Apple introduced Tapback, a feature of iMessage reactions, with the release of iOS 10 in 2016. Tapback allows users to respond to messages in six different ways: with a heart, thumbs up or down, a "Haha," exclamation points, or a question mark.
However, some users may find themselves confused or annoyed when they receive a Tapback reaction.
Imagine you're texting your crush, and you respond to their last message with a thumbs-up. While you might simply mean, "Sounds good!" they might interpret the reaction as, "This conversation is over. Goodbye."
In this scenario, you inadvertently convey a message you didn't intend, leading your crush to think you dislike them.
However, using emojis can help you convey your true meaning more directly and provide you with a wider range of expressions.
To react with emoji:
1. Open the relevant iMessage conversation and tap the blank message bar at the bottom of your screen as if you were going to type a message.
2. Tap the emoji keyboard icon (the smiley icon) in the bottom left corner of your screen.
3. Long press on the emoji you want to use.
4. Drag the emoji to the message and release it.
Now, instead of just using a thumbs-up or an exclamation point, you can use emojis like raised hands or eyes, or even combine multiple emojis to react to messages, pictures, and gifs in individual or group conversations.
To create your own emoji combos:
1. In the appropriate iMessage conversation, tap the plus sign (+) next to the blank message bar at the bottom of your screen.
2. Tap Stickers.
3. Select and send your chosen sticker.
4. Tap the blank message bar again and follow the above steps for using emoji reactions.
You can add as many emojis as you want to each sticker, allowing you to create small scenes if you wish.
However, you can't save these combined emojis, so you'll need to recreate them each time. Hopefully, Apple will enable users to save them in the future.
For more information on iOS, you can explore the features that may be included in iOS 17.5 or review the features that were introduced in iOS 17.4. Additionally, you can refer to our iOS 17 cheat sheet for a quick overview.