seeing.

Perhaps the biggest change that users will notice is a new attachment tray that's exclusive to the iPhone app. Previously, choosing to add an attachment would see the screen taken over with a collection of potential sources. Now, a small tray appears where the keyboard would normally be, offering options to attach photos, location data, documents, and more.

Other changes of note include a refreshed default chat background and some new animated illustrations. WhatsApp users will also notice that some icons have been updated to a new rounded and outlined style to match the rest of the WhatsApp experience.

The new changes are rolling out to WhatsApp users now, so make sure you have the latest version of the app installed from the App Store. The changes are made server-side, so don't panic if you don't see them just yet.

Don't yet have WhatsApp installed? You can grab it from the App Store for free.

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While Apple continues to refuse to bring iMessage to Android, third-party messaging apps remain the best option for many. Rich media messaging between iPhones and Android phones will get better when RCS support comes to iOS 18 later this year, but until then, it's all about apps like WhatsApp. And while it's far from the only option available for download via the App Store, the Meta-owned app is the one that springs to mind first for many — especially outside the United States. And it's rolling out a new feature to make it easier than ever to use.

The new feature is designed to make it easier and quicker to find the right chat thread while reducing the taps and scrolls required to do exactly that. It does that by offering a filter, and it's rolling out to users right now.

WhatsApp says that the new filter feature will be available to everyone within the coming weeks which means it might take a little while for it to reach your iPhone. But once it does arrive you can look forward to filters for three groups of messages although there is no option to create your own filter right now. WhatsApp hasn't said if that's something that will come in a future update, but it does seem like the next logical step.

Filtered chats

WhatsApp announced the new message thread filter via a blog post, saying that "as people increasingly do more on WhatsApp, it’s more important than ever before to be able to get to your messages fast." It goes on to say that is the reason behind the new Chat Filters feature, meaning users will be able to find the chat they want "without having to scroll through your full inbox."

Using the new filters is as easy as could be — just tap one of the three options that appear at the top of the chat list. Those three options are pretty self-explanatory, with the All filter being the default. That'll show every thread you have active, while Unread and Groups are the other two options, as WhatsApp explains:

• Unread: Perfect for when you want to see which conversations you need to catch up on or respond to. It shows messages that are either marked by you as unread or haven’t been opened yet, so you can prioritize your responses.
• Groups: A highly requested feature, now all your group chats will be organized in one place, making it easier to find your favorite ones whether it’s your weekly family dinner discussion or planning your next vacation. This will also show subgroups of Communities.

WhatsApp says that it believes "filters will make it easier for people to stay organized and find their most important conversations and help navigate through messages more efficiently." It also notes that it will continue to add more options to help people focus "on what matters most," but it's still unclear what those options will be.

You'll need the latest version of WhatsApp to see the new filters, but remember that it could still take a little while for them to roll out to your account. I don't have them just yet, but WhatsApp warns they could take weeks to arrive for all users.

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You might remember Beeper. It's the company whose Beeper Mini app famously brought iMessage to Android last year before it found itself in something of a technological spat with Apple. Ultimately, Apple was able to stop Beeper Mini from working, and with some concerns about potential privacy and security considerations, things went very quiet indeed.

But now, Beeper is back. It has a new owner, too, with Automattic picking the company up in a deal that was only announced today. Automattic already owns WordPress and Tumblr among other online services, and it sees messaging as another key aspect of its future.

But while Beeper came to the fore for many when it went toe-to-toe with Apple, it's notable that iMessage will not be part of this return. Beeper seems to be of the opinion that it isn't worth battling Apple when in all likelihood, it'll lose. But that's in a technological sense. It'll be hoping that an antitrust complaint against Apple has teeth and can change matters, forcing the iPhone maker to open iMessage up to all. But for now, Beeper has its eyes elsewhere. 

Chatting about chats

In an interview with The Verge, Eric Migicovsky, Beeper’s CEO said that we shouldn't read too much into the fact that iMessage isn't part of this news — it isn't a case of giving up and selling out, it seems.

As for Beeper, the app, and the service that powers it, there are a few changes for those who have been waiting to try it out. For starters, the waitlist is no more and anyone who wants to get in on the act can now download Beeper and have at it. There were almost half a million people on that waitlist when it was opened up to everyone, so we can likely expect that there will be something of an influx of new users almost immediately. Whether or not that number will be affected by the lack of the flagship iMessage feature remains to be seen, as does how well Beeper's servers will handle the launch.

Moving forward, The Verge notes that "Migicovsky will be Automattic’s head of messaging, and the combined Texts and Beeper team will be working on Beeper." Texts is another semi-recent buyout for Automattic, a company that has not been shy with the checkbook of late. Migicovsky admits that there is "a hell of a lot of work ahead of us” in order to make sure that the Beeper platform is up to scratch and that security concerns are dealt with. Improvements have already been made, but there's still a way to go, it seems.

For now, Beeper will allow people to most of their favorite messaging services into one single app. WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, Telegram, Signal, and even Slack are all supported according to the company's website. Apps are available for all of the major platforms including the best iPhones, iPads, and Macs and the whole thing is free to use.

Notably, this news comes hot on the heels of another iMessage-on-Android service relaunching. Sunbird is back, and it reckons it's safe to use after suffering its own privacy and security issues last year. As to whether it actually is, that's another matter entirely.

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Apple might be working to add RCS support to the iPhone later this year, but for those who really, really want to be able to use iMessage on an Android phone, things remain complicated. There have been multiple attempts to try and weasel a way into Apple's iMessage service and employ workarounds to allow it to be used via a third-party Android app over the years with some proving more successful than others. Sunbird is one company that tried and failed. But now it's trying again.

To say that Sunbird failed might not really be accurate, however. The Sunbird Messaging app did indeed work, and people were able to send and receive iMessages using their Android phones. There was even a deal to bake its service into Nothing phones via Nothing Chats, too. And yes, there was a cringeworthy video to support the news. But ultimately, the whole thing was a security and privacy farce and Sunbird's product was put on hiatus while the kinks were worked out.

Whether or not we actually expected that to happen, Sunbird is back. And this time it promises that it means business. "The past few months have been very sobering for the Sunbird team," the company says. So what's changed?

Addressing "green bubble bullying"

Sunbird announced its return via a press release that confirmed the arrival of a new beta app. "The relaunch is the culmination of comprehensive enhancements to Sunbird's backend infrastructure following an exhaustive evaluation," the release begins. And what an evaluation it must have been.

Shortly after Sunbird's Nothing Chats launch it was that messages were not end-to-end encrypted as was first claimed. And then 9to5Google found that more than 630,000 files that had been sent via Nothing Chats, just waiting to be perused. But don't worry, Sunbird has changed.

In a lengthy explanation of the situation on its website, Sunbird has detailed what it's been doing these last few months. It also confirmed the vulnerabilities that needed to be dealt with, including:

• The use of the unencrypted HTTP protocol for an API call.
• The storing of messages in an unencrypted state in a Firebase real-time store.
• The possible accessibility of over 600,000 files, some of which were vCards, within the Firebase static file host.
• The logging of messages by the front-end into a Sentry log.

What follows is an explanation of what has been done to ensure these issues have been dealt with, including the launch of a new architecture, dubbed AV2.

"With the adoption of AV2, we believe that we’ve not only resolved the security vulnerabilities previously identified, but also provided a secure and privacy oriented foundation for Sunbird’s iMessage integration moving forward," Sunbird says. Time will tell whether that claim is founded.

For now, Sunbird says that it started offering its services to people on August 5 and will continue to do so in small phases "as part of the company's strategy to ensure a smooth and scalable user onboarding process." The company can be sure that security researchers will be poring over its work to see if all of their issues have been addressed.

Sunbird will hope they have, if only because of what it seems to see as its calling to address the prevalent issue of "green bubble bullying." It says it'll do that by "enabling Android users to seamlessly participate in iMessage conversations" and helping to "reduce the social stigma associated with messaging platform disparities."

Hopefully, people won't have to choose between having a blue bubble and privacy.

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The effects of the European Union's Digital Markets Act, which goes into force on March 7, are being felt by technology companies as they ready themselves for the changes being forced upon them. Apple has already released iOS 17.4 with support for third-party app stores and more while Meta has now also shared details about how it intends to offer interoperability for its WhatsApp and Messenger instant messaging platforms.

As part of the DMA messaging gatekeepers like Meta must allow competing platforms to hook into their systems should they want to. That could mean that one day, people will be able to send and receive WhatsApp messages from within other apps like Signal or Telegram — and maybe even the iPhone's Messages app — but that will require a ton of work on both sides. And while the DMA requires that companies allow interoperability, it also requires that they do not weaken security in the name of making it possible. That means that there are some unique challenges associated with opening the floodgates to other companies and their messaging platforms.

That's something that Meta is well aware of, and it's shared details ahead of March 7 that detail how it intends to make all of this happen. It also shared a Reference Offer that it says third-party providers can use as an outline for what will be required to interoperate with its services.

Encryption assured

Meta detailed its plans in a lengthy and technical post on its blog, explaining that the DMA requires "that designated messaging services must let third-party messaging services become interoperable, provided the third-party meets a series of eligibility, including technical and security requirements." Meta, and the DMA, also require that end-to-end encryption be maintained even when interoperability has been enabled which is a key point here. "The DMA quite rightly makes it a legal requirement that we should not weaken security provided to Meta’s own users," Meta explains.

The post goes on, saying that "this allows users of third-party providers who choose to enable interoperability (interop) to send and receive messages with opted-in users of either Messenger or WhatsApp – both designated by the European Commission (EC) as being required to independently provide interoperability to third-party messaging services." The post continues, saying that Meta has been working with the European Commission for two years to find a way to implement interoperability that "meets the requirements of the law and maximizes the security, privacy and safety of users."

The first phase of the requirement, in year one, will require " 1:1 text messaging between individual users and the sharing of images, voice messages, videos, and other attached files between individual end users," Meta explains. "In the future, requirements expand to group functionality and calling."

Meta says that third-party providers will sign an agreement with Messenger and/or WhatsApp to enable interoperability and that it's sharing a version of one of those to give companies an idea of what to expect.

"Today we’ll publish the WhatsApp Reference Offer for third-party providers which will outline what will be required to interoperate with the service," Meta explains. "The Reference Offer for Messenger will follow in due course."

As a result of the DMA, Meta must be ready to enable interoperability within three months of receiving a request from another messaging provider, but it warns that it could take longer before the functionality is ready for public consumption. The blog post then details the technical situation and requirements

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As Apple gets ready to ship RCS messaging support on the iPhone in 2024, one of the biggest concerns the company has expressed is the lack of any kind of encryption. Such encryption would keep chats private and secure and iMessage has been encrypted since it launched years ago. Now, the company has announced an upgrade to that encryption that makes your iMessage chats more private than ever before. Fear not, the chances of someone intercepting that super-secret chili recipe are now much, much less.

How much less? Apple seems to be pretty convinced that its new PQ3 cryptographic security upgrade is about as good as it gets, saying that as far as it's aware, "PQ3 has the strongest security properties of any at-scale messaging protocol in the world." That's quite the claim, and it's backed it up with receipts as well.

Following the news that Apple won't be forced to open iMessage up to third-party messaging platforms by the European Commission and the Digital Markets Act, Apple is clearly leaning into encryption as a key component. The company's explanation of how PQ3 works is long and complicated, but the bones of the matter are pretty clear — the chances of anyone breaking iMessage encryption are pretty low. With PQ3, Apple says that iMessage is now more able to defend against "even highly sophisticated quantum attacks."

Post-Quantum Cryptography

Apple announced the new iMessage glow-up in a detailed post to its security blog while detailing just how it works.

