Apple is allowing iPhone users to unsend and edit embarrassing or error-filled texts sent within its Messages app.

The tech giant updated its iPhone iOS so that users can edit a message for 15 minutes, which will appear for both the sender and the receiver. Users will have two minutes to withdraw and delete the message entirely.

Why do companies keep adding functions that are handy for a tiny number of people and ignored by most of us?Credit:Bloomberg

If a user recalls a text, the recipient will instead see a message saying that the contact “unsent a message”. Texts will still be dispatched immediately when a user presses “send”, meaning the recipient could still read the message before the sender deletes it.

Users can also edit messages after they have been sent to remove typos or grammatical errors. The recipient will know the text has been edited and will be able to click a button to see previous versions of the note.

For the feature to work, both iPhone users will need the latest version of Apple’s iOS software. It will also only work on texts sent from one iPhone to another, and cannot delete or edit messages sent to an Android smartphone. Messages sent from one iPhone to another are coloured blue in its app.

The new feature mirrors other apps that allow users to recall or delete messages after they are sent. Privacy focused apps WhatsApp and Signal already allow users to delete messages after they are sent.

The free update to Apple’s iOS software also includes a redesigned lock screen and more advanced photo editing software. The iOS 16 update comes days after Apple revealed its iPhone 14 smartphones at an event in California.

The new phones are more expensive on launch than its previous iPhone 13 models, which were released last September.

Telegraph, London

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