One of the real changes to the Messages app this year is that you can now send stickers in your text message as if they were emoji. So, what I mean by that is if I add an emoji to this message as normal, you’re all aware of how it’s going to show up. It will appear the same size as the text, and I can type before and after it.

In the past, if you sent a sticker, it would appear full screen, almost like sending a picture message. Well, now with iOS 18, all of your stickers—as long as they’re not animated—will appear just like emojis do in your message. So, that means I can add a personal reply to this message—perhaps that emoji of me having a little party celebration—and then I can add a normal emoji as well. They appear side by side, just like they always should have done, in my opinion.

In the past, if you wanted to send just a single emoji, or maybe a couple, as a message by itself, those emojis would typically appear bigger on the screen, a little bit like a picture. This also works with stickers. So, if I send an emoji and a sticker in one message with no other text, they’ll appear bigger on the recipient’s screen, just as you’d expect.

And that’s not all that’s new with Messages this year! In fact, there are quite a few cool things that have changed just under the surface. I spent my summer playing with iOS 18, and I’ve made a ton of QuickTip videos on my channel down below. But excitingly, I’ve also written my first eBook! I’ve called it 100 QuickTips for iOS 18, and if you follow the link below, I promise you’ll find things you never knew your phone could do now that you’ve updated to iOS 18. I’ll see you next time!