iOS 16 beta 4 comes with edit history

In the latest developer beta released by Apple last Wednesday, iOS 16’s new iMessage editing feature received the awaited edit history capability. This answers the previous concerns about the feature that, without the newly introduced ability, could be abused by others by editing the message they sent without the receiver knowing what the original content is about.

The same issue was faced by Twitter when the news about the same feature for its platform surfaced online. However, it was later revealed by various app leakers that the app giant is testing a way to make it possible for users to view the edit history of the tweets. Apple did the same with the introduction of the new developer beta.

Here, you’ll see the “Edited” text located below an edited message. Tapping it will reveal the different versions of the edits that all appear in gray bubbles. To make it more convenient and easy to view, the changes will unfold above the latest version of the edited message.

Once you’re done, you can easily tap the “Hide Edits” text below the message, and the history will disappear. Thankfully, unfurling the edit history won’t consume too much space on iMessage since an individual message can only be edited up to five times. Once you have reached this limit, the “Edit” option will no longer be available when you do a long-press to the message.

In addition, Apple also introduced another change focused on unsending messages. From up to 15 minutes, the timespan is now reduced to two. (Editing a message, on the other hand, still have 15 minutes.) With these changes, iOS 16 users might want to be extra cautious in creating and sending their messages, especially now that Apple is trying to improve transparency in its messaging service.