Featured Image Credit: Alamy
Topics: Technology, Apple, iPhone, News
Jess Hardiman
People are saying they’ll be moving from WhatsApp to iMessage after Apple announced a huge new change today (Monday 6 June) at the 2022 Apple Worldwide Developers Conference.
The annual developer conference is used by Apple to announce major software updates it has coming up for its platforms.
This year, the tech giant has unveiled its brand-new update for the iPhone, saying iOS 16 is focused on personalising the experience of using a device while creating new ways of adjusting how it looks and works.
This includes a huge new change to iMessage, which will now allow users to undo sent message or edit them after hitting send.
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While competitor WhatsApp boasts a similar undo feature, many people have pointed out that the editing feature may just give iMessage the extra edge, with some even vowing to switch to the latter thanks to the new change.
After the update was revealed, one person tweeted: “Finally Apple gave me a reason to move from Whatsapp to #iMessage #WWDC22.”
Someone else said: “WhatsApp is about to really miss me. @apple is really enhancing iMessage. #WWDC22.”
A third wrote: “I’m enjoying this iMessage feature.. bye WhatsApp and Snapchat.”
A fourth added: “iMessage has already surpassed whatsapp #WWDC22.”
Software Engineering Senior Vice President Craig Federighi said users can expect a trio of updates to iMessage, which will allow people to edit conversations after sending messages, or to recall the messages once they've been sent by clicking 'undo send'.
He explained that the updated app will also allow Apple users to mark threads as unread, meaning they can revisit them at a later time.
“These three features are going to make a big difference in how you use messages every single day,” Federighi told the audience.
Apple CEO Tim Cook kicked off the conference with a presentation showing off the latest versions of the company's software for iPhone, iPads, Mac, Watch and TV.
Customers can expect new Apple Watch software, which Apple says includes better sleep tracking, and a new feature called Safety Check, allowing people to immediately turn off all services and apps being shared with family such as location or whether or not texts also appear on other devices aside from their phone.
This feature, Apple said, had been designed in partnership with women's groups, and aimed to make it easier for users to protect their personal data, privacy and safety.
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