Texting is a necessary part of many people's lives, but this form of digital communication doesn’t have to be boring!

You might be surprised to learn there’s a way to add extra flair to those blue and grey bubbles on your iPhone or iPad. These tips are especially useful if you’re involved in an active group chat or find yourself having multiple conversations with someone at the same time.

You might already know some of the fun tricks, like how to send birthday messages with balloons or toss a handful of confetti with a celebratory text. (If you don’t, check this out!) However, the iPhone has several more features up its sleeve that may come in handy when you’re using iMessage. 

Watch this video for 3 fun ways to liven up your text messaging. 

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iMessage fun tricks 

Here are three iMessage features you probably didn’t know about:

Reply directly to a message. 

How many times have you had multiple conversations in the same text thread at the same time or gotten lost in a group text? That can get confusing, fast. 

Luckily, you can respond to a specific message. 

To reply to a specific text:

1. Swipe right, double-tap or long-press on the text bubble you want to reply to. 
2. Tap Reply. 
3. Type out your message and hit send. 
4. The texts will be attached with a digital thread, making it very clear what the message is in response to. 

This works with messages you’ve received or sent. 

PS- Did you know you can edit and unsend texts?

Respond without words.

Reactions are an easy way to respond without actually typing out a response. 

Double-tap or long-press on the message. Apple’s Tapback options will appear above the message. Tap the most relevant option and let it do all the talking. 

If your reaction isn't quite captured by a heart, thumbs up or down, "haha," exclamation marks or question mark, then have some fun and react with an emoji by dragging and dropping it onto the message.

Send a handwritten note.

You don’t need a pen or paper to send handwritten messages anymore.

Turn your iPhone sideways in a text and tap the little swirl button in the bottom right corner. You can also send handwritten messages from your iPad.

Write out your message or draw a picture, then send it. 

If the recipient has an iPhone, the message will animate and appear to be written out in front of their eyes, almost like something from a Harry Potter film.

The hand-drawn message will be sent as a picture if it’s going to an Android device. 

Any message you write or draw will be saved alongside the preloaded ones on your device, making it easy to send again should you want to. If you want to delete it, long-press any of the handwritten messages until they all start to jiggle. Then, tap the x on the message or messages you want to delete.