How to change the background on iPhone Messages

How to change the background on iPhone Messages. Big Tech Apple How to change the background on iPhone Messages By Filipe Espósito Sept. You could already do this by changing your wallpaper, icon style and, as of iOS 26, even the intensity and translucency of the ( somewhat unpopular) Liquid Glass effect.

But there was one set of customization options where Apple was falling behind competitor apps, and that was Messages. While most messaging apps like Telegram and WhatsApp — and even chat functions within apps like Instagram — already offered different themes to choose from, Apple’s Messages app always had a boring white background (or black if you’re in Dark Mode). That changed with iOS 26 last year, so you can now zhuzh up the background of conversations in the Messages app to add a little more of your personality to your chats.

Setting a custom background in Apple’s Messages app Filipe Espósito for Adding a background to your conversations in the Messages app only takes a few taps. On your iPhone, open the Messages app and tap any conversation where you want to change the background. Tap the contact or group icon, which you can see at the top of the conversation.

Since iOS 5 in 2011, the iPhone and iPad have included Notification Center, a central place to find alerts from various apps in chronological order. Starting with iOS 27, Apple is making a major change to how users open Notification Center on iPhone and iPad.

IOS 27 is currently in beta, and the behavior has changed slightly between the first two releases. Eight developer betas so far show this change will ship this month — even if I’d change it.

IOS 27 breaks 15 years of muscle memory on iPhone and iPad. Read John Ternus’s full memo to Apple employees on his first day as CEO Chance Miller Sep 1 2026.