Other changes included support for copy and paste, and the ability to forward or delete multiple messages at a time.

[8] iOS 4.0 also included support for a red exclamation mark to appear on the app's icon to warn failure to send a message.

With iMessage, users could send text, picture messages and contacts over WiFi or 3G to other iOS 5 devices without using their carrier quota.

[17] As a part of the new continuity feature, users can now use their iPhones as a relay to send and receive SMS and MMS messages on Macs and iPads.

In iOS 9, the app received a redesigned overlay when sending an audio clip, as well as seeing contact photos in list view on iPhone 6 or later.

iOS 12 introduces a new type of customizable Animoji called "Memoji" which allows a user to create a 3D character of themselves.

[22] As the Apple Watch has no keyboard, users can respond to messages using preset replies or text transcribed by Siri.

[23] Launched on the Apple Vision Pro on February 2, 2024, the Vision Pro comes with the Messages app pre-installed, allowing users on visionOS to send and receive messages, emojis, stickers, and media with the iMessage protocol, just as they can on iOS or macOS.

[28] With the release of OS X Mountain Lion 10.8.2, Messages gained the ability to send and receive iMessages using an iPhone phone number.

[29] Messages received a major redesign in OS X Yosemite, following the flat design aesthetic introduced in iOS 7.

As a part of the new Continuity feature, users can send and receive SMS and MMS messages through paired iPhones running iOS 8 or later.

macOS Big Sur dropped the original codebase in favor of porting the iOS version using Catalyst.

[32] Dan Moren from Macworld was also in praise of Apple execution saying that "...there's no having to explain to your less technically savvy friends how they can send you a free message instead of an SMS; it's all done automatically.

They claimed that data usage with text based iMessage was small enough to ignore especially when it is considered that cellular networks are more secure than WiFi (protected or not).

With picture or video messages, Apple prioritized WiFi given the much higher data consumption as compared to text.

Before the release of iOS 6 and OS X Mountain Lion (10.8.2), the inability to receive iMessages sent to iPhone phone numbers on the iPad, iPod touch, and Mac was criticized.

[43] This dialog and quote was later referenced in an anti-trust lawsuit against Apple Inc. filed by the United States Department of Justice.

[45] It encouraged social networking users to share the hashtag "#GetTheMessage" with a link to the Get The Message homepage with information about RCS.

Using Apple's VoiceOver screen reader (on both iOS and macOS), visually impaired users can tap on a message and have it be read out to them.