If you’ve ever received a text message from someone you don’t know, you know how frustrating it can be to try to decipher the cryptic code. But there’s a better way to check if a text message was sent on your iPhone - using the Messages app. To start, open the Messages app and type in “text message.” The app will show you all of the messages that have been sent and received on your iPhone. Scroll down and look for the one that says “Sent.” If it’s not there, then your text message was not sent on your iPhone.
In the screenshot below, notice the date and time at the top of a group of messages. But, there are no times on the individual messages.
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You might also see a Read message at the bottom of the latest message with a time (if it’s from the current day), a day of the week (if it’s from the last week), or a date (if it’s from before the last week).
To see the exact time each message was sent, swipe left on the screen and hold your finger there. While your finger is still pressing on the screen, all the exact times the messages were sent display on the right side of the screen, as shown below. When you take your finger off the screen, the times are hidden again.
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Blue text messages are ones sent through the iMessage system (between iPhones). If you have friends or family with a phone other than an iPhone, such as an Android phone or a Windows phone, the messages they send you will be green, indicating that they are SMS messages, not iMessage messages. This trick works for both types of messages.
RELATED: How to Use iMessage on Android and Windows
Whether you’re a lawyer building a case for a client or an overbearing friend building a case against another friend, the hidden iMessage time stamp feature gives you the information you need.
