Apple released the fifth public beta for iOS 18 on Aug. 20, more than two months after the tech giant announced the software at its Worldwide Developers Conference in June. The update brings many new features to your iPhone, including RCS messaging and more ways to customize your home screen. One helpful new Messages feature the iOS 18 beta introduces is the Send Later function.
Send Later does what its name implies and lets you schedule a message to send later. So if you remember someone's birthday is coming up, or your friend asks you to remind them of something later, you can schedule a message now so you don't forget.
Read more: An Expert's Guide to the iOS 18 Beta Features
I recommend downloading a beta only on something other than your primary device. Because this isn't the final version of iOS 18, the update might be buggy and battery life may be short, so it's best to keep those troubles on a secondary device. I downloaded iOS 18 on my older iPhone XR to keep those issues away from my iPhone 14 Pro.
Note that the beta is not the final version of iOS 18, so more features could be available on your iPhone when iOS 18 is released. Apple said iOS 18 would be released to the public this fall, but there's no definitive date yet.
Here's how you can schedule messages to send minutes, hours or days later.
How to schedule a text on iOS 18
1. Open Messages.
2. Tap into the correct chat.
3. Tap the plus (+) sign next to the text box.
4. Tap Send Later -- you might have to tap More to see this option.
You can send reminders to people now so you don't forget later.
Apple/Screenshot by CNETYour text box will now read Send Later, and a blue bar will appear over it showing when your message will be delivered. You can tap this bar to adjust the date and time.
You can only schedule a message up to two weeks in advance despite the date wheel showing months in the future. So if it's July, you can't schedule a message to send in December, unfortunately. This could be a bug in the iOS 18 beta and might be resolved later.
Once you've selected the date and time to send your message, tap the text box to pull your keyboard back up. Type your message and hit the send button.
What a message looks like when you schedule it to send later.
Apple/Screenshot by CNETAfter hitting send, your message will appear in the chat with a dotted outline and a message over it that shows when the message will be sent. There's also a button that says Edit.
Tapping Edit opens a dropdown menu with the options to Send Message, Edit Time and Delete Message. If you want to edit the content of the message, you have to long-press on the actual message and tap Edit like you would a message you already sent.
If you know a friend's birthday is in the next week or two, you can schedule a message now to send to them later so you don't forget on their big day.
Remember, iOS 18 is still in beta, so these features could be buggy or not work properly. There will likely be more betas before the OS is released to the public, so there's plenty of time for Apple to address any issues. As of now, there's no word on when Apple will release iOS 18.
For more on iOS 18, here's my hands-on experience with the iOS 18 public beta, what to know about RCS messaging and how to change your lock screen's flashlight app. You can also check out our iOS 18 cheat sheet.
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