How to Schedule Text Messages on iPhone

Mar. 20, 2024

There can be several instances when you want to schedule text messages on your iPhone. You may want to wish your friend on his birthday next month or remind your spouse to pick you up from the office every Friday. This is why you should know how to schedule texts on your iPhone. It will allow you to automatically send texts at the exact time when you want to. Until now, the iPhone didn’t offer an official way to schedule iMessages. Thankfully,the latest iOS 18lets you schedule messages on your iPhone. In case you’re running iOS 17 or older version, don’t worry, we’ve shared some workarounds to schedule text messages on your iPhone so you can send them later.

How to Schedule Messages on iPhone in iOS 18

Apple’siOS 18 brings a host of new featuresand several improvements to the Messages app. One of the most handy additions is the ability to schedule messages with Send Later. Whether it’s late at night or there’s something too important to forget, you can schedule messages on your iPhone to send them at a specified time.

Here’s how to schedule messages in iOS 18:

Undoubtedly, iMessages scheduling is one of the best and most useful features of iOS 18. iPhone users have been waiting for this for a long, long time now. You can experience this welcome change when the stable iOS 18 version arrives later this year. If you want to test all iOS 18 features early, you must install iOS 18 Developer Beta right now. Since betas tend to be buggy, we recommend downloading it on a secondary device.

If you haven’t installed iOS 18, no worries, you can still schedule messages on your iPhone. We’ve mentioned some workaround to schedule messages on iOS 17. Although they aren’t as straightforward and seamless as the built-in iMessage scheduling option in iOS 18, they get the job done. Let’s check them out.

The Shortcuts app allows you to automate several tasks, including sending scheduled text messages on an iPhone. I usually use the Shortcuts app toautomatically enable Low Power mode on my iPhoneand automate other repetitive tasks. At first, setting up automation might seem complex and lengthy, but our step-by-step instructions will make it easier for you. Let me show you how to schedule text messages on iPhone using Shortcuts automation:

Note:The Shortcuts app is pre-installed on all iPhones running iOS 13 or later. In case you’ve removed it, you can re-download theShortcuts app from the App Store.

When you want to disable this automation, tap on it, and turn off the“Enable This Automation”toggle. If you wish to delete the scheduled text message automation on your iPhone, simplyswipe left on the automation, and hit theDeletebutton.

You can also use a third-party app to schedule a text on your iPhone. This method is particularly useful when you don’t want to repeat automation or don’t want the hassle of disabling or deleting them from the Shortcuts app.

The App Store has several free third-party apps likeScheduled,Kyew,Moxy Messenger, and more that allow you to schedule text messages on an iPhone. You can pick the one that you like.

To demonstrate how the process works, we’ll show you how to schedule iMessages on your iPhone using the Scheduled app.

If you don’t want to download any third-party app or set up a shortcut, you can use the Reminders app as a workaround. It won’t send your text messages at the scheduled time but gives you an option to keep your message ready in advance. You canset a reminder on your iPhoneto send the message yourself at the desired time.

Once you get the reminder, simply copy-paste the text in the messages and you’ll be sorted.

That’s how you can schedule text messages on your iPhone. Going forward, you don’t have to worry about forgetting to send important messages on time. Unarguably, iOS 18 makes scheduling iMessages and text messages on an iPhone much easier. Until the stable iOS 18 version arrives later this year, you can follow the above workarounds to send texts at a later time.

How do you send automated texts on your iPhone? Do share with us in the comments below.

Yes, you can schedule texts on an iPhone and send them out at an exact time. The latest iOS 18 offers a direct way of doing it. On iOS 17 or earlier, you’ll have to set up an automation using the Shortcuts app, which is available for free on all iPhones.

Yes, you can schedule an iMessage to automatically send it at a later time. For this, you need to install iOS 18 (currently in developer beta) on your iPhone.