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iMessage Preview: ON or OFF?

Do you have iMessage Preview turned ON or OFF?

  • On

    Votes: 69 67.0%

  • Off

    Votes: 34 33.0%
  • Total voters
    103
S

s2mike

macrumors 68020
Original poster
Sep 14, 2015
2,412
3,535
I've always had iMessage Preview turned off because I don't want people seeing the content on my messages if they glance at my screen when a message comes in.

However, I really love that you can reply to texts through the lock screen with iOS 10...but that only works when iMessage Preview is turned on.

Gonna try keeping the preview turned ON for a few days to see how much I like the convenience of the lock screen reply, but just wanted to poll this place to see what the general consensus was.
 
In iOS 9, I turn off message preview on my phone. But when I swipe down for the NC, I can see the content of the message there once I unlocked the phone, but it just says 'iMessage' when locked. Does it work like this in iOS 10?
 
I hate wandering eyes, so as tempting as it is to turn previews on to allow for responding from the lock screen, I still have it off. I even have a privacy screen on my iPhone but that still won't deter someone 100%, like dude, mind your beeswax! :eek:
 
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s2mike said:
I've always had iMessage Preview turned off because I don't want people seeing the content on my messages if they glance at my screen when a message comes in.

However, I really love that you can reply to texts through the lock screen with iOS 10...but that only works when iMessage Preview is turned on.

Gonna try keeping the preview turned ON for a few days to see how much I like the convenience of the lock screen reply, but just wanted to poll this place to see what the general consensus was.
Click to expand...

I've always left it on. Let's me see what the message is straight away without having to dive into things.
 
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I leave iMessage Preview off and when a message comes in, I unlock the phone using TouchID, then 3D touch the notification and can read/respond to it there.

You don't need to turn Preview Message on for this to work.
 
definitely off I am part of a group chat with my friends and they are constantly sending NSFW images which come up in the preview on the lock screen if I were to have it on. Last thing I need is to have my phone sitting on my desk at work with a co-worker standing there and one of those images come through on my lock screen.

I am using iOS 10 though so I just do what @Farsider said when a message comes in I rest my finger on the touch id to unlock the phone without going to the home screen, then 3D touch the message and reply from the lock screen.
 
bigjnyc said:
definitely off I am part of a group chat with my friends and they are constantly sending NSFW images which come up in the preview on the lock screen if I were to have it on. Last thing I need is to have my phone sitting on my desk at work with a co-worker standing there and one of those images come through on my lock screen.

I am using iOS 10 though so I just do what @Farsider said when a message comes in I rest my finger on the touch id to unlock the phone without going to the home screen, then 3D touch the message and reply from the lock screen.
Click to expand...

Good call. This is what I've been doing too.
 
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Keep in mind that many 2 factor authentication verification services use a code sent to your phone as the second factor. Same as many temporary/forgotten/reset password services. So you need to decide what works for you.
 
s2mike said:
I've always had iMessage Preview turned off because I don't want people seeing the content on my messages if they glance at my screen when a message comes in.

However, I really love that you can reply to texts through the lock screen with iOS 10...but that only works when iMessage Preview is turned on.

Gonna try keeping the preview turned ON for a few days to see how much I like the convenience of the lock screen reply, but just wanted to poll this place to see what the general consensus was.
Click to expand...
You could similarly reply with the phone locked in iOS 9 (or even 8) as well.
 
C DM said:
You could similarly reply with the phone locked in iOS 9 (or even 8) as well.
Click to expand...

How does this work in iOS 9? I could never get it to work with previews turned off..... whenever I would slide to reply the popup for my passcode would come up which would prompt me to touch ID and unlock the phone sending me in to the message app.
 
bigjnyc said:
How does this work in iOS 9? I could never get it to work with previews turned off..... whenever I would slide to reply the popup for my passcode would come up which would prompt me to touch ID and unlock the phone sending me in to the message app.
Click to expand...
It works with preview turned on (as was being described in the OP).
 
I have it set to off. Not that I get any sensitive texts, but I don't want a co-worker walking by my desk looking at my text messages.
 
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rijc99 said:
Keep in mind that many 2 factor authentication verification services use a code sent to your phone as the second factor. Same as many temporary/forgotten/reset password services. So you need to decide what works for you.
Click to expand...
I mean I guess having to login to your phone adds a third layer of security but why would you be requesting 2 factor codes if you don't have possession of your phone? I always make sure I have my phone in hand before I request the code. This allows me to comfortably keep iMessage preview on.
 
btrach144 said:
I mean I guess having to login to your phone adds a third layer of security but why would you be requesting 2 factor codes if you don't have possession of your phone? I always make sure I have my phone in hand before I request the code. This allows me to comfortably keep iMessage preview on.
Click to expand...

But what happens if someone were to steal your phone or gain access to it, they may try to reset a password. Or log in to something. (Not likely to happen. But you never know.) Preview off would prevent them from access to the 2nd factor code or reset/temp code.

Its a trade off between security and convenience.

If I weren't worried about security I would turn my phone password off and use the authy widget.
 
Last edited:
Off.

And I wish I had the choice for preview/no preview for all apps. For instance Gmail gives a multi-line preview for every email without the option to turn off. So instead of just a notification that Mail uses:

Sender
Subject

—
For Gmail is would be:

Gmail
Sender
Subject • Your current test for the painful itch you described has been diagnosed as…..
—
I want notifications, I just don’t want the info they contain exposed. I've posted this on the Apple bug site since iOS7 as Feature Request, Bug, etc. but apparently they see no privacy issues here. Posted to Google too, but that seems useless.

At least Messages gives me an option.
 
I honestly didn't even know you could turn this on/off.
I am glad the default is OFF.
I'm more concerned about malware or something loading when pulling the preview in to display.
 
matthewkemph said:
I honestly didn't even know you could turn this on/off.
I am glad the default is OFF.
I'm more concerned about malware or something loading when pulling the preview in to display.
Click to expand...

That's an unwarranted concern. I'm pretty sure there's never been a malware concern viewing email previews, or even full emails on iOS. Even on some chance there has been, I really wouldn't worry about that.
 
I have it off on my iPhone with iOS 10 but have it ON on my Apple Watch. Only I can read the messages in my watch.
 
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