iOS 16 iMessage editing won’t let you get away with making bad decisions
A fantastic new feature of iOS 16 is the ability to edit iMessages. But that doesn’t mean you’ll be able to get away with anything.
When you send a message, if you long hold on the message, you get the ability to edit the message. But you can only edit up to 5 times, and all the times must be within 15 minutes.
Basically, this can be used to correct typos or sentences that don’t make any sense.
Here’s what it looks like when you edit a message, to both you and the receiver:
If you click “Edited,” you can see all of the messages:
When this feature originally existed in the iOS 16 beta tests, you could not see the original messages. Thankfully, this was changed in the final iOS 16 versionmeaning this new feature cannot be used to harass people, as the all the original messages are retained.
This also means that the iMessage editing feature can’t be used to cover up intentionally or unintentionally bad decisions.
If the user is running anything other than iOS 16 (or presumably a supported macOS or iPad OS version), they will see both messages without having to click:
As you might have guessed, you can’t edit text messages because those are sent through carriers.
Just another reminder that when you text, you should always make good decisions.
Jerry Galvin has over 16 years of experience in engineering and cybersecurity operations. He currently specializes in vulnerability management.
