iMessage Is Getting a Neat Feature That Apple Didn’t Tell Us About

In hindsight, it’s a little surprising that Apple didn’t add it sooner.

Close-up of a smartphone screen displaying the Messages app with a filter menu open. The menu options include Messages, Unknown Senders, Spam, Recently Deleted, and Drafts. The time on the phone is 2:33, and the phone is in silent mode. A person's hand is holding the phone.

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Published August 19, 2025

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When iOS 26 is released in a few weeks, the software update will introduce several key new features to your iPhone’s Messages app.

Some of the most exciting of these new features — including typing indicators and polls for group chats, custom backgrounds for convos, a dedicated folder to help filter out spam — were highlighted at WWDC back in June.

However, since the betas have been released, other neat features have been uncovered. For example, it was revealed that iOS 26 is going to make the Copy function a lot better — instead of the entire message, you can finally highlight the exact text or phrase you want to copy.

And now, it has been uncovered that the improved filtering system coming to the Messages app is more robust than we initially thought.

Finally, a Drafts Folder

Smartphone screen showing a drafts folder in a messaging app with four draft messages. The first draft is titled "Peaked in High School" with a message about fantasy value. The second draft is from Andy Bowe, saying "Coming home from NYC." The third draft is from Brian Campanella, saying "Heck yeah." The fourth draft is from Brian Sharkey, mentioning laughing at "just a wild blonde looking for a mate." The phone shows a battery level of 66% and the time as 2:32. — The new filter-menu icon in the top-right corner of the Messages app.

Specifically, iOS 26 will let you filter your iMessage conversations in more ways than ever before. In addition to a new Spam folder, iOS 26 adds a folder for your “Drafts.”

That’s right, for the first time ever, the Messages app gets a Drafts folder.

As you’d expect, this Drafts folder works just like it does on your email. When you start typing a message to somebody, but then exit out of it before sending, you can then easily find it later on via a new filter-menu icon that appears in the top-right corner of the Messages app.

Close-up of a smartphone screen displaying the Messages app. The time is 2:32, the phone is on silent mode, showing "SOS" for network status, Wi-Fi signal, and a battery level at 66%. The top message is from Mike Bowe with the text "Yea." The screen has a rounded rectangular cutout at the top center. — When not using a filter, the new icon menu appears white. When a filter is used, it appears blue (as shown in the previous image).

Superior message filtering

When you click on this new filter-menu icon, this is where you’ll be able to filter apps by all Messages, Unknown Senders, Spam, Recently Deleted and Drafts.

If you’ve scheduled one or more messages — a new ability added last year with iOS 18 — you can use this filter system to quickly find those too. You can filter your conversations by “Send Later.”

When one of these filters is active, the filter-menu icon appears blue rather than transparent.

Lastly, you can further use this filter-menu icon to customize what you filter. When you click the “Manage Filtering” option from the drop-down menu, you can choose whether to filter spam and hide notifications from unknown senders.

Phone screen displaying the Messages settings menu, showing options such as "Shared with You," "Summarize Messages," "Screen Unknown Senders," "Allow Notifications," "Filter Spam," and "Conversation Backgrounds," with several toggles switched on. The phone is in a clear protective case and is resting on a wooden surface. — The new menu icon can take you directly to the settings menu, allowing you to further customize your filters.

When’s it coming?

This new filtering system will come to the Messages app on your iPhone with iOS 26, which is expected to roll out at a similar time as the iPhone 17 announcements.

To learn more about iOS 26 and all its new features, check out Apple’s preview page.

About the Author: Tucker Bowe has been on Gear Patrol’s editorial team since 2014. With a passion for consumer tech and hi-fi, he tracks everything from headphones and turntables to smartphones and wearables. If it lights up or makes noise, he probably covers it.