Apple iOS 16: The magic of unsending a message

Have you ever sent a message you wish you hadn't? If you're an iPhone user, you may not have to worry about that anymore. 

Apple announced new features of its next iPhone operating system, called iOS 16, which include recalling and even editing recent messages.

"On the recipient side, they will see that it's been edited," TechRadar U.S. editor Lance Ulanoff said. "There will be a little note that says that the message has been edited, but they won't know what the original said."

Ulanoff attended Apple's World Wide Developer Conference, held at its headquarters in Cupertino, California.

"I walked out of the keynote and it was the thing that stuck with me. I just kept going, 'Wait a minute. Really?'" he said. "That seems so — I mean, I wrote a column about it because I really think it's going to change things."

But he cautioned that to take advantage of the new features, you can't wait too long after sending the message.

"There is, of course, an important caveat here — you only have 15 minutes to do this," Ulanoff said. "15 minutes is up. You're stuck with it."

The new features will only apply to Apple iPhone users who update to the latest operating system once it is released this fall. Messages sent via SMS where either party is using an Android device won't be eligible for the text takebacks.