#MARK TEXT MESSAGE AS UNREAD SOFTWARE#

The missing “Mark Unread” button has no doubt caused countless accidental ghostings, avoidable arguments, and missed opportunities. Messages routinely get forgotten and go unanswered. The only gesture toward anything like this is an obscure Siri integration. What’s even wilder is that iMessage doesn’t have any other in-app way for the user to signal that they need to return to a message in order to respond to it. Not to mention you might miss out on some weekend fun.īut the most popular messaging app on iOS, Messages, has never implemented “Mark as Unread” even though users have been clamoring for it for years and it’s been rumored that they tested it. But if you don’t say anything now, you might forget to respond and then you’ll look like a bad friend. You have to respond to that but maybe it’s your stop already or you don’t know yet. Let’s say you’re riding the bus and you open a message from a friend, maybe asking you about your plans for the weekend. And its utility in a casual messaging context is much the same in the slightly more formal email context. “Mark as Unread” has been so successful and well-loved in email that it’s been copied by many messaging apps like Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp, and Instagram. While some argue that flags should be used instead for this kind of message management, they miss the point that flags cannot and do not convey, to either the user or the software, the same meaning as a message being unread. A simple button to say “Oh yep, I know I clicked into it, but I didn’t actually read it or fully process it yet” is a great affordance for users to manage their communications that has stood the test of time. There’s a simple answer: it’s useful! The unread state of messages in an email app controls things like the number next to the current folder, the application’s badge, and the status indicator next to a message reminding you to look at it.

#MARK TEXT MESSAGE AS UNREAD SOFTWARE#

But why? The software knows the message has been read why is it allowing the user to override that truth and rewrite history? JanuThe Case for “Mark as Unread” in Messagesįor decades, email apps like Gmail, Outlook, and Apple Mail have all included a button to mark a message or thread as “unread”. They design & develop apps at Lickability and post about tech & culture here.

Home About Now Then Contact RSS Matthew Bischoff Users are trying to come up with other ways to try and stay on top of all their incoming/outgoing messages on a daily basis.The Case for “Mark as Unread” in Messages Research shows that this would solve a current problem majority of smart phone users are facing. This is definitely a feature I would use all the time, but I can’t just go off my opinion and assumptions that I’m not alone here. Simply mark the text as unread and respond once you’re out of the meeting and out of your boss’ sight. With the mark unread feature, gone are the days of opening a text message from your partner during an important business meeting and completely forgetting to respond until you receive an agitated text several hours later. Users need a way to mark individual text conversations. Taking mental notes will no longer cut it. A way to remind ourselves to check back on certain text threads. We need a way to keep track of all our conversations happening through text messages. There is so much pressure around texting and all these unspoken rules. And if it goes unanswered for too long, people either get annoyed with you or start to be highly concerned about your well being. People expect texts to be answered within a matter of hours. Not only are we texting with more people and more frequently, but there is no margin for error when it comes to responding to texts. How are people expected to keep it all straight? On any given day, you could be texting with your best friend, partner, roommate, dad, boss, grandma, coworker and that random person that it interested in buying your coffee table off of Craigslist.

All of these things make texting easier and engaging.Īnd now, people text for personal and business reasons. With a focus on enhancing the user experience, smart phone devices have adapted to this new generation of users and communication preferences. Many aspects of today’s phone designs have made it significantly easier to text.

Mark text message as unread