The iMessage protocol debuted way back in 2011 with encryption at its heart. Apple then upgraded its cryptographic protocol in 2019 "by switching from RSA to Elliptic Curve cryptography (ECC), and by protecting encryption keys on device with the Secure Enclave." The result was a very secure protocol, but nothing's perfect. And as raw processing power continues to increase, it's possible that current encryption models can be broken.

"However, the rise of quantum computing threatens to change the equation," Apple warns. "A sufficiently powerful quantum computer could solve these classical mathematical problems in fundamentally different ways, and therefore — in theory — do so fast enough to threaten the security of end-to-end encrypted communications."

While there are no quantum computers that can currently pose such a risk today, that could well (and probably will) change.

"To mitigate risks from future quantum computers, the cryptographic community has been working on post-quantum cryptography (PQC): new public key algorithms that provide the building blocks for quantum-secure protocols but don’t require a quantum computer to run — that is, protocols that can run on the classical, non-quantum computers we’re all using today, but that will remain secure from known threats posed by future quantum computers," the blog post explains. That post then goes on to explain the details of how cryptography works and while that's beyond our scope here, the blog post is well worth a read just to get a feel for how advanced iMessage's new security protocol is — remember, PQ3 is the third-level of post-quantum cryptography. There are two, less secure, layers below it.

Ultimately, no iPhone, iPad, Mac, or other Apple device user needs to know how any of this works. All that matters is that it does, and it makes iMessage safer than ever. It's also already being tested and will roll out with the public releases of iOS 17.4, iPadOS 17.4, macOS 14.4, and watchOS 10.4. They're all expected to land within the next couple of weeks, too.

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Following months of investigation, the European Commission has confirmed that it will not designate Apple's iMessage instant messaging platform as a gatekeeper, saving it from regulation that would require it to be opened up to third parties.

The commission had been discussing whether iMessage met the minimum threshold to be called a gatekeeper in the messaging space, with Microsoft's Bing also under investigation for its place in the search market. Microsoft's Edge browser and advertising business was also under investigation.

Following the news that WhatsApp was already working on interoperability that would have allowed iMessages to be sent and received via its app, this move will mean that it will not be a stealthy way for lawmakers to bring iMessage to Android after all.

Investigation closed

The European Commission confirmed that it had closed its investigation via a press release, noting that it had been running since September 5, 2023.

"The decisions conclude the Commission’s investigations opened following the notification by Apple and Microsoft in July 2023 of the core platform services that met the quantitative thresholds," the release explains. "Among these notified services were also the four services concerned by today’s decisions. Together with the notifications, Apple and Microsoft also submitted so-called ‘rebuttal’ arguments, explaining why despite meeting the quantitative thresholds, these four core platform services should not, in their view, qualify as gateways."

The commission wasn't convinced about Apple's claims that iMessage didn't meet the criteria to be named a gatekeeper and has been investigating since September. 

However, it should be noted that Apple isn't necessarily in the clear for good — the commission "will continue to monitor the developments on the market with respect to these services, should any substantial changes arise."

In this instance it was deemed that the low-level business use of iMessage means that it falls outside of the scope of the DMA's powers, but whether that remains the case moving forward only time will tell.

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Apple's cat-and-mouse battle to prevent apps like Beeper Mini from bringing iMessage to Android has captured the attention of the tech industry of late, and it isn't a new conversation. Apps have been trying to find a way to bring the Apple-owned instant messaging platform to non-Apple devices for years, with varying degrees of success and privacy. Beeper Mini seemed to be one of the most successful, but it too found itself blocked recently. And that's caught the attention of people that Apple would probably rather not get involved with.

Apple's reasoning for not wanting to allow apps like Beeper Mini to piggyback off its servers and hook into a service it controls is that it opens the door to spam and other privacy or security-related issues. It's a problem that has long been something SMS and other instant messaging platforms have struggled with, and iMessage is no different. But Apple doesn't want to make the spammers' lives easy, and preventing third parties from directly connecting to its servers without its approval is part of that. But that isn't how everyone sees it.

Beeper, the parent company behind Beeper Mini, predictably says that Apple's real motivation here is to stifle competition and that the whole thing is anti-competitive. Others would tend to agree, and that's a problem that Apple has largely ignored to this point. The issue it's about to face is that it's difficult to ignore the problem when it involves two acronyms; DOJ, and FTC.

Pending investigation

Ignoring the Department of Justice isn't really an option for Apple, and a report in The New York Times claims that the DOJ is already looking into the Beeper Mini situation and whether Apple is doing something it shouldn't be — blocking access to iMessage for reasons other than privacy and security.

"The Justice Department has taken interest in the case," the report explains. "Beeper Mini met with the department’s antitrust lawyers on Dec. 12, two people familiar with the meeting said. Eric Migicovsky, a co-founder of the app’s parent company, Beeper, declined to comment on the meeting, but the department is in the middle of a four-year-old investigation into Apple’s anticompetitive behavior."

This follows calls from officials for an investigation into “whether this potentially anticompetitive conduct by Apple violated the antitrust laws.”

The DOJ isn't the only shark circling, either. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) also seems to have one eye on Apple's messaging platform, although it hasn't explicitly said so.

In a blog post shared this week, the FTC made it clear that companies pointing to privacy and security in the name of blocking access to services isn't going to fly. It doesn't take too much of a guess to assume Apple is the company being targeted.

"In the face of concerns about anticompetitive conduct, companies may claim privacy and security reasons as justifications for refusing to have their products and services interoperate with other companies’ products and services," the FTC says. "As an agency that enforces both competition and consumer protection laws, the Commission is uniquely situated to evaluate claims of privacy and data security that implicate competition."

The game is afoot

There now seems little to suggest that Apple won't now come under increasing scrutiny surrounding iMessage and its claims of privacy and security.

But this all ignores the question of whether Apple should be forced to allow a third party access to its own servers and services to take those services to a competing platform. That's a question that will be on many lips right now.

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Beeper, a company that provides a service and app that makes iMessage available on Android, has been in something of a cat-and-mouse battle with Apple in recent weeks. Beeper Mini launched with bold claims of being able to bring iMessage to Android users via their phone number, something that wasn't previously possible via competing products. Apple subsequently blocked it, and it's all been downhill ever since.

Beeper recently came roaring back with Beeper Mini's second coming, but there was a catch — the phone number feature was gone, leaving people only able to send and receive iMessages using their email address. And that wasn't even the worst part — they'd need access to a Mac in order to make the whole thing work. Now, Beeper Mini is back again with another update, saying that phone numbers are working once more. But for how long, nobody can say, but that isn't even the worst bit with Beeper admitting that you'll need a jailbroken iPhone to make it work.

Worse, Beeper says that while it thinks Apple will be happy with its current implementation of Beeper Mini (spoiler: it won't) it admits that it has no plans to offer a new workaround in the future, should one be needed.

'Yes, we realize this solution is not ideal'

Beeper today published two blog posts, the first of which explains that "iMessage and phone registration are now back," something that should allow Android phone owners to receive iMessages sent to their phone number, not just their email address. But it's fair to say that the steps required to make it work are less than ideal.

The less charitable amongst us might say they're downright ridiculous.

"Have an old iPhone (6/6s/SE1/7/8/X) and a Mac or Linux computer (Raspberry Pi works) - you’re in luck," the blog post explains. "Follow our instructions (takes only 10-15 minutes) to jailbreak your iPhone, install a Beeper tool to generate iMessage registration code, then update to the latest Beeper Mini app and enter your code." Yes, you read that right. You need to first have an old iPhone hanging around and then be willing to jailbreak it, just to get iMessage to work on your Android phone. "Phone number registration will now work! Leave the iPhone plugged into power, at home, connected to wifi," the post continues.

Don't have an iPhone handy? Beeper will rent you one starting next year, apparently.

Suddenly, the slick experience that Beeper Mini offered when this all started is long gone, replaced with hacked iPhones and rental subscriptions.

What's more, there's no guarantee any of this will last.

'Unreliable due to interference by Apple

A second blog post sought to explain what's going on behind the scenes at Beeper and then shift the blame for its failing service to Apple.

"Each time that Beeper Mini goes ‘down’ or is made to be unreliable due to interference by Apple, Beeper’s credibility takes a hit," Beeper's statement reads. "It’s unsustainable. As much as we want to fight for what we believe is a fantastic product that really should exist, the truth is that we can’t win a cat-and-mouse game with the largest company on earth." That seems fair, and it's probably something that should have been thought long and hard about long before we got here, too.

The post continues, saying that with its latest software "we believe we’ve created something that Apple can tolerate existing," although that seems unlikely. "We do not have any current plans to respond if this solution is knocked offline."

That final part is the key one because it seems Beeper Mini is probably not long for this world. Apple will no doubt block it once again, and it seems Beeper has had enough. That despite a long blog post in which it claims it should be allowed to continue piggybacking off iMessage servers.

The second blog post was signed by Eric Migicovsky, Beeper's CEO, who spends a lot of words saying that it isn't fair Apple won't let it use iMessage. Now, it seems Beeper's ready to take its ball and go home, too.

Except it's not Beeper's ball, it's Apple's, and it went home ages ago.

More from iMore

• How to use iMessage on Android securely
• Beeper Mini, the iMessage on Android app that Apple shut down, is back
• Failure to communicate: Apple cuts off Beeper Mini messaging app

The idea of bringing iMessage to Android remains something that Apple has little interest in doing, but it seems to be alone in that regard. Beeper is just one of a number of different companies offering apps that allow Android owners to talk to friends and family via iMessage with varying degrees of privacy. But it was Beeper Mini that caught captured attention because it was the best option to date — no signing into an Apple ID on a remote Mac server here. But Apple soon blocked Beeper Mini, and the team behind it has been working on getting it back up and running ever since. Now, they might have done it. With some caveats.

Yes, Beeper Mini is back, at least for now. But gone is the slick way in which people signed up for the service, and a key feature is no longer available which might push some users away. But the biggest problem that Android owners are going to have to deal with is the requirement for an extra bit of hardware to make Beeper Mini work. And that hardware just happens to be a Mac.

That's right, the team at Beeper says that you can once again use Beeper Mini on your Android phone so long as you have a Mac that can be used to get things up and running. The good news? That Mac doesn't need to be online for iMessage to work, at least.

The workaround

Beeper shared its workaround details in a post on Reddit, saying that it works well and has been reliable in internal testing. "The only downside is that the solution requires you to have access to a Mac computer, or have a friend on Beeper with a Mac," the post says.

The workaround itself is an interesting one and requires a look at how Beeper Mini worked in the first place. Thankfully, Beeper shared some details.

"When you connect iMessage on Beeper, we need to send identification information called ‘registration data’ from a real Mac," the outfit explains. "We have, up until now, we been using our own fleet of Mac servers to provide this. Unfortunately, this has proven to be an easy target for Apple because thousands of Beeper users were using the same registration data."

It appears that all Apple had to do was block those Mac servers from accessing iMessage and everything came to a grinding halt. Not ideal for Beeper or its users, of course, but a relatively easy fix for Apple.

To get around the problem, Beeper says that people can effectively run their own Mac server and use it to send the same registration data. "Tomorrow, we'll publish an update for Beeper Cloud (Mac version) that generates unique registration data just for you," it says. That post was from yesterday, so we should see something soon. Thankfully, you're unlikely to need to have the best Mac on the market to make this work.

The catch

As if needing a Mac to make this work wasn't enough of a catch for Android users to reconsider their choice of messaging platforms, there's something else to consider. This workaround only works to restore chatting on iMessage via an Apple ID email account. That means that there is no support for phone numbers, and that's a problem.

"To me, Beeper is DOA until phone numbers work again," one Reddit commenter pointed out. "That was the most meaningful differentiator between this and the other iMessage dupes. Asking my friends and family to remember to use my email address is a losing battle."

