Although some chat services like Slack, Viber, and Telegram let you edit messages after they have been sent, this functionality lacks on more mainstream platforms such as WhatsApp and iPhone’s Messages app. Apparently, Apple is looking to change that, as hinted by the US patent application number 20200133478 spotted by Apple Insider.
 

Apple thinks current messaging apps have a lot of limitations

Apple seemingly wants you to be able to modify messages after they have been sent. Thus, for instance, if you spot a typo in your message after you have hit send, you can edit it, and the recipient will be shown the revised version.
 
It also appears that a log of edited messages will be maintained, but it’s not clear if the original text will be visible to all parties. Either way, it will still be a handy feature, and a lot niftier than the current protocol of using asterisks (*) to specify a correction in a message that was sent previously.
 
The patent doesn’t talk about the underlying technology that will be used to enable the editing of sent messages. And while it’s quite hard to infer everything said in a patent, it also seems to hint at the use of input methods other than keyboards for interacting with the messaging application. So, it could be that by the time this feature is rolled out, iPhones will start supporting the Apple Pencil. We have already seen a patent that implies a future version of Apple’s stylus will be compatible with all its devices.
 
Based on our interpretation, it also seems like the company is considering a method to make critical or time-sensitive texts stand out, by increasing their impact effect.
 
Moving on, the patent also talks about launching other apps from within Messages. Similarly, the company envisions people using Apple Pay without leaving Messages. Now, this could be an effort to make the Messages app more like Tencent’s WeChat. It’s China’s top social-networking app and apparently, Apple views it as a threat to its app ecosystem. More specifically, a new WeChat feature known as mini-programs that lets users book rides and play games without ever leaving the app has worried Apple to no end and as a result, it has started postponing updates to WeChat on iPhones.