It’s not what I’d describe as an everyday nuisance, but every now and again I need to copy part of a text message. If I’m on my Mac, it’s not an issue, but if I’m using my iPhone it is.
The way it works in iOS 18 is less than intuitive. When interacting with basically any other bit of text—including ones inside photos—I see a cursor that lets me select the words I want, followed by a small popup to copy it. That’s not how it works in Messages. On the iPhone, my only option is to copy the entire message. If I want to edit or cut down the text I have to do that after pasting it.
That’s changing in iOS 26. As spotted by MacRumors, when you tap within a message, you’ll get a cursor that will highlight the text you want as well as an option to copy part of it. Then you can take that bit of text and paste it into whatever app you want.
This isn’t a groundbreaking feature, of course, but it’s the kind of small improvement that will make our iPhones just a little better in iOS 26. In fact, you’ll be able to try it out very soon, as Apple is expected to release the first public beta this week.
Author: Michael Simon, Executive Editor, Macworld
Michael Simon has been covering Apple for more than 20 years. He started covering rumors with Spymac when the iPod was the iWalk, and has owned nearly every iPhone Apple has ever made. He lives in Connecticut with his wife, son, and far too many gadgets.