And that right there is the crux of the problem. Android users don't want to have to use third-party apps like WhatsApp because getting their iPhone-owning friends to also use them is a problem. Getting them to send messages to an email address is just another problem for them to deal with.

At this point, it's difficult to see where Beeper goes from here, especially if it is to get that "meaningful differentiator" back.

More from iMore

• Apple's treatment of iMessage for Android app Beeper Mini triggers investigation
• Beeper Mini, the iMessage on Android app that Apple shut down, is back
• Failure to communicate: Apple cuts off Beeper Mini messaging app

The ongoing saga between Apple and iMessage for Android app Beeper Mini has led to a bipartisan letter calling on the Assistant Attorney General to investigate “whether this potentially anticompetitive conduct by Apple violated the antitrust laws.”

The letter, co-signed by Senators Amy Klobuchar and Mike Lee and Representatives Jerrold Nadler and Ken Buck, was sent Sunday to US Assistant Attorney General Jonathan Kanter. According to their letter, Apple has previously admitted it leverages iMessages “to lock users into Apple’s ecosystem of devices and services”, and Beeper Mini “threatened to reduce this leverage creating a more competitive mobile applications market.”

As the letter notes and as we’ve reported previously, Beeper Mini came out on Android a couple of weeks ago and used reverse engineering to bring iMessage to Android, using fake credentials in order to gain access to iMessage. In a statement, Apple confirmed it “took steps to protect our users by blocking techniques that exploit fake credentials in order to gain access to iMessage,” stating the techniques used “posed significant risks to user security and privacy, including the potential for metadata exposure and enabling unwanted messages, spam, and phishing attacks.” 

Beeper Mini hit back, stating they had made messaging between iPhones and Android devices more secure, and offered to share the entire Beeper Mini codebase with a mutually agreed upon 3rd party security firm or to add a dedicated emoji to the metadata on messages sent from the app so iMessage users could tell the difference. 

The politicians wade in — iMore’s take 

Now, several U.S. politicians have waded into the debate, but if their insight is anything like Elizabeth Warren’s comments on the situation, they probably don’t know what’s going on. As we’ve previously noted, “Apple isn't squashing a competitor by preventing Beeper from breaking into iMessage and forcing it to work on a different platform. It's stopping Beeper from accessing a service that it doesn't own, nor has permission to access, in order to then resell it for profit.”

The idea that iMessage is the catch-all feature pinning down otherwise-Android users to iPhone is very strange, and there is a plethora of alternative messaging apps that all use end-to-end encryption and cross-platform messaging to get around this. This issue only ever seems to get oxygen in the U.S., where the proliferation of iPhones is higher than elsewhere in the world and where apps like WhatsApp are less popular. 

The idea of iMessage “lock-in” also ignores the fundamental flaw in this chicken-and-egg argument. iMessage is popular because iPhones are popular, not the other way around. Nobody buys an iPhone or an iPad because it has iMessage on it. They use iMessage because they’ve bought an iPhone. 

At least now the problem has been put before the politicians, we’ll hopefully get another round of hilariously ill-informed questions from a congressional hearing.  

More from iMore

• How to use iMessage on Android securely
• Beeper Mini, the iMessage on Android app that Apple shut down, is back
• Failure to communicate: Apple cuts off Beeper Mini messaging app

In another twist to the story, Beeper Mini, the end-to-end encrypted Android app that allows you to send iMessages from an Android smartphone without needing an iPhone, is back on the Google Play Store.

Last Tuesday, Beeper Mini launched on Google Play with what the company is calling “the fastest growing paid Android application launch in history. In the first 48 hours, it was downloaded by more than 100,000 people.”

On Friday, Apple responded by blocking the techniques used by Bleeper Mini to access iMessage in what seemed like the end of the blue bubble app on Android.

Now, just a few days later, Beeper Mini has returned with a new update that makes the service work on Apple’s official iMessage servers with no middleman in sight. Unfortunately, in its current state, users must have access to an Apple ID to use Beeper Mini on Android, which, while it’s not a deal breaker, does add a point of friction that didn’t exist before Apple’s security changes. Previously, you could sign up and use Beeper Mini without access to an Apple ID, just your phone number.

Beeper has also decided to make the previously paid service completely free to use. This is only temporary, but Beeper says, “Things have been a bit chaotic, and we’re not comfortable subjecting paying users to this. As soon as things stabilize (we hope they will), we’ll look at turning on subscriptions again.”

• How to use iMessage on Android with Beeper Mini

What next for Beeper Mini?

Beeper’s official blog post from cofounders Eric Migicovsky and Brad Murray details the update that now makes Beeper Mini work again on Android.

The blog post includes Apple’s statement to The Verge on Saturday, “At Apple, we build our products and services with industry-leading privacy and security technologies designed to give users control of their data and keep personal information safe. We took steps to protect our users by blocking techniques that exploit fake credentials in order to gain access to iMessage. These techniques posed significant risks to user security and privacy, including the potential for metadata exposure and enabling unwanted messages, spam, and phishing attacks. We will continue to make updates in the future to protect our users.”

Beeper’s response? “The statement is complete FUD. Beeper Mini made communication between Android and iPhone users more secure. That is a fact.

Make no mistake, the changes Apple made on Friday were designed to protect the lock-in effect of iMessage. The end result is that iPhone customers have less security and privacy than before.”

The whole statement is worth reading on Beeper’s website, but this response from the company, opting to fight fire with fire rather than succumb to Apple’s pressure, is incredibly strong.

Beeper ends the statement with a call to action for Apple with two offers. The first is an offer to “share the entire Beeper Mini codebase with a mutually agreed upon 3rd party security research firm.” and the second is to add a dedicated emoji to the metadata on all messages sent through Beeper Mini so iMessage users can see where the original message is sent from.

Time will tell what the future holds for Beeper Mini, but it doesn’t look like the company is slowing down any time soon. iMore has reached out to Apple for comment on the resurrection of Beeper Mini. 

More from iMore

• Failure to communicate: Apple cuts off Beeper Mini messaging app ...
• How to use iMessage on Android securely — blue bubbles ...
• You can finally use iMessage on Android with this smart app but it'll ...

You'd need to have been hiding under a rock to have missed the big news in the world of iPhones over the last week or so, but we'll run through a super-quick recap for those who might have missed it — someone tried to bring iMessage to Android and Apple blocked it. Then a senator decided to wade in and say the wrong thing

Oh, OK, we'll give you the slightly longer version.

A week or so ago Beeper started to offer a $2 per month subscription service that brought iMessage to Android devices. Dubbed Beeper Mini, the app didn't do quite as much hackery as previous iMessage-on-Android implementations, so there were no shady Mac mini servers running in data centers forwarding messages around. Instead, Beeper had found a way to reverse engineer the iMessage protocol and then hook into it as if it were a real iPhone. Or a Mac, iPad, or Apple Watch, for that matter. That meant that messages were supposedly safe and sound, something that similar alternatives from Nothing and Sunbird couldn't boast.

Except, things probably aren't quite as secure as we've been told and Apple definitely isn't going to take any risks. So it's already blocked Beeper Mini entirely, although Beeper claims that it's already working on a fix. And when it does, we can expect Apple to block that, too. That's despite Senator Elizabeth Warren getting involved, throwing a post up on the X social media platform that completely misses the point and seems to have come straight from a co-founder of Beeper himself. If you're going to be wrong, at least be uniquely wrong.

Bringing down the ban hammer

When Beeper Mini stopped working it was assumed that Apple had pulled the plug, something that it later confirmed. "At Apple, we build our products and services with industry-leading privacy and security technologies designed to give users control of their data and keep personal information safe," the company said in a statement provided to CNET, among others. "We took steps to protect our users by blocking techniques that exploit fake credentials in order to gain access to iMessage."

That final sentence is the crux of the matter, and it's clearly how Beeper Mini was working. The service pretended to be a real Apple device by providing the iMessage service with fake credentials, allowing it to then send and receive iMessages as if it were a real iPhone. But all of that is obviously against Apple's rules and, as Apple suggests, opens the door to a variety of security issues.

Beeper, for its part, claims that the way it was hooking directly into iMessage ensures that the messaging pipeline remains end-to-end encrypted. And that might well be the case. But because those messages are then being decrypted in a third-party app outside of Apple's ecosystem, the chain of custody is immediately broken. It's like saying that your home is secure because it has 5 locks and 3 padlocks. None of that matters the minute you invite someone through the door — and by allowing iMessages onto Android devices, that's essentially what Beeper Mini is doing.

So Apple blocked it. Seems fair enough, right?

'Protecting profits by squashing competitors'

Just when I thought we were done with this story until Beeper had another go at faking credentials, Senator Warren popped up with a carbon copy of a previous argument made by Beeper co-founder Eric Migicovsky. He'd previously argued that “if Apple truly cares about the privacy and security of their own iPhone users, why would they stop a service that enables their own users to now send encrypted messages to Android users, rather than using unsecure SMS?”

Migicovsky said that on Friday. Then, on Monday, we get this:

Seems .... familiar.

Ignoring the borrowed talking point for a moment, let's move on to the claim that Apple is "protecting profits by squashing competitors." Because that, frankly, is laughable.

Now let me preface this by saying that I think it would be great if Apple brought iMessage to Android. It'd make many of our lives easier. But should Apple be forced to do it? Of course not.

Apple isn't squashing a competitor by preventing Beeper from breaking into iMessage and forcing it to work on a different platform. It's stopping Beeper from accessing a service that it doesn't own, nor has permission to access, in order to then resell it for profit. That's a very different thing, and I'd like to think that a senator would be able to figure that much out for themselves. And maybe they can when they aren't just regurgitating a soundbite from the guy whose company just got found out.

This whole thing also ignores the myriad other secure messaging services that are available on iOS. WhatsApp, Telegram, and Signal are just three of them. Even Facebook Messenger supports end-to-end encryption these days.

If people who own an Android phone want to send and receive messages with their iPhone-owning friends in a secure manner, they can use those options instead. That has to be a better option than paying another company to make iMessage less secure, surely.

And if you really, really want that blue bubble, I'm sure Apple will sell you an iPhone. It has some cool features. And iMessage is just one of them. But a feature of the iPhone is all that iMessage is. And there's no reason Apple should be forced to share it.

Senator Warren will want Apple to let people install iOS on their Samsung phones next.

Just buy an iPhone

Apple CEO Tim Cook caused a stir last year when he suggested that people who want to see a blue bubble when texting Android owners should just "buy your mom an iPhone." And he's right.

Apple is making Messages work better with Android phones by adding RCS in 2024, allowing for rich media and more while finally putting a nail in SMS's coffin. But even RCS, the feature Google and Android owners have been begging Apple to implement for years, isn't encrypted.

So yeah, RCS will make it easier to send cute cat photos to your Android-toting family. But those bubbles will still be green. And that's exactly the way it should be.

More from iMore

• Messages app for iPhone and iPad: The ultimate guide
• How to set up and activate iMessage for iPhone and iPad
• iMessage vs. RCS: Which is better?

Hell has frozen over — iMessage is now available on Android, thanks to some incredible reverse engineering from the team at Beeper.

This isn’t a false alarm, you can send iMessages to your friends with iPhones from your Android device without even having an Apple ID, and the best bit? It’s using Apple’s servers with no middleman involved — thanks for nothing, Nothing.

We’ll get into the nitty gritty of how Beeper Mini allows you to use iMessage on Android later in this article, but for now (I can’t believe I’m writing this), here’s how to use iMessage on Android.

How to use iMessage on Android with Beeper Mini

• How to use AirDrop on Android

1. Open the Google Play Store and download Beeper Mini
2. Open Beeper Mini and tap Continue with Google
3. Follow the steps to allow notifications
4. Start a 7-day free trial (Beeper Mini is $1.99/month)
5. Type a message to one of your friends on an iPhone and watch your bubbles go blue

The Beeper Mini setup is incredibly easy, and you don’t need to worry about creating an Apple ID, which is honestly mind-blowing. You’ll be able to use the Beeper Mini app to do everything native to iMessage on iPhone, including reacting to messages, sending high-quality images, taking part in group chats, and even editing blue bubbles.

