iOS 14 leak suggests Apple working on Catalyst version of Messages for Mac

An iOS 14 leak suggests that Apple might be developing a Catalyst version of Messages on macOS, which could help to bring it up to speed with its iOS equivalent.

As 9to5Mac reports:

9to5Mac exclusively reported some of the details and new features of the upcoming iOS 14, which will be officially announced by Apple next month. Now we have found evidence that Apple is working to completely replace the Messages app on macOS with a Catalyst version, based on iOS 14 code.

iMessage has gained several new features since 2011, including extensions, stickers, and message effects. But none of this is available to Mac users, as macOS still has a basic version of the Messages app that only works to send and receive standard messages.

However, that might change soon, since we have found evidence of a Catalyst version of the Messages app in an early build of iOS 14 obtained by 9to5Mac. In other words, this means Apple will bring the same Messages app from iOS and iPadOS to the Mac, which includes all those effects and features we mentioned earlier.

Apple has yet to replace any native macOS apps with a Catalyst version. As the report notes, a Catalyst version of Messages for macOS would mean Apple could push out regular updates for the service like it does for iOS. By contrast, the Messages app for macOS has been left to rust in recent years. As Steve Troughton-Smith notes, there were some iMessage features like effects hidden in betas of macOS Catalina, and a Catalyst version of the app could signal the introduction of those effects, along with features like stickers.

A Catalyst reboot for Messages on macOS would be a big and welcome change.