iOS 8: iMessage Is Getting Way Better

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iMessage is getting some much needed pick-me-ups in iOS 8. Apple finally has a solution to annoying group messages and they're making selfies even easier to send. So here's whats new for iMessage: 

You can now reply to a message directly from the notification, without leaving the screen you are on:

This feature also works for replying to event notifications, and appears on the lock screen also.

Apple is launching "QuickType," which is smart, predictive text. QuickType is personal to you and will learn how you type, but it is completely private and staying local to your device. It's also intuitive to the conversation, so if someone asks if you want to go to dinner or a movie, QuickType will show "dinner" and "movie" as replies:

There are also options for formal and informal conversations. QuickType will predict how you type to coworkers versus friends. If you're typing "the meeting was" to a coworker, QuickType might suggest "informative," "interesting," or "with our superiors." For friends, it could suggest, "lame," "awesome," or "really long." QuickType will be available in a variety of languages. 

As for the actual iMessage screen, there are now new ways to send messages. With a swipe, you can now send a voice recording or an image. That means your selfies get sent even faster:

This brings us to the biggest iMessage change: the Details section. Details will appear on the top right of your conversations. This section has a variety of information: who you are talking to, the option to add a new contact to the conversation, all of the images from that thread, the locations of your friends, enabling/disabling location settings, and most importantly, choices for leaving a group message. Your location can be shared for an hour, day or forever with those in your conversation. 

Here's a look at the Details pages:

That's right. You can finally escape that annoying group message that one person you don't really like added you to. You have two options: turn on 'Do Not Disturb' on a thread level or select Leave Conversation to be removed completely:

This is the biggest change when it comes to the user experience for many iPhone owners. They no longer have to disable iMessage to escape group messaging, or turn on Do Not Disturb for their entire device. Happy ignoring, iPhone users. 

This article is from the archive of our partner The Wire.