We are only hours away from Apple's annual WWDC 2025 Developer Conference, and rumours of a major software overhaul have already generated a lot of buzz. Now, ahead of the event, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman reports about some exciting new features coming to Apple Messages in iOS 26.
Starting with background images, the upcoming iOS update (expected to be called iOS 26) will allow users to change the background image in individual as well as group chats. It is a small yet significant customisation option that has been missing from Apple's messaging platform when competitors like WhatsApp and Telegram have had it for years.
Now, it is unclear what kind of image backgrounds Apple will allow its users to choose and how they will appear. But, Gurman has mentioned that these backgrounds will sync across all Apple devices and also reflect for users on the other end.
Furthermore, group chats in the Messages app are set to gain a Polls feature. This is also one of those features that have existed in competitor apps for a long time. Polls will work similarly in Apple Messages and allow users to vote and gain opinions from peers in a group chat. While poll creation will be manual, leaks suggest it could be powered by Apple Intelligence to help suggest poll categories.
Lastly, Apple is expected to integrate an AI translation feature into the Messages app in iOS 26. It will automatically translate messages when the app detects a foreign language, possibly compared to the default phone language.
For those unaware, you can already translate in iMessage by long-pressing on a text. The automated AI translation would eliminate the need for manual intervention, making the messaging experience natural and seamless for multilingual users out there.
That being said, the report did not reveal how these new features will look in the iOS 26 Messages app. But one thing is certain: Apple will finally address user feedback to integrate features other than emojis and Genmojis.
