Harmless pranks are a great way to engage with your best friends and loved ones.
If you’re an iPhone user, you can try the iMessage typing prank with fellow iOS users. It’s a great way to trigger laughter during a conversation, without hurting someone’s feelings.
So if you find the idea of making your friends anxiously wait for the message that never came funny, try this one.
What is an iMessage Typing Prank?
Before we begin the tutorial, let’s make it clear what exactly is an iMessage typing prank. If you regularly use iMessage, you must have noticed that a typing animation is shown whenever a user is typing something.
With this iMessage typing prank, you can send a typing GIF image to your friends without actually typing anything.
Your friends then will wait for you to finish your typing so they can immediately read and reply to your message. Five minutes later, you’re still typing.
By now, anxiety will kick in and your friends will start asking questions — Is there something wrong? Do you have something important to tell?
Little do they know, they’re actually being pranked!
P.S: If you want to make it a little more dramatic, tell your friends you have something important to tell before sending the typing GIF animation.
How to Play iMessage Typing Prank with Friends
Setting up the iMessage typing prank is actually very easy and quick, just follow this tutorial:
- Save this GIF image to your iPhone by long-tapping it and clicking Add to Photos
- Open your iMessage app
- Go to your intended target’s contact
- Once you’re in the iMessage room, click on the photo gallery icon located at the left end of your screen, below the camera icon
- Select the GIF image you’ve just saved
- Click on the send icon button
After sending the typing GIF animation, your message will look like this:
Pretty similar to the original typing animation from iMessage, right? Unless your friends have an eye for details, they won’t likely notice the difference.
Other iMessage Hacks to Try
Looking for more iMessages hacks? Try these tips and tricks:
1. How to automatically delete messages
Old messages will eat up your iPhone storage, making it slower and laggy. To automatically delete your messages, try this method:
- Go to your iPhone Settings
- Scroll down to Messages
- Go to Message History → Keep Messages
- Select 30 Days or 1 Year
After this feature is activated, all of your messages will be automatically deleted after 30 days or 1 year depending on which one you choose.
2. How to disable read receipts
iMessage has an awesome read receipts feature where users are informed whether a message has been delivered and when it’s read by the recipients.
However, if you prefer not to give away the time you read a friend’s message, follow these steps to disable the feature for everyone:
- Go to your iPhone Settings
- Scroll down to Messages
- Toggle off Send Read Receipts
If you want to disable read receipts only on selected contact, try this method instead:
- Open iMessage app
- Go to the selected contact’s chat room
- Tap the contact’s name at the top
- Toggle off Send Read Receipts
3. How to download sticker packs
Adding stickers can spark more interest in a somewhat plain conversation. Thankfully, iMessage has its own App Store where you can download sticker packs and send them to your friends. Here’s how:
- Open a conversation on iMessage
- Click on the App Store icon
- Select the sticker packs that you want
- Install them
There are countless free and paid stickers packs available on the App Store ranging from pretty text stickers to Marvel and Star Wars sticker packs.
Wrap Up
Playing the iMessage typing prank is a harmless yet fun way to spark up a conversation. The setup is pretty easy too, just simply save the typing GIF animation and send it as an image in the conversation.
Besides that, iMessages also offer various other ways to make chatting more interesting, including the addition of a sticker pack App Store.
If you’re a loyal Apple user, you might want to read our other article on the 25 best iOS 15 secret features to try on your iPhone.
