Your Group Chats Are About To Become Way Easier To Manage Thanks To Apple's Latest Update

Your group chat is about to get so much better. In the latest iOS update, iOS 14, announced at Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) on Monday, you'll be able to prioritize messages, mute group chats without missing out important information, and reply to specific texts right in the same line.

We all know that group chats can be hectic places, especially when there are plenty of people in them. And with many social distancing guidelines still in full effect, staying connecting with friends and family feels more important than ever. Since last year, there have been double the amount of group messages sent, according to Apple.

Mentions

First, Apple is planning to integrate "mentions" in their group chats in the same way that other messaging platforms like Slack and WhatsApp have done. There's probably been more than a few times that a message you wanted a specific person in your group chat to see has been lost in the flurry of your messages. But with the update, you can mention someone using the "@" symbol, and they'll be notified of the message. This way you can ensure that whoever you're talking to will see your message.

Reply Threads

Replying to specific messages within your group chats will become easier as well. With iOS 14, Apple users will be able to utilize inline replies. If you're trying to make plans or want to ask someone about something specific, it's easy for the responses to get mixed up with the rest of your group chat's musings. To avoid this, Apple is making it so you can tap on a message and reply to it separately by creating a thread that's viewable in a screen apart from the group chat. This way you can keep up with the entire group chat, but also maintain smaller side conversations without getting confused.

New Notifications

How often do you get overwhelmed when you're busy working on something or taking a break to watch Netflix and your group chat is constantly pinging with notifications from a random conversation your friends are having? You could always mute the chat, but then you might worry that you could be missing out when someone is speaking to your directly. With the new iOS14 update, you can mute a conversation and yet still be notified whenever you're mentioned within the chat. You'll be able to take that snack break guilt-free knowing that if it's really important, your friends will mention you and you can respond immediately.

Pinning Conversations

To keep all of your most important messages at the top, you can pin them right to the top of your Messages Inbox. That way, even if your important conversation isn't the most recent one you have, you can have it at the beginning of your list so you don't have to scroll through other messages to find it.

Group Text Icons

In addition to all the new ways you can keep up with your messages, iOS 14 will also allow users to set up different photos or emojis for your group chats and the members in them. Whether you're using a heart emoji to represent your girlfriends' chats or that hilarious photo from last year's road trip, you can customize your group chats so that they feel a little more personal.