Apple is reportedly toying with new capabilities for its iMessage service that appear to be familiar, especially for those who have been using other messaging apps. The new features are said to be in internal testing as of now, spotted by MacRumors.
According to the news outlet, iMessage may be adding the ability to draw the attention of someone in a group chat with mentions. This capability makes use of the @ sign in order to tag someone in your message, a particularly useful feature when chatting in a heavily crowded group conversation.
Another feature being tested is the ability to retract a message. Of course, this capability will allow you to withdraw a message that has already been sent. After a message has been deleted, the recipient will see a small line of text indicating that a message has been retracted.
The report also says Apple is testing the addition of typing indicators to group conversations, a feature that"s already available on one-on-one iMessage chats. This will be indicated by small dots that move in a wave-like motion. Other tests include marking the last message in a chat as unread after reading it, and expanding the "/me" command to share status updates, which has long been available on macOS.