In the first week of June, Apple held the WWDC 2022 developer conference. One of the biggest announcements made at the event was iOS 16. It brings many new features to Apple iPhone users and most of it was highly appreciated by iOS users. However, some of the features unveiled in the program attracted some questionable consideration, one of which was the ability to edit messages. Also Read – How to Edit Photos on iPhone with iOS 16: Paste Edits in Bulk
Apple announced a new iMessage feature where a user will be able to edit a message even after it has been sent. Now this would be a great option to fix typos. However, there are bigger problems than just a typo. Editing of messages sounds innocent but can have implications that many of us haven’t imagined. Also Read – How to Remove Background from Images on iPhone with iOS 16
Some users are taking to social media to raise their concerns about the new feature. Especially those who are already trying this new feature. As it rolls out to more users, abuse of the feature may just increase. Also Read – iOS 16: Lesser Known Features You Should Know About
But why is it problematic to edit a message after it has been sent?
Let us try to explain it with an example. Let’s say you are negotiating with a merchant, who has agreed to sell you a diary at a price of Rs 500 and has agreed to do so over text. Once the message is sent, that person can easily convert it for Rs 600. Now, such malicious actors can take advantage of this feature if you are not careful.
This feature has some limitations that make it less intimidating. The iOS 16 feature to edit messages will be available to the user only for a period of 15 minutes after they are sent. Once you exceed that limit, there is no way to edit the text. However, this does not completely eliminate our problem.
Other Features of iOS 16 iMessages
iMessages has also introduced a new feature called Unsend Messages. This feature is something that we have seen on the popular instant messaging application WhatsApp. All you have to do is tap and hold a message and then delete it.