iPhone owners are just realizing iMessage has hidden ‘swipe trick’ that fans say was ‘long overdue’ – ditch the old way

APPLE’S messaging app has received a game-changing update that you might have missed.

If you regularly text via iMessage, you’ll definitely want to pay attention.

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You can now swipe on a text to quickly reply to it.

The upgrade was revealed on Apple’s iOS 17 page, which reads: “Now you can swipe to the right on any message to send a reply.”

It’s a feature that will be familiar to users of other chat apps, like WhatsApp.

But it’s finally available in iMessage if you’ve updated to iOS 17.

In a Reddit thread about the best new iOS 17 features, hundreds of users upvoted a comment about being able to swipe to reply after the update.

One relieved user wrote: “Swiping right is so damn overdue!”

Another said: “It’s such an underrated feature. It’s SO much quicker to reply to specific texts now.”

And one noted: “The texting thing has been a fantastic WhatsApp feature for a while now.”

If swipe to reply isn’t working for you, make sure you’ve updated to iOS 17.

To do that, just go to Settings > General > Software Update.

Yes to iOS!

The new swipe-to-reply is just one minor change in iOS 17 – but there are plenty more to enjoy.

Aside from the reply upgrade, Messages also received some other updates.

There’s a new catch-up arrow to jump to the first message you haven’t seen in a chat.

And new search filters let you quickly combine terms like a person’s name and a word to find a specific message much faster.

Apple’s new Check-In feature notifies a friend or family member when you arrive at a destination.

Audio messages that you send over iMessage will now be transcribed so that you can read them.

And you can now share or request your location just by using the plus button in iMessage.

There’s also a new Sticker drawer that contains all of your Live Stickers, emoji and Memoji.

Outside of Messages, you can now leave FaceTime video messages if your call is missed, and see real-time transcriptions of voicemails that are being recorded for you.

A new StandBy feature gives you a full-screen widget-style experience if you turn your iPhone on its side while charging.

And iOS 17 also adds support for interactive widgets.

AirDrop has been improved with a new NameDrop feature that lets you swap contact details by touching the ends of two iPhones together.

And a new app called Journal lets you create a virtual diary to store some of your thoughts and favourite memories.

This post first appeared on Thesun.co.uk