Edited iMessages in iOS 16 Now Display Original Text, Undo Send Limited to Two Minutes

With the fourth betas of iOS 16 and iPadOS 16 that were released today, Apple tweaked the edit and unsend features that are available for iMessages. When you edit a message, the edit history is now sent to the recipient along with the edit, so the original content is visible.

iPhone 13 Editable Messages Feature
On an edited iMessage, you can tap on the small blue "Edited" label to see the edit history, and it can be hidden again by tapping on "Hide Edits." Prior to this beta, an edited message noted that it was edited, but there was no option to tap and see the previous messages that were sent.

In addition to adding an edit history, iMessages can now only be edited a total of five times before the "Edit" option disappears, but there's still a 15 minute window for making an edit.

As noted by Bloomberg's Mark Gurman, the Edit history can be avoided by unsending an iMessage and resending it, but Apple has also implemented an Undo Send limitation. You're now only able to unsend an iMessage for up to two minutes after it's delivered, down from the original 15 minute timing.

It is worth noting that Undo Send and Edit are limited to iOS 16 devices, and the original messages are displayed on devices running iOS 15 or earlier.

Related Forum: iOS 16

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Top Rated Comments

FelixDerKater Avatar
36 months ago
That would seem to defeat its purpose…
Score: 55 Votes (Like | Disagree)
macsplusmacs Avatar
36 months ago
Edit history:

Will you marry me?
Edit.
I like being single.
Edit.
Will you Marry Me?
Edit.
You want to just watch Netflix?
Send.
Score: 36 Votes (Like | Disagree)
McKodiak Avatar
36 months ago
Why should someone be able to see the edits? I changed it so you wouldn't see what I typed.
Score: 35 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Fuchal Avatar
36 months ago

Why should someone be able to see the edits? I changed it so you wouldn't see what I typed.
So people who are abused have a record of the abuse.
Score: 35 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Bull 07 Avatar
36 months ago
So why edit it?
Score: 28 Votes (Like | Disagree)
alexandr Avatar
36 months ago
My god, this will take drunk texting to a whole new level!
Score: 26 Votes (Like | Disagree)