With the rollout of iOS 26, iPhones dating back to the iPhone 11 are getting a host of upgrades and new features. Some of these upgrades will affect Apple’s Messages app.
All of these additions and tweaks are useful, and there’s no doubt that the Messages app is now better than ever. Features like custom backgrounds and polls (long available in other messaging apps) have now arrived.
Here we will update you on everything new in iOS 26 for Messages.
Add custom backgrounds
It’s now possible to add a little personality to your conversations with custom backgrounds. You can have different backgrounds for a family group chat and a work group chat, for example, so each has its own character.
Tap the header at the top of any conversation, then choose Backgrounds To make changes. You can choose from any of the suggestions here to apply the background, which will include solid colors and natural scenes. handle image To select a photo from your camera roll.
If your iPhone supports Apple Intelligence, you can get some help from AI with your wallpapers: Choose stadium To launch the AI image generator, then describe what you want the image to look like using the prompt box.
Create polls
Can’t decide on a destination for a family vacation? Having trouble finding a date where your group of friends are all available? You can now add polls within conversations in Messages.
From within the chat, tap + Down (plus) button in the lower left corner, then choose Opinion polls. You can add up to 12 different options for everyone to vote on, and there’s the option to add a comment to the poll before sending it.
Each chat participant can vote for as many choices as they want — just tap an entry in the list to select or deselect it — and anyone can add new choices to the poll, too, by tapping Add option The link is below.
Translate text in messages
iOS 26 offers live translation across many different apps and devices. You can translate spoken audio to AirPods, for example, and one place the feature is available is in the Messages app.
Tap the header of any conversation, then scroll down to Translate automatically And turn on the toggle switch. Messages will try to detect the language you’re chatting in, but you can select a different language if you need to.
After this is done, the messages in the chat should be translated to and from the languages you selected – you will see a message translation… The label at the bottom of the conversation, which you can click to see the original message text again.
And more…
There are some smaller tweaks and improvements to be aware of as well. Group chats have typing indicators, so you know when someone is busy writing a message, and Apple Cash is now supported in group chats as well.
iOS 26 now allows parts of a message to actually be copied, rather than the entire message, which is a key feature that Apple should have introduced much sooner. Long press on the message and select He chooses To make your choice.
Finally, there’s a new filter to keep unknown senders and spam out of your main message list: you’ll see it in the top right corner when you view your conversations, and you can tap on it to see which messages the app has automatically filtered.
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