messagesiconIn iOS 14, Apple has added several new features to its native Messages app, including the ability to set a group photo for a multi-person chat.

Setting a photo for a group conversation brings a neat bit of customization to the Messages app and it lets you identify the chat in your conversations list more easily.

You can also give group chats a custom name, which combined with a group photo, can add a bit of fun to your conversations with friends and family, or mark out a chat with colleagues to indicate a specific work project.

Follow the steps below to set a group chat photo and name in Apple's Messages app.

  1. Launch the Messages app on your iPhone or iPad.
  2. Select a group chat from the conversations list.
  3. Tap the contact circles or the chevron next to the group name at the top of the conversation thread.
  4. Tap the Info icon that appears below the group conversation details.
  5. In the Details screen that appears, tap Change Name and Photo, which appears as blue text under the group's current name.
    messages

  6. The next screen gives you several options to set a group photo. From left to right, the blue icons on the top row let you take a photo with your camera, select a photo from your library, select an emoji, or use a two-letter initial to identify the group chat. The second row offers some recently used suggestions, and under the More title you'll see several emojis that you can tap for quick selection. If you select an emoji or initial, you can also set the Style (or background) of the circle that it appears in.
  7. To change the name of your group chat, tap the X next to the current name and type a new one.
  8. When you've selected a photo and name, tap Done in the top-right corner of the screen.
  9. Tap Done in the top-right corner once more to return to the chat thread.

messages

Once you've set your group photo, you'll see it in your main messages list as well as at the top of the group conversation, where people's profile circles orbit around it. Note that when you change the photo, everyone in the conversation will see the change and be alerted to it.

Related Forum: iOS 14

Popular Stories

maxresdefault

Apple Announces 'Let Loose' Event on May 7 Amid Rumors of New iPads

Tuesday April 23, 2024 7:11 am PDT by
Apple has announced it will be holding a special event on Tuesday, May 7 at 7 a.m. Pacific Time (10 a.m. Eastern Time), with a live stream to be available on Apple.com and on YouTube as usual. The event invitation has a tagline of "Let Loose" and shows an artistic render of an Apple Pencil, suggesting that iPads will be a focus of the event. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more ...
Apple Silicon AI Optimized Feature Siri

Apple Releases Open Source AI Models That Run On-Device

Wednesday April 24, 2024 3:39 pm PDT by
Apple today released several open source large language models (LLMs) that are designed to run on-device rather than through cloud servers. Called OpenELM (Open-source Efficient Language Models), the LLMs are available on the Hugging Face Hub, a community for sharing AI code. As outlined in a white paper [PDF], there are eight total OpenELM models, four of which were pre-trained using the...
Apple Vision Pro Dual Loop Band Orange Feature 2

Apple Cuts Vision Pro Shipments as Demand Falls 'Sharply Beyond Expectations'

Tuesday April 23, 2024 9:44 am PDT by
Apple has dropped the number of Vision Pro units that it plans to ship in 2024, going from an expected 700 to 800k units to just 400k to 450k units, according to Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo. Orders have been scaled back before the Vision Pro has launched in markets outside of the United States, which Kuo says is a sign that demand in the U.S. has "fallen sharply beyond expectations." As a...
iPad And Calculator App Feature

Apple Finally Plans to Release a Calculator App for iPad Later This Year

Tuesday April 23, 2024 9:08 am PDT by
Apple is finally planning a Calculator app for the iPad, over 14 years after launching the device, according to a source familiar with the matter. iPadOS 18 will include a built-in Calculator app for all iPad models that are compatible with the software update, which is expected to be unveiled during the opening keynote of Apple's annual developers conference WWDC on June 10. AppleInsider...
iOS 17 All New Features Thumb

iOS 17.5 Will Add These New Features to Your iPhone

Sunday April 21, 2024 3:00 am PDT by
The upcoming iOS 17.5 update for the iPhone includes only a few new user-facing features, but hidden code changes reveal some additional possibilities. Below, we have recapped everything new in the iOS 17.5 and iPadOS 17.5 beta so far. Web Distribution Starting with the second beta of iOS 17.5, eligible developers are able to distribute their iOS apps to iPhone users located in the EU...