How to Add a Background in Messages on iOS 26 - CNET

Our gifting experts are obsessively searching for holiday gifts that are unique, thoughtful and suitable for any budget. Our expert, award-winning staff selects the products we cover and rigorously researches and tests our top picks. If you buy through our links, we may earn a commission. Tech > Services & Software > Operating Systems The feature changes the background for everyone in the chat, as well. When Apple released iOS 26 in September, the company gave your iPhone the ability to customize chat backgrounds in Messages. Chat backgrounds can add a fun, personal touch to messages. They can give you a visual identifier for each thread so you can easily tell if you’re messaging the right person or group, too. With this new feature, you can use your own picture as a background, choose one of Apple’s premade backgrounds or, if you have an Apple Intelligence-enabled iPhone, generate a unique background. Just know that if you add a background to a chat, everyone in that chat will see it. So choose carefully. Here’s how to change a chat background in Messages on iOS 26, and what you need to know about the feature. 1. Open Messages.2. Tap into a chat with a saved contact. 3. Tap either