If you already have an Apple ID, you can log in directly into Apple’s servers and use your iMessage across multiple devices as if your Android smartphone were part of your Apple ecosystem. Here’s how:

1. Tap Already using iMessage on another device?
2. Sign in to your Apple ID

That’s all there is to it; your iMessages will now be available on all your Apple devices as well as your Android device. All stored locally and sent directly to Apple’s servers.

But is Beeper Mini secure?

Any Android user out there should seriously contemplate the $1.99/month subscription fee as Beeper Mini unlocks a world of communication that has been unobtainable outside of Apple’s ecosystem up until now. Yes, companies like Nothing and Sunbird attempted to bring iMessage to Android, but by using third-party servers and requiring an Apple ID, the feature was a security nightmare. Beeper Mini, on the other hand, is as secure as using iMessage on an iPhone.

An incredible feat of software engineering means Beeper Mini registers a phone number with iMessage and is able to connect to Apple’s servers directly. No third parties are accessing your information, and Beeper cannot read or access your messages as everything is stored locally on your device. If you’d like to know more about how Beeper Mini works, I highly recommend checking out Quinn Nelson’s YouTube video, which explains the whole process — it’s genuinely impressive.

One more thing… Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy?

When I first heard about Beeper Mini, I expected the app to be a security minefield, just like Nothing’s attempt to add iMessage to the Nothing Phone a few weeks ago. Instead, the software engineering at play here has seriously impressed me. After reading comments from Beeper’s CEO Eric Migicovsky while speaking to The Verge, I believe this application could be the game changer we’ve all been waiting for.

Earlier this year, I used Android for a whole weekend while on a trip to London, and the main factor that made me unable to use the Google Pixel 7 Pro for any extensive amount of time was the lack of iMessage support when trying to speak to my friends and family. Now after using Beeper Mini, the jump to Android feels far easier than ever before — but how long will it last?

Nothing, a company founded by Carl Pei, the man who co-founded OnePlus before it, today announced that it "made iMessage for Android," releasing a video with a faux interview with a journalist to back it up. Except, it didn't. But don't worry, we'll get to why that is soon enough.

First, let's look into the announcement itself because it sounds pretty great if you're an iPhone owner looking to ditch Apple and go all-in on Android. Or more specifically, Nothing because that's where the app is. It isn't available to everyone who owns an Android phone — you'll need a Nothing Phone (2). But again, we'll get to that.

First, let's look at how the Nothing implementation brings iMessage to the Nothing Phone (2) or, more specifically, most of iMessage. Because some of its best features aren't supported yet, if ever. But we'll get to that.

First, let's dive into how all of this happens in a secure way which means your data is always safe no matter what. In fact, we can't do that either.

Oh boy.

The announcement

OK, snark aside — but only for a minute — let's really take a look at what's going on here. Because on the face of it, it's impressive. Carl Pei and team announced Nothing Chats, a new messaging platform/app that will let you sign in with your Apple ID and then effectively send and receive iMessages as if you were using an iPhone.

Things like group chats work, to some extent, and you can send and receive full-quality media. You'll even get the typing indicator that some love so much, too. Although Mr Pei doesn't — he explains that in the strange announcement video below. But group chats with Android users don't work, and reactions don't, either. Maybe in the future, though.

Nothing calls its Nothing Chats app "a game-changing solution," adding that "if messaging services are dividing phone users, then we want to break those barriers down." Burn, Apple.

That's obviously aimed at the way some people seem to obsess over so-called blue and green bubbles. Blue bubbles are those who have iPhones and use iMessage. Green bubbles are those who have Android phones and have to resort to SMS like cave people. Apple could fix that by implementing RCS, but that's another discussion for another time. 

With Apple understandably not keen to open iMessage up to Android users — although the EU might not give it a choice on the matter — it's left to Nothing to fix things. So long as you buy its latest phone, that is.

But, how?

So, if Apple doesn't want iMessage on Android, how has Nothing managed it? Well, it hasn't. Because it's farmed that out to a company called Sunbird which already has a waitlist for its service that you can conveniently bypass by buying, you guessed it, a Nothing Phone (2).

"Nothing Chats is an app developed in partnership with Sunbird, which allows you to message other users via blue bubble," Nothing's website reads. "We are currently in a Beta phase, which means more features and improvements are coming down the line. Stay in the loop by signing up for updates." The whole thing goes live on Friday in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, and the EU.

So how does Sunbird work?

Well, its FAQ section says that "the Sunbird app is fully encrypted while SMS text messages are not." It goes on to add that "your messages from the Sunbird app will appear as blue bubbles to iPhone and Mac users." Cool.

Sunbird's Privacy and Security Standards page has a bit more information, at least. We're told that it doesn't collect any message data, nor does it siphon out your content, contacts, or "etc". "We only collect Sunbird App account information from you to authenticate your account. This means that the company does not store any user data on its servers, nor does it collect any metadata about messages," it adds.

But I couldn't find any indication of how it connects to Apple's iMessage service, nor how it does that using your Apple ID credentials. Worryingly, Marques Brownlee says that the whole thing is"... literally signing in on some Mac Mini in a server farm somewhere, and that Mac mini will then do all of the routing for you to make this happen.” That sounds ... bad?

Nothing's head of PR has told The Verge that those Mac minis are housed in the US and Europe and that they store iCloud credentials as a token “in an encrypted database.” Account information is deleted after two weeks of inactivity, too.

But call me old-fashioned — I've been called worse — I just don't like the idea of any of this. I guess a lot of the issue here is how much you trust Nothing and/or Sunbird. I've nothing against either, particularly. But I've barely heard of the latter and frankly, I don't know that I trust any of these companies to do the right thing or be as clued up on data center security as they should be. What happens if someone gains access to one of those Mac mini servers? How readily can they gain access to my iCloud account as a whole?

Maybe these are all questions we'll get answers to in the future. Maybe we won't. But for now, I wouldn't go anywhere near this with a ten-foot pole.

It might not matter anyway

One of the more interesting things about this announcement is that Pei seems to be aware that Apple might not let this fly. Whether or not this whole thing breaks Apple's terms of service or not, I don't know. But I find it odd that the announcement came today (Tuesday) but Nothing Chats won't go live until Friday.

Is Nothing waiting for Apple to throw a legal spanner in the works so it can point a finger and shout "bad guy Apple"? Nothing wouldn't be the first to do it after all.

As a European, it always strikes me as strange that we're even having this conversation. The App Store is filled to the gills with apps that offer cross-platform messaging features. If the bubble problem really is a problem, just use WhatsApp.

It's free, and you don't have to buy a Nothing Phone (2) to use it.

Google and a handful of European carriers have written to the European Commission (EC) to urge it to designate iMessage as a 'Gatekeeper,' a move that would force it to open the messaging service up to competing platforms.

The EC is already investigating whether iMessage should be added to a growing list of platforms and services that are designated as so-called 'Gatekeepers,' But Apple argues that it doesn't meet the 45 million monthly-user threshold required for that to be a consideration.

But that so far hasn't stopped the EC from taking a good, long look at iMessage to figure out whether Apple should be required to make it interoperable with other similar platforms like WhatsApp or Facebook Messenger — both two platforms that are already on the EC's list of gatekeepers.

Interoperability is the word of the day

This is all in the name of the Digital Markets Act, or DMA, with the Financial Times reporting that Google joined executives from a number of European carriers including Vodafone and Deutsche Telekom in arguing that iMessage should be added to its list.

The DMCA is designed to ensure that no one company or platform can hold a specific user base hostage. In this example, it would be argued that iMessage locks users into iPhones, iPads, and Macs while making the experience worse for those who don't use those devices but need to communicate with people who do.

Right now, any cross-platform communications are done via SMS, the same service that has been around for decades. Google's Android supports the RCS standard, an upgrade on SMS that adds iMessage-like features including reactions and read receipts, but Apple has so far refused to support it. Google has long called on Apple to add RCS support to open a line of communication for Android users.

While there are third-party cross-platform services like the aforementioned WhatsApp and Messenger, they all require their own apps. If Apple was forced to open iMessage up we could expect its messages to appear in the WhatsApp and Messenger apps and vice versa, for example.

If Apple is forced to open iMessage up to other platforms and services, the change may only apply to users in the European Union. However, as Apple has shown with the switch to USB-C, it's possible it may simply go all-in and spin the change as a feature rather than something it's been forced to do in order to keep iMessage available across (almost) an entire continent. 

Readdle, a company that’s responsible for a bunch of productivity apps, has brought out an update to its mail app, Spark Mail, that uses AI to summarise long emails into a few lines.

Called ‘+AI Summary’, it’s available in a new update to Spark Mail, available to premium users at $59.99 per year with a seven-day free trial on Mac and iOS. An ‘ai’ button will now be visible to generate a ‘Summary’ of whatever email you choose.

For example, this could be useful for reading those long threads of emails where you don’t know where to start. Or you could be signed up to a bunch of Newsletters, and you want a quick summary of the topics without manually filtering through the bloat.

This isn’t the first time that Readdle has used AI for its apps. Back in May 2023, it introduced Spark +AI to help generate short emails with a few prompts, alongside being able to use AI to organize your inbox. But all of these AI features feel genuinely useful, and that’s an important factor in this recent trend of AI-powered apps and services.

An AI that sounds useful, for once — iMore’s take

I’m a big fan of Readdle’s apps - I mentioned PDF Expert as one of the few apps we wished I had back at school. It’s one of the few companies that seems to understand that AI can be a tool, not a replacement for humans.

Using AI for email is a new trend that a couple of other email clients are also introducing. Canary Mail has a ‘copilot’ feature that lets you compose emails, alongside being able to shuffle through your unread mail to prioritize what needs looking at.

Google is also looking into this category, with features allowing AI to compose an email as well as being able to re-arrange your tabs in your inbox.

But for me, it’s Spark Mail that’s clearly using AI as a silent and useful tool, rather than an assistant that writes up emails for you.

I’m curious to see where else AI can fit in Readdle’s other apps, such as Calendar and PDF Expert. But for now, AI in email is an interesting frontier I’m keen to explore in the future.

In a move that will surely add pressure on Apple to do the same, Google says it's folding a new interoperable messaging specification into its Messages app.

The recent publication of the IETF’s Message Layer Security (MLS) specification is another step on the road to major messaging platforms being interoperable, allowing people to send messages between services for the first time. Google says it's applying MLS to the Messages app on Android, but what comes next?

Whether Apple will choose to follow suit is a big question and while Apple hasn't commented publicly, we think we might already know the answer.

Apple's walled garden

Anyone hoping that Apple will add MLS support to the iPhone, iPad, Mac, or Apple Watch might have to wait a long time for that to happen — if it all. Apple sees iMessage as a key part of the reason people use its devices in the first place and opening it up to Android users in this way would likely lessen its pull. That's also likely why iMessage doesn't support RCS, a rich replacement for SMS that supports many of the features of iMessage but is cross-platform.

Google made its own announcement in a blog post , saying that it is "strongly supportive of regulatory efforts that require interoperability for large end-to-end messaging platforms." Google didn't elaborate, but that's likely a comment related to the EU's Digital Markets Act (DMA). The DMA has already taken aim at iMessage and wants to make it so that all large messaging platforms work seamlessly together, no matter who owns them. Google appears to be in agreement according to its comments in this blog post.

Google says that MLS "enables practical interoperability across services and platforms" while also remaining "flexible enough to allow providers to address emerging threats to user privacy and security, such as quantum computing."

Whether that's enough to get Apple on board remains to be seen.

