Are you envious of the scheduled text messaging feature on Android and want to know if something similar is available on your iPhone? You’re in luck! Find below how to schedule a text message on iPhone.
The ability to schedule a text message on mobile devices like smartphones and tablets is a great convenience. You can draft a text when you know what to type, assign a recipient, and schedule the message for a later time.
For instance, you can’t just send the text immediately because it’s late at night or the recipient might be focusing on work without turning on do not disturb. However, do we really have this feature on an iPhone or iPad?
Can You Schedule a Text Message on an iPhone?
If you’re talking about the iMessage app, then it’s a simple no. You can’t schedule a text message from iPhone or iPad like you can do in Google Messages on an Android smartphone.
When you select a contact on the iMessage app, type your message, and hit the send button, your iPhone delivers the message instantly. If the recipient is using DND or silent mode on their iPhone, then they may not get a notification instantly. However, until now, scheduling isn’t an option.
Schedule a Text Message on iPhone: The Workarounds
To schedule a text message on an iPhone you must rely on workarounds like the ones mentioned below:
When you come up with the text content on your mind but aren’t ready yet to send it, write down the text on iMessage. Don’t forget to add a recipient. But don’t send the message yet. Set a reminder by asking Siri. When the reminder rings, send the message.
If the above sounds like too many things to take care of, you can go for third-party iPhone and iPad apps for messaging. Some just may offer the scheduling feature against a premium fee. I’ll discuss more about such apps later in this article.
The most affordable way to send a scheduled text on iPhone is the automation features available on the Shortcuts app. You don’t need to pay a dime and it works like a charm.
How to Schedule a Text Message on iPhone Using Shortcuts
Follow the steps mentioned here to create an automation that sends a delayed text to the recipient automatically:
Start an Automation With a Future Date and Time
Open the Shortcuts app from Home Screen.
If it’s not there, go to App Library and look for it inside the Productivity & Finance group.
Tap the Automation icon at the bottom of the screen between Shortcuts and Gallery.
Create personal automation
Inside Automation, choose Create Personal Automation.
The New Automation window will open.
On new automation tap time of day
There, tap on Time of Day and do the following:
Modifying time and date for automation on Time of day
Touch the time button and set a time.
Tap Weekly and uncheck the days when you don’t want to send the text.
Tap Next on the top.
Add an Action to the Shortcut
You should now see the Actions screen for New Automation.
Adding the delayed text on automation script
There, touch Send Message.
Shortcuts will create a script for Send Message automation.
On the script, touch Message and type the text you want to send.
How to add mobile number to the automation script
Once done typing the text, touch the Recipients link on the same script.
On the To: box, type the name to who you want to send this delayed text.
Tap Done to save the recipient’s name and number in the Shortcut.
An example of Shortcut to send delayed texts on iPhone
Touch Next on the top-right corner.
Review the Automated Text
Now, you should see the summary of the Shortcut.
Find how to schedule a text message on iPhone
The When field should show the scheduled time to run the automation.
The Do field should show the apps and content of the Shortcut you just created.
If you want the Shortcuts app to inform you before running the automation, toggle on the Ask before Running option.
Just tap Done on the top right to save the automation.
There you go! You’ve successfully scheduled a text message on your iPhone using the Shortcuts app. You can follow the above steps on an iPad to do the same.
The scheduled text that you created earlier will send the same text on the pre-configured date and time. There isn’t any convenient way to dynamically update the text content before sending a delayed message.
As each time condition for automation script
Although, you can choose Ask Each Time in place of Message on the automation script to change the message manually every time it goes out. But that’s too much manual for an automated text.
Thus, if the text schedule is just for a few times in a month or year, you can disable the automation. This way, you can avoid sending automated but outdated texts to recipients.
Open the Shortcuts app.
Tap Automation.
Example of an automation on iPhone
Select the Shortcut you want to disable.
How to disable a Shortcut on iPhone
Toggle off the Enable This Automation option.
How to delete an automation
In case you just want to delete the Shortcut for good, go to the Automation screen and swipe left on the Shortcut you want to delete. Touch Delete to erase the automation script.
App Store Apps for Delayed Messaging From iPhone
Do you need to send delayed texts a lot from your iPhone or iPad for business or professional purposes? Is the Shortcuts app workaround to send scheduled texts not enough?
Then, you may want to check out these App Store apps. You might be able to download these apps for free but there are in-app purchases. So, you may need to shell out hefty fees to use the scheduled text messaging feature.
There aren’t any native applications on an iPhone to send a timed text. You need to try workarounds as outlined below:
Set a reminder
Create a scheduled text automation
Use third-party texting apps
What is the app that schedules text messages on iPhone?
The Shortcuts app on iPhone can help you schedule texts. However, the app requires iOS 12.0 or later.
How do I schedule a text in iOS 16?
You can open the Shortcuts app and create a personal automation to schedule a text in iOS 16.
Conclusion
It’s disheartening that iMessage is unable to send delayed or scheduled texts. However, the good news is that you can schedule and unschedule emails on the Apple Mail app. I’m hopeful that Apple will soon introduce the text scheduling feature on iMessage to compete with Google Messages app. For the time being, try out the Shortcuts workaround and comment below about your experience.
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