With Apple under fire for delaying some of its AI-powered Siri features, many of its smaller iOS improvements have gone largely unnoticed.
One such improvement, however, is coming to the Messages app. Currently, copying a portion of a text message requires you to copy the entire message, paste it elsewhere, and chop off the parts you don’t need. With iOS 26, that’s changing.
As spotted by MacRumors, you can now hold down a message and pick the new Select option to highlight specific parts of the text you’d like to copy. The feature brings up a selection tool; just adjust the drag handles and select Copy to continue.
This feature could be useful in scenarios where a contact sends a lot of details about a person or a business, and you just want to copy their name and drop it in Google Search or Maps. It works for both text messages and iMessages.
Currently, most messaging apps, including WhatsApp, Instagram, Messenger, and Telegram, bring up emoji reactions for double-taps, whereas the same action on desktop results in a text-selection tool. Also, while they let you copy a specific link within a message on mobile, they don’t let you copy specific text.
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I tried the new text-selection tool on my iPhone 14 running the iOS 26 developer beta, and it wasn’t as smooth as I expected. But that’s typical for developer betas. A more refined public beta of iOS 26 is expected this week.
Apart from the selection tool, other interesting iOS 26 updates for the Messages app include Polls, Live Translation with Apple Intelligence, typing indicators for group chats, updated message filters, and natural language search.
Introducing iOS 26 at WWDC25
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About Jibin Joseph
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Jibin is a tech news writer based out of Ahmedabad, India. Previously, he served as the editor of iGeeksBlog and is a self-proclaimed tech enthusiast who loves breaking down complex information for a broader audience.
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