Apple has urged the UK to rethink plans that would force it and other messaging platform holders to bypass their own encryption to scan for child abuse images.

Apple's iMessage, like other messaging services from WhatsApp and Signal, uses end-to-end encryption to ensure that messages and their content remain private. But that means that illegal material can also be shared using those same services, and that's what the U.K.'s Online Safety Bill aims to prevent.

However, encryption prevents platform owners from scanning messages for such content, and for that reason, the bill would require that the encryption be bypassed. Apple, like others, wants to ensure that doesn't happen.

Privacy matters

The BBC reports that Apple has joined 80 other organizations and tech experts who have written to the U.K.'s Technology Minister Chloe Smith to ask for a rethink.

"End-to-end encryption is a critical capability that protects the privacy of journalists, human rights activists, and diplomats," Apple said in a statement. "It also helps everyday citizens defend themselves from surveillance, identity theft, fraud, and data breaches. The Online Safety Bill poses a serious threat to this protection, and could put UK citizens at greater risk."

However, the government told the BBC that it wants companies to only implement encryption if they can also prevent child abuse content from being shared on them. It isn't clear exactly how it expects that to happen, however.

This isn't the first time that Apple has been involved in controversy related to child abuse imagery. Its failed Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM) detection system launch would have seen all photos uploaded to iCloud also cross-referenced with hashed versions of known CSAM material. But Apple received so much backlash over the plans that they were ultimately canceled. People were concerned about the potential privacy implications.

Now, Apple finds itself with a similar issue — how can it protect children while still ensuring that it sticks to the privacy convictions it's so successfully turned into an advertising campaign in recent years? Apple clearly believes that the best iPhone is one that protects a user's privacy. The U.K. would appear to disagree.

The hugely popular instant messaging and calling service WhatsApp has announced a new feature that borrows heavily from the iPhone's own privacy features.

The new feature will allow users to have calls from unknown callers automatically silenced, although they will continue to appear in the list of received calls as well as in the user's notifications.

The new feature is part of a privacy push by WhatsApp that includes the arrival of another new feature, Privacy Checkup, that will give users a new opportunity to fine-tune their privacy settings. A feature to silence unknown callers on your iPhone was added by Apple with iOS 15 and remains an excellent feature. 

Privacy first

WhatsApp announced the new features via a blog post, saying that it will give users more control of their incoming calls.

"Silence Unknown Callers is designed to give you more privacy and control of your incoming calls," WhatsApp says. "It helps to automatically screen out spam, scams, and calls from unknown people for increased protection. These calls will not ring on your phone, but will be visible in your Call list, in case it turns out to be someone important."

The second half of the announcement is a new Privacy Checkup feature, one that will prompt users to take control of their options to better set themselves up to be as private, or as public, as they like.

"This step-by-step feature guides you through important privacy settings to help you choose the right level of protection, all in one place," WhatsApp explains. "Selecting ‘Start checkup’ in your Privacy settings will navigate you through multiple privacy layers that strengthen security of your messages, calls, and personal information."

As Apple clearly believes, the best iPhone is a secure and private one. Few might have expected a Meta-owned company to be helping lead the charge, but it's great to see that WhatsApp is taking people's privacy seriously with these kinds of features.

All of these new features should be live for everyone using WhatsApp on their iPhone.

Sending an iMessage from a Windows PC isn't something you've been able to officially do — until now.

Microsoft announced some time ago that its Phone Link for iOS app could soon support iMessages, with the feature rolling out slowly. Now, the company says that the rollout is complete and that everyone can now use it if they want to.

That means that iPhone owners who also have Windows 11 can now send and receive iMessages using a connected iPhone. But that doesn't mean that it's perfect and there is one huge caveat worth remembering.

Better than nothing

Microsoft announced its news via an update to an existing Phone Link announcement blog post. The news is short and sweet, with Microsoft saying that it is "pleased to announce that Phone Link for iOS is now available to all Windows 11 customers."

There are, however, some things to keep in mind.

At the top of that list is the fact that group messaging is not supported, no matter how much you try. That means that you're going to have to pick your phone up in at least some cases. And there's another problem.

Microsoft says that image and video sharing is not supported when using Phone Link, which is a shame. In terms of supported devices, you don't need to be running the best iPhone to use Phone Link. Anything with iOS 14 or newer will work just fine, but remember that it needs to be connected to the PC for any of this to work. Unlike when you're using a Mac, Windows doesn't actually connect to Apple's iMessage service itself, unfortunately.

That's on Apple of course, but it's still a limitation that is important to remember if you spend any amount of time in front of a Windows 11 PC but might not have your iPhone with you.

Your Mac will have come with a copy of Apple's iLife productivity suite when you bought it – but if you need access to Microsoft's Office suite, or you simply prefer it to Apple's offering, then usually you'd have to pay either a hefty subscription or a large one-time fee for the privilege.

At the moment, however, you can get it at a big discount. If you head over to the Stacksocial site, you can pick up the full, lifetime license version of Microsoft Office Home & Business for Mac for $30. That's the whole set of Microsoft programs with a massive $190 off, or 86%.

Massive productivity discount

This huge saving gets you all of Microsofts productivity software in one package, such as Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, Teams, and OneNote. If you need these programs for work, or even if you just think that they're better than Pages, Numbers, and Keynote, then this is a spectacular deal.

It's easy to get it set up as well. Just head over to the Office deal on the Stacksocial website, then add the license to your basket. Make sure you've chosen the Mac version – there is also a Windows version that is also on the page.

Then, you'll want to head to the checkout and get it all paid for. Install the app on your best Mac of choice, and input your new license code to validate your installation. You're then good to go, with no subscription or update fee.

Bear in mind though that you can only install this license on one Mac – so make sure you're certain before you buy.

If you're using a Mac you can send iMessages just fine, but doing it from a Windows PC is a bit of a problem. Or at least it was.

That all changed as of today with Microsoft releasing an updated Phone Link app that allows people to send iMessages using their Windows 11 PC just fine. Although it has to be said that there are some caveats to that.

Microsoft announced the new Phone Link app back in February but it was only an early preview. Now, it's ready for anyone and everyone to give it a go.

A limited implementation

Microsoft announced the new Phone Link capabilities in a blog post today, saying that it was excited to announce the app was being rolled out globally. That means that people in 85 different markets and speaking 39 different languages are now good to go. All they'll need is the updated software and an iOS device.

That isn't strictly true, actually. That iOS device will need to be running iOS 14 or later and it's important to note the iPad isn't supported at all. It's iPhone or nothing, it seems. Still, iOS 14 support means that you don't have to rush out to buy the best iPhone you can find — plenty of older iPhones are supported.

There are, however, some things to note. First, image and video sharing isn't supported so it's text-only unfortunately. Then there's the fact that group chats aren't supported at all. Unlike your Mac, iMessages will only come through to your PC when you're connected to your iPhone as well.

All of that is of course thanks to limitations employed by Apple which is a shame/ Still, at least Windows 11 owners now have at least some access to their iMessages when on their PC. It isn't ideal but, then again, neither is using Windows.

An updated Telegram app could be the difference between your MacBook lasting long enough to save that document or leaving you in a pit of despair as everything is lost forever.

The updated Telegram, which can be downloaded for free from the App Store right now, features a new Power Saving Mode that is actually three things in one.

All of those three things promise to help people make their batteries last longer, whether they're using Apple's very best MacBook Pro, or something a little longer in the tooth.

Battery for days

Machines like the 16-inch MacBook Pro already have battery life for days, but the updated Telegram hopes to help people eke out as much power as possible. It does that with a new Power Saving Mode, which is actually a three-pronged approach.

Things start out with a switch that disables resource-heavy processes. Then there are individual settings for whether things like GIFs and videos automatically play. Animated emojis are included there, too.

Finally, Telegram says that Power Saving Mode will automatically turn itself on based on the current battery charge state of the Mac that it's running on. So the theory is that you might not need to think about managing your battery quite so much — Telegram will do it for you instead.

If you already have Telegram installed you might have the updated version already, especially if you have automatic updates enabled. If not you can pick Telegram up from the App Store right now. And it's of course free, too.

Telegram is one of the best instant messaging apps available on iPhone, iPad, and Mac right now and we'd definitely suggest checking it out if you need to communicate with other people on non-Apple devices. WhatsApp is another good option, too.

These new features are a welcome addition for those on portable Macs who want to make sure their batteries last as long as possible — get the update installed onto your own Mac ASAP if you want to benefit from Power Saving Mode yourself.

Microsoft says that it's now finally released an Apple silicon version of the Skype Mac app, although it's not quite ready to be made available to everyone just yet.

Microsoft says that its new Apple silicon build of Skype is super fast, promising huge speed increases over the previous version for those who are running Apple's very best Macs.

While the update isn't yet ready for prime time, that doesn't mean that you can't take it for a spin yourself. But you'll have to be aware that this isn't necessarily the final (and stable) version of Skype if you do.

The move to an Apple silicon version of Skype means that it no longer has to run in emulation via Rosetta 2, the software that Apple uses to force Intel-based apps to run on its newer M1 and M2-series machines. That, in turn, allows for improved performance and stability.

Moar speed!

In a blog post spotted by Petri, Microsoft says that the new version is much faster than the old one. The company says that the Apple silicon version of Skype is 3x faster, adding that users can "say goodbye to sluggish and slow call experiences, and hello to lightning-fast performance with crystal-clear audio and video quality."

The announcement blog post goes on to say that Skype now "delivers faster and more reliable call connections, so you can stay connected with the people who matter most to you."

Those who want to try the new version out can download the Skype Insider app for early access now. Everyone else should wait until Microsoft deems the app ready for public consumption, although there is no telling when that might be.

Want the very best Skype calling experience on your M2 MacBook Air? Maybe give that early access version a try and see how you get on. 

When it comes to productivity and keeping on top of your daily life, there is one app that is consistently on my wavelength: Things 3. Things is a to-do list application that builds on the manual process of bullet journalling to create an easy-to-follow, yet complex workflow system to keep on top of your daily tasks. 

Since its release in 2017, Things 3, the third installment of Things by developer Cultured Code, has been a staple in my life throughout university, my working life, and beyond. The app has had multiple updates and constant support in its five-year lifespan, so what exactly would I want from a fourth installment? And what bigger questions does this raise around the ever-growing productivity app landscape?

A free trial

If I talk to others about Things 3, I’m usually met with pushback surrounding the price that the full experience costs. On iPhone, Things 3 is $9.99, a fair price for getting your life in check. If you want to bring that experience across devices, you’ll have to shell out $19.99 for the iPad version and a further $49.99 to use Things 3 on your Mac. Currently, the Mac version of Things 3 is the only opportunity for a 15-day trial to see if the task manager even fits into your life. 

This poses a bigger want - Apple, people need trials on up-front paid apps, not just on apps with subscription models and limited free versions. Cultured Code, if Things 4 does happen, please don’t make it subscription-based like many of the app’s competitors. 

By making the app more accessible with a lower price point or a free trial in iOS, more people would gain exposure to a life-changing app that can structure your life in a way that so few can. I’ve wanted to use Things 3 as a way to keep on top of daily household tasks with my partner, a task-sharing system would elevate Things to become more collaborative rather than solely for my own mind. 

I understand that the concept of the app is primarily focused on helping individuals with their own tasks but adding a simple way to share and assign would mean one less app on my iPhone and one more step towards taking back control of our laundry. By combining a free trial with a new opportunity for collaboration, Things 4 would make itself stand out from its predecessor from the get-go. 

Better Reminders integration

A problem many apps face when coming up against Apple’s native alternatives is the just the sheer widespread audience that native apps have. In Things 3, you can easily import from Apple’s Reminders app but I wish there was the choice to go even further with that seamless integration. If Things 4 was able to export back to Reminders then my previous point about collaboration wouldn’t even need to be addressed. 

