iMessage real-time typing preview

iMessage is a fascinating platform because everyone has slightly different styles and etiquette when it comes to texting. I’ve briefly opined on this in the past, but it’s interesting to think of this as one of the last remaining opportunities for humans to have a place of true expression, as opposed to spitting out content generated by AI.

Things like read receipts and typing indicators add a level of variability and fun to the experience. By seeing when someone is typing, you can get a sense of how or if they’re responding to a message you sent previously. What if this were exacerbated by a real-time preview of their response, rather than the bubble with the 3 dots?

Looking at this idea now, it’s apparent I’ve recreated the real-time messaging app Honk, which was sunset a few years ago when their team started working on the crypto wallet Family, before eventually being acquired by a larger crypto company. It was a wild and entertaining experience. Still, it lost its luster after a while and was difficult to use regularly because of all the existing context that lives within iMessage. It’s a fun experiment, and I do think the implications would be different if the experience were housed within a larger flagship app.

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