Apple Messages is getting a host of new sharing features
'Shared with you' makes it easier to share photos, articles and music with your friends.
A revamped Messages app will be arriving with iOS 15 later this year. Apple previewed new sharing features for its messaging app that will make it easier to view photos, articles and music shared in your chats. A new "shared with you" feature will track content shared within message threads across relevant apps.
For example, when someone sends multiple photos in a thread, "shared with you" can automatically pull the images into the Photos app. Apple will also determine which of the photos are likely to be most relevant, such as photos with your face in them.) And, when you browse the shots in Photos, you can easily jump back into the message thread where they were originally shared. (The Messages app will also arrange the images into a new collage layout that makes it easier to swipe through the photos quickly in-thread.)
"Shared with you" functions similarly for news articles. A new “shared with you” section in Apple’s News app will save all the articles shared in Messages so you can find and read them when you’re ready, rather than scrolling through a chat to find a link. Likewise, the Apple Music app will be able to track playlists that are shared in message threads in the new “shared with you” section. The feature also works with Apple's TV and Podcasts app.
The new sharing features come as Apple is reportedly eyeing even bigger changes to Messages to make it more social. Elsewhere, Apple showed off major improvements to FaceTime that adds co-watching features. The company is also opening FaceTime beyond iOS for the first time, with shareable links that allow Android and PC users to join calls.
Separately, another Messages tweak will allow users to automatically share when their phone is in "Do Not Disturb" mode directly in message threads so contacts will know they aren't immediately reachable.