If I had the ability to work in Things and have those tasks automatically pop up in Reminders, the app would become an even more useful tool for working on small projects with those who just want to use what they are used to. Think of it almost in the same way a calendar app like Fantastical works by integrating with Google Calendars to become more than just the app I use to view and edit my schedule, but also the app that controls the whole framework — I want Things to be less of a walled garden and more of the control hub for my brain. 

The perpetual search for productivity

The thing about the productivity world and the apps that we have access to across the App Store is that quite honestly, most of the time less is more. The beauty of Things 3 is just how simple and barebones is it to use on the surface but equally how vast its use cases are. I believe that the key to any productivity tool is the manner in which it adapts to your life, not the other way around. In today’s society, there’s a need for more with the newest thing or the vast amount of options giving an almost crippling choice selection. We don’t constantly need new or better, we just need a system, whether that be in an application or a notebook that helps us to understand our own brains and get the most from them.

In the world of productivity, there’s a fascination with an all-encompassing product that magically fixes our lives leading to, myself included, switching applications constantly seeking out the “best”. The fact of the matter is, it’s all just procrastination and the limitless amount of choices leads to a perpetual cycle where nothing is good enough. Things 3 seems to solve the majority of my needs and gives me a platform to get on top of my work. It's not to say Things 3 is perfect, there is room for new features that don't require a whole new product like Things 4. However, the question isn’t what needs to be improved in a newer version, but more so what do I need to change to get the most from the tools at my disposal. 

Do you want to use iMessage on Mac? iMessage is Apple's communication platform that works on iPhones, iPads, Macs, and even the Apple Watch — it's a great way to communicate with friends and family from the comfort of your computer.

You can easily chat with your loved ones on all the best iPhones and best Macs, but even if you don't own one of the newest models, most Apple products have access to the platform. 

All you need to access iMessage on Mac is an Apple ID and a relatively new version of macOS. In this guide, we'll show you everything you need to get started and use iMessage on Mac.

If you're new to all things Mac, check out our beginner's guide to using a MacBook. Even if you've just bought the latest M3 MacBook Air, you could learn a thing or two.

How to set up iMessage on Mac

1. Launch Messages from your desktop, dock, or Applications folder. The Messages app will default use your Apple ID to log you in. Enter your Apple ID email address and password if that doesn't happen
2. Click on Messages in the Menu bar
3. Click on Settings
4. Click on the iMessage tab
5. Select the phone number and email address you would like to be reached on.
6. Choose which phone number or email address people will see when you start a new conversation

How to set up Messages in iCloud in macOS

Messages in iCloud keep both your iMessages and standard SMS in sync between your Mac and your iOS devices. This means you can also download your messages when you set up a new device.

1. Open Messages from your desktop, dock, or Applications folder
2. Click on Messages in the Menu bar
3. Click on Settings
4. Click on the iMessage tab
5. Click the checkbox next to Enable Messages on iCloud
6. Click the Sync Now button to sync immediately

How to send a message on your Mac

1. Open Messages
2. Click the New Message button at the top
3. Type the name, email address, or phone number of the person you want to message. Or click the Add button and choose someone from your contacts
4. Click the message field at the bottom, then type your message
5. Press Return to send your message

You can also add emojis, images, and audio recordings to your messages. If your Mac is running macOS Big Sur or later you can even add Memoji stickers, GIFs, and effects. To do this, you need to click the Apps button and find the ones you want to use. 

We have more in-depth instructions about how to send iMessages and attach all kinds of extras in our how to send iMessages on iPhone or iPad guide, along with how to use emoji on Mac.

Get chatting with iMessage on Mac

iMessage on Mac is one of the best features on Apple's computers. With more than 50% of smartphone users in the US chatting daily with iMessage having access on your laptop or desktop computer is a game-changer.

If you setup iMessage on the cloud you'll have all your messages across all Apple devices — it's really the best way to communicate via text.

Nowadays, lots of people buy new iPhones just for iMessage access and once you start using it on Mac you might buy your next computer with macOS Sequoia for the exact same reason.

Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Messenger, says it wants to make Messenger even more secure by offering end-to-end encrypted backups.

While the messaging service's chat threads, which are now blended into Instagram as well, are already end-to-end encrypted, your data and chat history might not be. Something Meta is aiming to fix, saying in a news release it's "testing secure storage to back up those messages in case you lose your phone or want to restore your message history on a new, supported device."

Meta reassures that much like its encrypted chats, "secure storage means that we won't have access to your messages" unless you choose to report them for whatever reason.

Currently, your Messenger chat history is stored on your device, but Meta says it's testing this new encrypted storage as the "default way to protect the history of your end-to-end encrypted conversations on Messenger."

When it comes to restoring your message history, when you move phones or just lose your data for any reason, Meta will offer two options to access your end-to-end encrypted backups. You can "either create a PIN or generate a code, both of which you'll need to save." The company has also said restoring your Messenger chats with a third-party cloud service will still be possible.

Meta says the feature will start being tested on Android and iOS this week, but a full launch of the feature is unlikely to happen before sometime in 2023. 

All while Apple and Google are arguing about RCS vs. SMS

Meta's Messenger news may be peaking its head out right now as an online discourse around message privacy has been stirred up by Google as of late.

Earlier this week, Google took aim at Apple over the company's use of SMS/MMS instead of RCS. Much talk about how RCS is much more secure than SMS and how Apple only encrypts iMessage threads but leaves the "green bubble" messages that aren't from someone's best iPhone vulnerable.

The CEO and founder of Telegram, Pavel Durov, has slammed Apple over claims the company has delayed in reviewing and approving a major new update to the messaging app that Durov says will "revolutionize how people express themselves in messaging." 

In a message this week Durov stated that he loved his work and "improving the way hundreds of millions of people communicate." 

However, Durov went on to say that the company finds it discouraging that "we're often unable to distribute the new versions of Telegram due to the obscure "review process" imposed on all mobile apps by the tech monopolies," before launching into a tirade against Apple and Google. 

Blast 'em

Durov says that Telegram has an upcoming update "which is about to revolutionize how people express themselves in messaging," but that this has been stuck in Apple's review process for two weeks "without explanation or any feedback provided by Apple." Telegram is already one of the best iPhone apps for messaging, but Durov didn't go into detail about the update. 

He went on to lament that if one of the top 10 most popular apps in the world is receiving such treatment "one can only imagine the difficulties experienced by smaller app developers." He stated such delays were not only demoralizing but also cause "direct financial losses to hundreds of thousands of mobile apps globally." 

He said that this harm was added to the 30% commission fees charged by Apple and Google which " is supposed to pay for the resources needed to review apps." Durov went on to say that "the economic damage that has already been inflicted by Apple on the tech industry won't be undone."

In June Durov called for governments to take action against Apple because it won't let alternative browser engines operate on its mobile devices, stating that a company "that once revolutionized mobile web turned into its most significant roadblock."

Apple is facing mounting regulatory pressure because of its App Store model and how it distributes software on devices like iPhone 13. The company is expected to unveil the iPhone 14 next month and release its new iOS 16 operating system. 

A brand new tool that will let WhatsApp users on Android securely move all of their data to iPhone is now live after a month of beta testing. 

In June, the new feature was launched in beta form as part of the Move from Android app on iPhone. Meta chief Mark Zuckerberg said the feature was one of the platform's most requested changes. Whereas previously moving from Android to iPhone meant losing all of your chat history, or relying on a third-party app to save your data.  

Apple has confirmed to iMore that as of today, the feature is now live for users around the world. 

How to move WhatsApp data from Android to iPhone

There aren't actually any special steps that you need to take to move your WhatsApp data from Android to iPhone thanks to this new feature. The 'Move Data from Android' feature is one of a number of options you can select when setting up any of Apple's iPhones, such as the iPhone 13. 

The only thing you need to do is install the Move to iOS app on your current Android device from the Google Play Store. You then enter the code and the app creates a Wi-Fi network between your current Android device and your new iPhone, moving all of your data across. 

You can pick and choose what data you want to move, but options include contacts, message history, camera photos and videos, photo albums, files and folders, accessibility settings, display settings, web bookmarks, mail accounts, calendars, and as of today WhatsApp messages and media. The tool even moves some free apps if they're available on both platforms. 

According to WhatsApp, there are a couple of things you'll need, namely Android 5 or above on your old device and iOS 15.5 on your new iPhone, as well as the most current version of WhatsApp. 

Then all you have to do is follow the Move to iOS instructions and make sure you select WhatsApp as part of the data you want to transfer. Easy. For security's sake, WhatsApp confirms the transferred data doesn't go into the cloud unless you make an iCloud backup, and WhatsApp can't see the data. The data will stay on your old Android device unless you delete WhatsApp or wipe your phone. Peer to peer payment messages can't be transferred. 

You can read our full guide on how to switch from Android to iPhone here. 

What you need to know

• WhatsApp is now allowing everyone to use any emoji when reacting to messages.
• Previously, only some emojis were available as options for reactions.
• Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg says the new feature is rolling out now.

WhatsApp is now rolling out an improvement to the way people can react to messages, with all emojis now available. Previously, only a handful of emojis was offered as possible reactions across to WhatsApp messages.

The news comes via Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg who posted to Facebook with an update that confirms that any emoji can now be used for the first time. "We're rolling out the ability to use any emoji as a reaction on WhatsApp," Zuckerberg said via the update.

Message reactions allow people to quickly and easily respond to a message using nothing more than an emoji. Emojis can be used to convey a variety of responses without the need for words, but the limited number of available emojis did make it difficult to choose the correct one at times. By opening the feature up, people can now use their favorite emoji no matter which one that happens to be.

WhatsApp has long been one of the best iPhone apps for people who need to send and receive messages with people who might not be using Apple hardware, so don't have access to iMessage.

If you're already using WhatsApp it doesn't sound like you'll need to update to a new version of the app via the App Store in order to take advantage of these improvements. However, if you don't yet have the app installed you can nab it from the App Store for free right now.

While iMessage and FaceTime are fantastic ways to keep in touch with others, there are some reasons why you may want to deregister your email and phone number from these services. For example, maybe you're looking to deregister a phone number you no longer use. Perhaps, you have switched to a non-Apple phone. Or you simply no longer want to use your email for FaceTime purposes — there's a simple way to deregister a phone number from iMessage and FaceTime. Here's how!

How to deregister a phone number from iMessage and FaceTime

If you want to deregister your email or a phone number attached to your iMessage account, never fear; iMore is here!

1. Launch Settings from your home screen.
2. Tap Messages. You may have to scroll down a bit to find it.
3. Tap Send & Receive.

4. Tap the number you wish to remove. Those currently in use are signified by a check mark.
5. Tap Remove

As the dialog box states, doing this will mean your phone number is no longer available for iMessage and FaceTime.

This process can also be completed through the FaceTime section of your Settings app, though the result is the same. You can still use the removed number for regular calls and SMS messages.

How to deregister an email associated with iMessage

If you only want to be contactable on iMessage via your phone number, you can set it that way. Here's how.

1. Launch Settings from your home screen.
2. Tap Messages. You may have to scroll down a bit to find it.
3. Tap Send & Receive.

4. Tap the email address you wish to remove. Alternatively, you can tap your Apple ID beneath the phone numbers and email addresses list.
5. Tap Sign Out.

This last step will mean that others can only contact you via your phone number for iMessage and not the email address(es) associated with your Apple ID.

How to deregister an email associated with FaceTime

Removing your email address from your FaceTime account only takes seconds. Here's how to do it!

1. Launch Settings from your home screen.
2. Tap FaceTime. You may have to scroll a bit to find it.

3. Tap the email address you wish to remove. Alternatively, you can tap your Apple ID beneath the phone numbers and email addresses list.
4. Tap Sign Out.

Signing out in this way will leave just your phone number as a contact method for FaceTime and remove the email address(es) associated with your Apple ID from the list.

