The Reduce Motion setting in iOS, which does away with the zipping and zooming animations that fly around the operating system when opening and closing apps, is also the only way to turn off iMessage effects.

Why Message Effects Aren’t Working in iOS 13, iOS 12, iOS 11, iOS 10įor the vast majority of users, the reason iMessage screen effects and bubble message effects are not working is because they have the Reduce Motion setting enabled. All of these visual effects are new to iOS 10 (and later of course) and work on the iPhone and iPad… or they should anyway. Additionally, there are other visual effects that apply to text and images, which make the messages slam onto the screen, appear larger, smaller, or show up with an invisible ink feature. You therefore must have a modern version of iOS on the iPhone or iPad to have iMessage Effects.įor some quick background, the Messages app in iOS 10 and newer includes full-screen visual effects, ranging from a bunch of balloons, to fireworks, lasers, confetti, and a shooting star.

First things first, realize that iMessage Effects require iOS 10 or newer, that can be iOS 13, iPadOS 13, iOS 12, iOS 11, iOS 10, or later, and anything in between.

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