Apple annually updates its iPhone iOS, delighting customers with new apps, additional shortcuts, and enhanced functionality. However, users often take time to discover the latest features introduced by these software updates, leaving them curious about how long a feature has been available before they stumbled upon it.
In a recent revelation, TikTok user Simple Alpaca highlighted a ‘hidden’ feature from iOS 18, demonstrating in a video how to schedule texts for later delivery. To use this function, simply tap the plus (+) icon next to the iMessage input field, select ‘Send Later’, and then choose your desired date and time, which appears in a blue bubble above your message.
This scheduling ability has been praised by many for its potential to send timely birthday wishes. Meanwhile, others on TikTok have voiced concerns over the feature’s misuse, such as sending disruptive messages during the early hours.
One commenter remarked: “I’m going to just go ahead and send happy birthday to everyone ahead of time so I don’t forget.” Another user chimed in: “This is how I call out sick so I don’t actually have to wake up.”
A third person commented: “2:32am texting into work ‘I’m sick’.” Another added: “Sending 20 ‘good morning’ texts at once at 7:37 every morning.”
Yet, some users highlighted that iPhone’s shortcut feature allowed for this before the update, and Android users have been bragging about having this capability for years. One remarked: “Whoa. I thought all phones could already do that… Android has been able to for years.”
Another mentioned: “Pretty sure you could always do that with the shortcuts app.” A third pointed out: “I had an android back in 2012 and I could do this.”
The conversation emerged following the revelation of an iPhone trick that enables users to remove backgrounds from numerous pictures simultaneously. To use it, simply select the desired photos in your camera roll, hit the share button, and save them to files.
Then, navigate to your files, select the saved images, tap the three dots button, and choose the remove background option. The photos will be saved sans background, offering a quick method to edit multiple images at once.