Deregister a phone number from iMessage and FaceTime to decide how you can be reached

For many Apple device users, iMessage and FaceTime are some of the best iPhone features, enabling you to stay in contact with friends and family quickly, no matter where they are in the world. That said, there are reasons why you might want to deregister an email or phone number from Apple's communication services, so hopefully, the above guide helps you out.

Of course, if you prefer to turn off FaceTime altogether or disable and deactivate iMessage completely — even if you no longer have your iPhone — you can also do that.

Updated July 2022: Made minor updates.

What you need to know

• This year, remember to use Fireworks to celebrate the fourth of July.
• iMessage supports a range of effects that can be attached to messages, including Fireworks, Balloons, and more.

This year, try to remember to use iMessage's cool Send with Fireworks feature when wishing friends and family a happy Independence Day. You've probably thought about doing it after the fact, when it's too late. This year's the year you remember!

Apple's iMessage features a few different handy effects that can be added to messages including Balloons, Confetti, and yes, Fireworks. Send a message with Fireworks and the recipient will see a stunning display of colorful fireworks go off right on their iPhone, iPad, or Mac.

Sending an iMessage with Fireworks is super easy and adds a little flair to what would otherwise be a static and boring message, no matter how fancy your wordsmithing may be.

Not sold on using Fireworks? There are tons more effects to choose from, just select the one that best suits you and your recipient and have at it.

Here are all of the current screen effects and what they do.

• Echo: Have your text duplicate and flood the screen of your recipient.
• Spotlight: Put a literal spotlight on your incoming iMessage.
• Balloons: Sends multi-color balloons expanding and flying up from the bottom right of the screen.
• Confetti: Drops multi-color confetti from the top of the screen.
• Love: A giant heart will appear to expand and pop from your latest iMessage.
• Lasers: Fills the screen with "unce, unce, unce" lasers and sound.
• Fireworks: Sets off multi-color fireworks from the center of the screen.
• Shooting stars: Launches a "the more you know" starburst shooting from the left of the screen, exploding as it reaches the right.
• Celebration: Fireworks and festivities aplenty will appear on your iPhone.

Pretty cool, right? They might not seem like much, but these are the kinds of features that add some much-needed whimsy to our lives. Be sure to follow our iMessage effects guide to get started.

At some point in our lifetimes, we've all had to deal with PDFs. You may have needed to read a document in PDF format or you may have needed to fill out and sign a PDF form before sending it back. We've all been there. But if you're using a desktop Mac with no trackpad, doing that kind of stuff may be more of a hassle. In fact, for this kind of thing, we actually prefer an iPad with an Apple Pencil because it just feels so much more natural, like pen and paper.

Regardless of what your current iPad is or which Apple Pencil you're using, having a great app for PDFs really makes all the difference. Here are the best PDF markup and annotation apps that will help you be more productive on the go!

Just starting out? Check which iPad models support Apple Pencil so you buy the right devices for your plans.

Markup

Preview may not exist on the iPad just yet, but its excellent markup and annotation tools are available systemwide in iOS. The Instant Markup feature can be triggered by pressing either the Share button or the new Markup button in certain apps — it looks like a pen tip with a circle around it. You can also tap an email attachment in Mail, or take a screenshot to activate the feature.

In the Markup interface, you can add pen, highlighter, or pencil notation, along with basic shapes like squares, circles, arrows, and quote bubbles. Or you can drop a magnifier on the image or document and even add text or a signature. And the best part is that it is all integrated directly into iOS, so you don't need any extra apps.

Sure, it's pretty basic, but sometimes that's all you need.

PDF Viewer

PDF Viewer has a clean, simplistic interface and powerful annotation tools. It is a perfect in-between for users who need a bit more than what the iOS Markup tool provides, but don't need the power of apps like PDF Expert or LiquidText.

A PDF app's interface can frequently appear daunting to the average user, thanks in part to the sheer number of annotation options developers try to shove inside of them, but PDF Viewer smartly simplifies this process. Taking a page from Apple's own iWork suite, the app provides a series of nested views depending on which feature you're using. For instance, if you're looking at a document, you'll be shown the tools for sharing, zooming, and browsing through annotations; tap the annotation button, and the app brings you into Annotation mode, with its various tools — still simplified into easy-to-understand icons.

PDF Viewer can even rearrange, delete, or insert blank pages within a PDF, though it doesn't have some of the more advanced combination features (like merging multiple PDFs or adding existing PDF pages into a document).

PDF Expert

When people ask for an all-purpose PDF markup and annotation app, I tend to send them to Readdle's PDF Expert. The free download offers basic PDF reading, annotation, and digital signatures, but it really shines with the advanced tools that you can get via in-app purchases.

You can create customizable "stamps" for oft-used annotations (a friend to copy editors everywhere), edit the structure of the PDF, zip multiple documents together, password-protect your files, and sync with iCloud.

The Pro upgrade takes those tools one step further and allows you to physically crack open a PDF and edit it on the spot. Have a spelling error in your ready-to-print proof? Even if you can't jump back to InDesign on your iPad, you can fix it in the PDF.

You may never need the tools that PDF Expert provides, but I for one love that an app this complex and functional exists on iOS.

LiquidText

I've rewritten this intro to LiquidText about five times now, largely because the multitouch annotation app has this slippery way of defying description. A traditional sign-and-form-fill annotation app this is not — LiquidText is built for projects, novels, research papers, and dusty libraries. Lawyer and Mac enthusiast David Sparks describes it as being "engineered around the idea of reviewing long PDF documents better." It looks at books filled with post-it notes and string-covered bulletin boards and laughs. There's a better way to organize your research, and this app is it.

At its core, LiquidText focuses on the pain point of annotating lengthy documents, giving users a number of tools to do it in a way wholly unlike any other PDF app on the market. You can use multitouch gestures to pinch together large sections of a document. For instance, you could look at an introductory thesis statement next to its midpoint argument to see if it properly connects the dots. You can pull annotations out from the document they belong to — like clippings or post-its — and organize them together or even link them along the right side of the screen. And all of this is lightning fast and wholly enjoyable, thanks to LiquidText's speedy and simple UI.

The Apple Pencil makes all of this even better, giving users specific gestures to highlight and pull out annotations as they review documents. For those who need this kind of workflow, there's no better app than LiquidText out there — and possibly no better workflow.

iAnnotate 4 - PDFs & more

Want to maximize your productivity when it comes to PDFs and documents? Then iAnnotate is a great option to consider.

iAnnotate 4 does your basics, such as letting you open and view PDFs and documents, but you can do so much more with the app than you may think. The biggest draw with iAnnotate is the iPad Pro multitasking support, which allows you to view two documents side-by-side. It'll automatically annotate when you use an Apple Pencil, and you can pan, zoom, and scroll with your fingers at will, no tool switching needed, making it a streamlined experience. There are even keyboard shortcuts if you want to maximize efficiency.

All markups on your documents can be saved directly, letting you view markups in external PDF readers. The Flatten feature compresses annotations onto the document to prevent modifications from being made. A situation that this is great for is when there needs to be multiple signatures on a document, as the Flatten feature prevents others from making unauthorized modifications or changes.

Like PDFPen, iAnnotate 4 is a one-time purchase with no in-app purchases to worry about.

Adobe Acrobat Reader: Edit PDF

You may already be familiar with Adobe Acrobat Reader, but did you know that it's also available on iOS and supports Apple Pencil? That's right!

With Adobe Acrobat Reader, you're able to quickly open up and view PDF documents from anywhere, including with Adobe's own Scan app. With these PDFs, you're able to annotate them directly with your Apple Pencil, so that means highlighting, marking up, commenting, drawing on documents — you name it, Acrobat Reader can do it. It even allows you to fill out and sign forms hassle-free, which is probably one of the most popular reasons for having a PDF app on the iPad in the first place.

Adobe Acrobat Reader is free for the basics, but you'll need to subscribe for more features like organizing and editing PDFs, export options, compression, merging, and more.

PDF Reader – PDFelement

If you are looking for something that's simple and gets the job done for free, then PDFelement is one to check out. All you need to do to use the app for free is to register for a Wondershare account.

With PDFelement, you're able to view and edit PDFs right on your iPad, or even your best iPhone, with ease. The annotation and markup features include highlighting, underlining, strikethrough, text boxes, call-outs, stamps, and freehand drawing. It also does many other things, like fill and sign forms, convert PDFs to other file formats, create and combine PDF files, and much more.

PDFelement Lite will only work on native PDF files. This means you can't use the app with scanned or raster PDFs.

iPad and Apple Pencil, like pen and paper, is a match made in heaven

As you can see, when you have a great iPad with an Apple Pencil, marking up and annotating PDFs is an easy task. Having an iPad with Apple Pencil is a fantastic combo that feels natural like pen and paper, so even signing and filling out forms electronically just feels right.

Even though this list of apps is meant for the iPad and Apple Pencil, a lot of these are universal apps. That means you can even use them on your best iPhone as well, such as the iPhone 14. After all, sometimes you just need to sign a document when you're away from your Mac and iPad, but your iPhone is pretty much with you all the time. Also keep in mind that you don't actually need an Apple Pencil for any of these apps, it's just nice to have when you're doing a lot of annotating.

No matter which device you're using, these are still what we consider to be the best PDF markup and annotation apps for iOS. Now get out there and markup and sign to your heart's content! 

What you need to know

• iOS 16 adds a new way to report spam text messages as junk.
• Users will be able to report SMS and MMS messages as junk with select carriers in the United States.

Whether you have an iPhone or Android phone, we can all agree on something: spam text messages suck and they should go away forever.

Thankfully, Apple wants to do something about it. In the release notes for the second developer beta of iOS 16 and iPadOS 16, the company has revealed that it is adding a new feature that will allow users to mark an incoming text message as spam. Per the below notes, users will be able to report an SMS or MMS message as junk.

According to Apple, the feature will start out with select carriers in the United States but no specific carriers were announced.

Currently, if you get a spam text message, most of us would simply delete it. While some spammers are nice and prompt you to send a message back like "STOP" to turn off future messages, most don't (of course). So, this feature will be great to have to hopefully report spammers en mass so carriers know to shut them down.

iOS 16 is still in developer beta with the public beta expected to roll out in July. It will release to all users this fall.

What you need to know

• A new concept imagines WhatsApp telling people when the person they're messaging has a Focus mode enabled.
• The iOS 15 messages app already does this, but WhatsApp doesn't offer the same functionality.

WhatsApp could one day take a leaf out of the Messages app's book and show people when the people they're messaging have a Focus enabled. But right now, it's only available in concept form.

Message users are already making use of Focus Status, a feature added to iOS 15 that allows apps to show when other people have a specific Focus mode enabled — like Do Not Disturb, for example. That means that people sending messages will always know when the recipient is in a situation where they won't receive a notification. As of right now, WhatsApp doesn't support such a feature, but WABetaInfo has created a concept that imagines that it could.

WhatsApp is already thought to be readying support for a feature that will alert people if they miss a call because they had a Focus mode enabled, but it isn't yet ready for prime time.

WhatsApp has long been one of the best iPhone apps for staying in touch with non-iMessage-using friends and family, but a ton of people use it as a replacement for iMessage as well. Being able to see when the person you're messaging is unavailable will help them determine whether a reply is likely — and even punch through and force a notification in the case of emergency, too.

What you need to know

• Android and Google have trolled Apple over Messages using Drake's new song.
• Android dropped an unofficial lyric explainer video for 'Texts Go Green'.
• They lamented that it was "pretty rough" trying to text someone from an iPhone if they don't also have an iPhone.

Android and Google have dropped an unofficial lyric explainer video to Drake's new song 'Texts Go Green', taking the opportunity to troll Apple over its lack of support for RCS messaging.

