How iOS 26 may affect your broadcast texting
The newest iOS update (iOS 26) has introduced a feature that filters text messages from unknown senders and suspected spam into separate folders within Messages. Whether or not your message is filtered into an unknown sender folder will depend on the individual recipients' Message Settings. iOS 26 is available for iPhone 11 or newer.
What are the iOS 26 Messages features:
- Spam Filtering is enabled by default. This is not brand new to iOS 26, but this update expands to place suspected spam in a Spam & Junk tab within Messages
- Filter Unknown Senders is NOT enabled by default. The user would need to manually open their Settings, go to Messages, and scroll toward the bottom in the Message Filtering section to toggle on that option. Toggling this option on would separate all non-contacts into Messages folders, and the 'main inbox' will change from Messages to messaged from Known Senders.
- The downside of this option being enabled is that a user's messages from important businesses such as doctor's offices, pharmacies, bank institutions, credit card providers, airlines, etc. are put into folders instead of placing in Messages
Where do my broadcast texts go with Spam Filtering enabled by default?
Your broadcast texts will be placed in user's Messages and will include the option to 'Report Spam' much like previous iOS updates that read as 'Report Junk'
What happens when a user selects 'Report Junk'?
They will be prompted with different options:
- Delete: Delete from all devices
- Delete and Report Spam: Delete from all devices and reports to their carrier and Apple as spam
- Delete and Stop: Delete from all devices and also automatically texts Stop to opt out
- Cancel: goes back to the message options
Where does my broadcast text go with Filter Unknown Senders manually enabled by a user?
Your broadcast text will be placed in the user's Unknown Sender folders and if the user selects 'Mark as Known' the text will move to their Messages
- Text Message Filter - Once Filter Unknown Sender is enabled, the user will also have an option to enable a Text Message Filter. Enabling this option will add additional 'folders' in the Filter Unknown Senders
- Allow Notifications - Another option that becomes available when enabling Filter Unknown Senders is an Allow Notifications section. The user can enable received text to be labeled by different tags
