9 powerful new features coming to Messages in iOS 17

One of the highlights of iOS 17 is the Messages app. With the public beta now available, there are several new features users can take advantage of that will improve how they use iMessage and interact with their contacts. Here, we’ll list all of the additions and how these features will enhance your experience with the Messages app on your iPhone and Mac.

Of all of the new iOS 17 Messages app features, Check In is the most groundbreaking, even though it’s based on a simple principle: checking in to see if your friend or a family member is OK and has arrived at their destination.

With this feature, your friend or family member is alerted when you reach your destination (or vice versa). If you stop making progress, it checks in with you, and if you don’t respond, it shares helpful information with your friend, like the location, battery level, and cell service status of your iPhone.

This new iOS 17 feature is available in the new custom button that gathers all your iMessage apps in one place. By tapping the new plus button, you can see everything you send most frequently, like photos, audio messages, and your location.

Also, speaking of location, there’s a new way to share and view locations. You can share your own or request a friend’s location by hitting the plus button. Once everyone shares their address, it will appear directly within the conversation.

In addition, iOS 17’s Messages app makes it easier to catch up on a conversation by tapping an upper right corner arrow that lets you jump to the first message you haven’t seen in a conversation. By swiping to the right of any message, you can send a reply.

With powerful search filters, you can find the message you’re looking for more quickly by combining search terms to narrow your search quickly.

For those who have trouble listening to audio messages on iMessage – I’m one of them – you will be pleased to know that audio messages are now automatically transcribed, so you can read them as soon as you receive them and listen later.

You can also now find all of your stickers in one place with iOS 17’s new Messages app. The new sticker drawer lets you access all your Live Stickers, emoji, Memoji, and other stickers packs in one place. Lastly, you can create Live Stickers for the first time, and once it’s available to all users, I’m sure it’s going to be one of the update’s biggest hits.