In a tweet Sunday Android said "#TextsGoGreen hit us different, that's why we had to drop this unofficial lyric explainer video."

The hilarious 40-second video says Drake's new song "refers to the phenomenon when an iPhone user gets blocked" or tries to text someone who doesn't have an iPhone, saying "either way it's pretty rough."

Android then joked "if only some super talented engineering team at Apple would fix this," stating it was only a problem Apple could fix and that Apple "just has to adopt RCS" to make messaging more secure and cross-platform friendly.

Google has previously called on Apple to adopt RCS to make messaging between platforms like iOS and Android less fragmented. The issue has become a peculiar antitrust talking point, leading some commenters to suggest that Apple is trying to keep people in its ecosystem and buying its best iPhones by making iMessage exclusive. The issue is largely confined to the U.S. where the proliferation of iPhones and the ratio of iPhones to Android devices is much higher. Elsewhere in the world, users tend to use a variety of cross-platform messaging services like WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger. RCS does not support end-to-end encryption like WhatsApp or iMessage and doesn't have any kind of cross-device support for use on desktop devices or laptops like iMessage.

What you need to know

• WhatsApp has made new privacy changes.
• People now have more control over who can see things like the last time they were online and more.

WhatsApp has announced a new privacy feature that ensures people have more control over the kinds of information other people can see. As of now, users can choose who can see their profile photo, last seen status, and more.

The change, which WhatsApp announced via Twitter, means that people now have more granular control over who is able to see information that could be used for nefarious deeds. According to the tweet, people can now "select who from your contact list can see your Profile Photo, About, and Last Seen status." The instant messaging outfit has also updated its security page to explain more about the settings that are now available.

WhatsApp is already one of the best iPhone apps for people who need to stay in touch with those who don't have access to iMessage and the addition of new privacy controls is more than welcome. In a world where privacy and protections are more important than ever, it's always promising to see companies and apps take action.

WhatsApp is available for download from the App Store now and is free for all.

What you need to know

• You can now mute someone else in a WhatsApp group call.
• New indicators will show which people are speaking for the first time.

If you've ever been in a WhatsApp group call with that one person who just won't stop talking — or breathing into the microphone! — you're going to love a new feature that was just announced. Now, group calls let you mute other people, among other things.

The news was announced by Will Cathcart, head of WhatsApp at Meta when he posted a message and a couple of screenshots to Twitter. Cathcart says that the new muting power isn't the only addition, too, with a new indicator showing when people are speaking for easier recognition during large group calls.

WhatsApp appears to be steadily rolling these changes out to people now, so don't panic if you aren't seeing them just yet. It's probably also a good idea to make sure that you have the latest version of the app installed via the App Store or TestFlight, too. Don't yet have WhatsApp installed? You can grab it for free right now.

While WhatsApp is already one of the best iPhone and Mac apps for sending and receiving messages with people who are not using iPhones, it's still missing a vital part of the equation. The lack of an iPad app is still less than great, but it's something the company is considering fixing.

What you need to know

• WhatsApp is set to allow people to react to messages using any emoji.
• People only have a handful of emojis to choose from when reacting to messages right now.
• The new feature isn't ready for beta testing yet, let alone prime time.

While WhatsApp recently added the ability to react to messages using emoji, it only offers a handful of options for people to choose from. That could all change soon enough, with a new report showing ongoing work to unlock the full library of emoji for people to use.

Reacting to a WhatsApp message is pretty great right now, giving people the chance to respond to a message without typing out text. That's great if you want to give a message a thumbs up, but what if there needs to be a little more nuance. That could soon be possible with WABetaInfo reporting that WhatsApp is ready to test allowing people to react using any emoji whatsoever.

While the feature isn't yet ready for beta testers, let alone the version of WhatsApp that's in the App Store, it's clear it's something WhatsApp is working on and it'll give us all more ways to react to messages than ever before.

The new system appears to give people the option to quickly select one of six emojis, just like we have now. But an additional button will unlock the full iOS 15 emoji picker, including a list of the most recently used ones.

There's no telling when this feature will be live, but it's definitely an addition that will help cement WhatsApp's position as one of the best iPhone instant messaging apps around once it arrives.

What you need to know

• WhatsApp has announced a new ability to switch from Android to iOS without losing chats.
• Users can take advantage of the Switch to iOS app and move chat history and data when switching to iPhone.
• Mark Zuckerberg says this is one of the most requested features.

WhatsApp is finally making it easier for people to switch from an Android phone to an iPhone without losing their chat history. In an announcement made via Facebook, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg confirmed that people can now "securely switch between phones" while maintaining end-to-end encryption.

Previously, switching from Android to iPhone meant losing your chat history or relying on third-party apps. Now, that's no longer a requirement with WhatsApp tying into Apple's Move to iOS app which is available via the Google Play Store. WhatsApp outlines the steps to follow in a support document for moving data, and another for moving chat history — you'll want to follow both to get everything moved over.

There are caveats, however. First, you'll need the latest beta version of Android's WhatsApp app which at the time of writing is version 2.22.7.74. On the iPhone side, you'll need iOS 15.5 or later and WhatsApp 2.22.10.70 or newer. They're the main software requirements, alongside that Move to iOS app mentioned earlier.

In his announcement, Zuck said that an easier way to switch from Android to iPhone is a "top requested feature."

WhatsApp is one of the best iPhone apps for staying in touch with Android users who don't have access to iMessage, but actually switching from Android to iPhone has so far been a pain. With Apple getting ready to announce the iPhone 14 lineup and potentially luring existing Android users over to its camp, this WhatsApp news comes at just the right time. Hopefully the Android version of the app is out of beta by the time September rolls around.

What you need to know

• WhatsApp is rolling out extra-large group chat support.
• Up to 512 people can now be in a single group chat.
• Those who don't yet see the 512-person group chats should make sure they have the latest version of WhatsApp installed.

WhatsApp is beginning to roll its 512-person group chats out to everyone as of today, progressing from a period that saw the extra-large chats only available to a limited number of people. The previous limit was a maximum of 256 people in any single group chat.

WhatsApp announced that it was going to give people the opportunity to invite up to 511 other people to their group chats two months ago and has slowly been rolling the feature out ever since. 512-person chats were previously only available to some people on the beta version of the app, but that's changing today according to a new report.

Those who are yet to see the expanded group chats should make sure that they have the latest version of WhatsApp from the App Store and give it some time — WhatsApp has a lot of users to get this change rolled out to, after all.

WhatsApp is one of the best iPhone apps for people who need to stay in touch with people who use Android devices and can't take advantage of iMessage. Don't yet have it? You can grab WhatsApp from the App Store for free now.

What you need to know

• Apple announced iOS 16 earlier today.
• The latest version of Messages adds the ability to edit a message.
• Twitter has yet to add the feature to tweets.

Earlier today, Apple kicked off WWDC 2022 with its customary keynote.

The company announced iOS 16, iPadOS 16, watchOS 9, tvOS 16, and macOS Ventura. It also unveiled the redesigned MacBook Air and M2 processor, which it is bringing to the new Air as well as the 13-inch MacBook Pro.

One of the major upgrades in iOS 16 came to the Messages app. For iMessages, users can now "edit or recall recently sent messages, recover recently deleted messages, and mark conversations as unread."

The new feature will allow you to edit an iMessage if you make a typo and want to correct it. Once saved, the Messages app will show that the message has been edited.

Editing a message has been a request from users for years, and not just for Messages. Twitter has, for years, pushed back against the idea of allowing users to edit a tweet. Elon Musk, who is in the process of purchasing the company, has pushed to allow this feature.

Twitter has actually recently said it is working on the feature, but it looks like it's a race to see who gets there first. We all know that iOS 16 will likely launch with iPhone 14 in September, so Elon and Twitter have until then to try and get the feature launched.

Otherwise, Apple will beat Twitter to adding the edit button.

What you need to know

• WhatsApp Business users look set to be able to change the name of attached devices soon.
• The new feature is available to beta testers starting today.
• It was expected that the feature would be part of the WhatsApp Premium subscription but that doesn't seem to be the case.

WhatsApp is testing a change to its WhatsApp Business service that will allow companies to change the name of the devices that are linked to their accounts — and the feature will be free for all.

The ability to rename devices was initially thought to be part of the upcoming WhatsApp Premium business subscription offering, but WABetaInfo now reports that the feature is going live for all beta testers now.

There is still no telling when we can expect this feature to be made available to all WhatsApp business users, but the ability to rename devices could be an important one for all.

WhatsApp is already one of the best iPhone tools for businesses that want to be able to offer customer support via an app and environment that they are already familiar with and comfortable using. Changing the name of a device might not seem a huge deal on the face of it, but it's another addition that will be seen as a notable quality of life improvement by those who need it.

What you need to know

• WhatsApp continues to tweak its upcoming group poll feature.
• A new report highlights the addition of an improved results page that includes percentages and more.
• There is currently no word on when this new feature will ship.

WhatsApp continues to work on an upcoming polling feature for group chats with the latest beta adding support for a more detailed results view.

The addition of a new polling feature has been part of the upcoming WhatsApp feature set for a while and WABetaInfo reports that the latest TestFlight beta includes a more detailed results view, although it doesn't appear to be available to everyone just yet.

By adding polls to group chats WhatsApp will allow people to vote on whatever they need to, whether that's where to go for dinner or who everyone thinks will win a big basketball game. The latest report notes that WhatsApp is now working on showing the most popular option as well as attaching a percentage to results.

There is still no word on when this new feature will be made available to those of us using the version of WhatsApp that's in the App Store, but it's a feature many will find useful once it arrives. WhatsApp is already one of the best iPhone apps for people who want to stay in touch with a group of people and this addition will help cement its place on many a Home screen.

What you need to know

• WhatsApp is reportedly readying a feature that would allow people to edit their messages.
• People who spot a typo now have no way to fix it, but that could change.
• The new feature isn't ready for beta testing, but it's being worked on.

WhatsApp is reportedly working on a new feature that could change the way people use the service. It's now being said that the instant messaging service will allow people to edit the messages that they sent, although a timeline isn't yet available.

The new WhatsApp feature, which is yet to be made available to beta testers and is some way off a public release, would allow people to edit messages after sending. The theory is of course that typos could be fixed after being sent, something that Twitter users have pointed to as a reason that tweets should also be editable. The issue on that platform is that tweets could be changed after they have been shared by others, potentially causing offense and embarrassment. The possibility of that happening on WhatsApp isn't so great, however.

WABetaInfo reports that WhatsApp had previously considered the same feature only to ditch it so it's possible something similar could happen this time around. The same report also suggests that we won't see any kind of message history, meaning changes will mean the original message content will be lost forever.

WhatsApp is one of the best iPhone apps for sending and receiving messages and media and the constant improvements are welcome. Whether editable messages are high on the list of things users would ask for isn't clear, but it's sure to be one that would be popular among those who find themselves constantly re-sending messages after sporting a typo.

What you need to know

• WhatsApp is rolling out gallery reaction changes to beta testers.
• People will be able to see which media people have reacted to more easily.

We heard recently that WhatsApp was planning to test a change that would make it easier for people to see reactions to media inside a gallery and now the instant messaging service has begun to roll it out to beta testers.

Currently, reactions to media in a gallery just show as a general reaction — not what the reaction was to. According to WABetaInfo, that's all changing with the latest iOS WhatsApp beta.

There is no indication of when the feature will be rolled out to everyone, including those who are using the version of WhatsApp available in the App Store. But it's a feature that makes plenty of sense and would undoubtedly be a big improvement for heavy gallery users.

WhatsApp is one of the best iPhone apps for people who need to stay in touch with people who use non-Apple devices. Changes like this are always welcome and the Meta-owned outfit is normally pretty good at making sure that features make their way from TestFlight beta to the App Store relatively quickly. Fingers crossed we the same here.