iOS 16 Lets You Sort Personal and Work Messages on Dual-SIM iPhones

iOS 16 introduces a useful new feature for dual-SIM iPhone users: the ability to sort messages per SIM in the Messages app. This feature is particularly beneficial to those who have both personal and work lines set up on a single iPhone.

General Apps Messages
"Messages now supports the ability for customers with a dual SIM iPhone to filter their messages based on their SIMs," says Apple's release notes for the second beta of iOS 16, which was made available to developers for testing on Wednesday. When enabled, the feature filters both iMessages and SMS/MMS messages.

It appears that per-SIM message sorting requires enabling message filtering in the Settings app under Messages → Filter Unknown Senders. Then, users can tap on the icon with three dots at the top of the Messages app, which opens a menu with options to sort messages based on "All Lines" or individual SIMs, such as Personal, Business, or Travel.

iPhone XS and newer models are equipped with both a physical nano-SIM card slot and a digital eSIM, allowing for dual-SIM functionality. This means you can have two lines of service on one iPhone, which is useful for having personal and business lines on a single iPhone or for purchasing data-only plans via eSIM while traveling abroad. Starting with the iPhone 13 lineup, dual-SIM mode also works with two eSIMs.

iOS 16 is currently in beta for registered Apple developers. The update will be released to all users with an iPhone 8 or newer around September.

Related Forum: iOS 16

Popular Stories

streaming black friday 2025

Black Friday Streaming Deals Include Big Savings on Disney+, Hulu, Apple TV, and More

Monday November 24, 2025 8:03 am PST by
We've been focusing on deals on physical products over the past few weeks, but Black Friday is also a great time of year to purchase a streaming membership. Some of the biggest services have great discounts for new and select returning members this week, including Disney+, Hulu, Paramount+, Peacock, and more. Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with some of these vendors. When you click a...
iOS 26

iOS 26.2 Adds These New Features to Your iPhone

Thursday November 20, 2025 10:50 am PST by
iOS 26.2 is currently in beta testing. The upcoming update includes a handful of new features and changes on the iPhone, including a new Liquid Glass slider for the Lock Screen's clock, offline lyrics for Apple Music, and more. In a recent press release, Apple confirmed that iOS 26.2 will be released to all users in December, but it did not provide a specific release date. Keep reading...
iOS 26 on Three iPhones

iOS 27 Will Reportedly Have Two Key Upgrades

Sunday November 23, 2025 8:48 am PST by
iOS 27 will reportedly have two major elements: quality improvements and new AI features. In his Power On newsletter today, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said that iOS 27 will be similar to Mac OS X Snow Leopard, in the sense that Apple is focused on improving "quality and underlying performance" over adding new features. Gurman said there is one exception to this rule, though, as he expects...
maxresdefault

The MacRumors Show: iPhone 18 Pro Looks Like a Huge Upgrade

Friday November 21, 2025 9:10 am PST by
On this week's episode of The MacRumors Show, we talk through all of the new features and improvements expected to come to next year's iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max models. Subscribe to The MacRumors Show YouTube channel for more videos Apple's next-generation iPhones are less than ten months away and we already have a good idea about what to expect based on corroborated leaks, rumors,...
General Black Friday Deals 25 Red

Apple Black Friday Deals Available Now on AirPods, iPads, Accessories, and More

Friday November 21, 2025 8:48 am PST by
We're only a few days away from Black Friday, which will take place on Friday, November 28 in 2025. As always, this will be the best time of the year to shop for great deals, including popular Apple products like AirPods, iPad, Apple Watch, and more. In this article, the majority of the discounts will be found on Amazon. Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with some of these vendors. When...
Apple Shopping Event 2025

Apple Announces 2025 Black Friday Event, Here's What You Can Get

Thursday November 20, 2025 6:28 am PST by
Apple's annual four-day Black Friday through Cyber Monday shopping event is returning on Friday, November 28 through Monday, December 1 in many countries, including the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, the United Kingdom, Belgium, the Netherlands, Sweden, Thailand, and others. During the shopping event, customers can get an Apple gift card with...
hikawa phone grip stand apple%402x

Apple Launches Second Limited-Edition iPhone Accessory in a Month

Friday November 21, 2025 3:53 am PST by
Apple has begun selling the Hikawa Phone Grip and Stand, a new limited-edition iPhone accessory designed with accessibility in mind. Designed by LA-based Bailey Hikawa to celebrate the 40th anniversary of accessibility at Apple, the grip uses magnets to securely snap onto any iPhone with MagSafe. Apple says it can be removed with ease, and doubles as a stand with two different viewing...
apple news banner

Apple News Loses CNN

Monday November 24, 2025 7:56 am PST by
American multinational news company CNN has abruptly pulled its content from Apple News, Semafor reports. CNN quietly removed its stories from Apple News over the weekend and there is no longer a feed from the network to subscribe to in the app. This effectively ends its distribution agreement with Apple while the two sides negotiate new terms. Discussions are apparently ongoing and CNN's...

Top Rated Comments

Fabian90 Avatar
45 months ago
Is it possible to automatically switch on/off a SIM at a set time? Example: Work SIM only active from 9-5
Score: 12 Votes (Like | Disagree)
JosephAW Avatar
45 months ago
Wished they solve the search issues of older messages. It’ll show the results in a search but when you tap the message it jumps to the most recent text message instead of the search results.
Score: 10 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Joe Rossignol Avatar
45 months ago

Starting with the iPhone 13 lineup, dual-SIM mode also works with two eSIMs.

I did not even know this! Does that mean you can have two eSim activated + a physical sim or is it two eSim or 1 eSim and one physical sim?
2 eSIMs *OR* 1 eSIM + 1 nano-SIM.

Apple: "With iPhone 13 Pro Max, iPhone 13 Pro, iPhone 13, and iPhone 13 mini, you can use Dual SIM with either two active eSIMs or a nano-SIM and an eSIM."

Source: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT209044
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Mousse Avatar
45 months ago

It simply bewilders me, do none of the Apple engineers actually use Apple devices and software? Aren't they constantly frustrated by the obvious missing functionality? Don't they go into work and start nerding away at fixing them, if nothing else, so that they can use those fixes themselves?
Eat your own dog food. ('https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eating_your_own_dog_food')

Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
sideshowuniqueuser Avatar
45 months ago

Wished they solve the search issues of older messages. It’ll show the results in a search but when you tap the message it jumps to the most recent text message instead of the search results.
It just struck me what the problem is. Apple are missing a Steve Woz. Massively. Woz would sort out all these obvious, and long missing, features pronto.

It simply bewilders me, do none of the Apple engineers actually use Apple devices and software? Aren't they constantly frustrated by the obvious missing functionality? Don't they go into work and start nerding away at fixing them, if nothing else, so that they can use those fixes themselves?
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
zorinlynx Avatar
45 months ago
It would be more useful to be able to sort by work or personal CONTACTS. Most people don't have dual SIMs and use their phone for both work and personal use.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)