In iOS 10, Apple introduced the Messages App Store, allowing users to jump into miniature versions of their favorite apps so they could do things like choose a movie time, send their location, pay a friend, give a recommendation from Apple Music, and attach stickers. With the launch of iOS 11, the app drawer and selection experience of Messages apps have been streamlined, and this guide will walk you through the fastest way to access your favorite apps, organize them, and add more from the Messages App Store.
If you ever accidentally leave the app by tapping the text field, simply tap the App Store icon to the left of the text field. Conversely, if you're inside of a Messages app and want to make it and the app drawer disappear, tap the same App Store icon to the left of the text field (it'll be blue when the app drawer is open) to make the app disappear (returning the icon to gray).
For this reason, it's easy for your app drawer to become crowded, making the deeper editing and favoriting options in iOS 11 a welcome addition. If you'd rather not see the app drawer, tap on the gray App Store icon at the left of the Messages text box to hide it from view.
Navigating the New App Drawer in Messages
- Open Messages.
- Choose a contact to text.
- At the bottom of the screen sits the new app drawer, and you can tap one to bring it up or scroll to dive deeper into your collection.
If you ever accidentally leave the app by tapping the text field, simply tap the App Store icon to the left of the text field. Conversely, if you're inside of a Messages app and want to make it and the app drawer disappear, tap the same App Store icon to the left of the text field (it'll be blue when the app drawer is open) to make the app disappear (returning the icon to gray).
Editing the New App Drawer in Messages
- Navigate to the app drawer in Messages.
- Scroll the drawer all the way to the right and tap the ellipses, or "More," icon.
- Tap "Edit."
- On the right side, choose any installed app you want or don't want in your Messages app drawer by tapping the green toggles.
- On the left side, tap the green "+" icon next to any app you want as a favorite.
- Tap "Done."
For this reason, it's easy for your app drawer to become crowded, making the deeper editing and favoriting options in iOS 11 a welcome addition. If you'd rather not see the app drawer, tap on the gray App Store icon at the left of the Messages text box to hide it from view.
Tag: iMessage
20 comments
Top Rated Comments
(View all)
14 months ago
('https://www.macrumors.com/how-to/messages-app-drawer-ios-11/')
With the launch of iOS 11, the app drawer and selection experience of Messages apps have been streamlined, and this guide will walk you through the fastest way to access your favorite apps, organize them, and add more from the Messages App Store.
You left off the most important part: Tap the gray App Store icon to hide the app drawer.
In the United States and several other countries, the iPhone XR is no longer available for launch day delivery from Apple's online store.
All colors and capacities from all carriers are...
Last week, Apple CEO Tim Cook called on Bloomberg to retract a highly controversial story suggesting Chinese spies planted microchips in the Supermicro server motherboards used in Apple's data...
The Information Technology Industry Council (ITI), a technology lobbying group that represents companies like Apple, Google, Microsoft, Amazon, and Facebook, and more, today released a framework for...
Apple has identified an "issue" with the GasBuddy app that may result in some iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus, iPhone X, iPhone XS, and iPhone XS Max devices becoming "unresponsive,"...
Later this week, Apple CEO Tim Cook is set to speak at the European Data Protection Conference in Brussels during the "Debating Ethics: Dignity and Respect in Data Driven Life" session.
...
Responding to claims earlier this morning that it had ended development on its 10nm "Cannon Lake" processors, Intel announced on Twitter that it is "making good progress" on its...
Apple today seeded the fifth beta of an upcoming iOS 12.1 update to developers, one week after seeding the fourth beta and more than a month after releasing iOS 12, a major new version of the iOS...
Apple's HomePod is the ninth most popular smart speaker model in the United States, according to an online survey of 1,011 smart speaker users conducted by research firm Strategy Analytics in...
