What Does “Emphasize” Mean On IPhone? – Quick Guide

The 21st century is the century of convenience, and software developers keep developing brilliant ideas to ease online interaction.

We had the emoji feature long before now, which is simple. But right now, we have reactions even simpler to engage while passing the same message with similar accuracy.

Each day, smartphone developers build new features to aid convenience. Right now, you do not have to type a message to respond to a chat; you only need to engage the tap-back feature. This feature lets users react in different ways to messages.

For example, if someone sends a message which you find funny, you do not have to type “funny,” “lol,” or “lmao” to respond to that chat. Similarly, this tap-back feature allows you to react in other ways, like giving a thumbs up or down in approval or disapproval of a message. 

The emphasize tool comes in the form of two exclamation marks. To emphasize a text, you only need to tap the message you want to react to and click the double exclamation marks.

What Does it Mean When Someone Emphasizes a Text on iPhone? 

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From the root word “emphasis,” “emphasize” means to stress something to catch someone’s attention. In context, to emphasize a message on an iPhone is to make it a focal point, drawing the person’s attention to the other end.

It has multiple contexts and interpretations. You can react instead of typing as a first step toward maintaining sanity and reducing comment clutter in an iMessage group.

Also, why type again when you can draw attention to a message you have previously sent? We will discuss other reasons subsequently.

When someone emphasizes a text, it could mean different things, depending on the situation. Below are a few scenarios;

Please Respond to This

While responding to other messages, we often tend to mistakenly not respond to the important ones. Sometimes as an oversight or otherwise, the person on the other end may not answer your question.

In cases like this, you can emphasize the message, which is polite to tell someone, “Please respond to this.” This way, you draw the person’s attention to whatever you need an answer.

I Agree

The emphasize tool is an excellent way to react to a message to show approval. For example, if your friend sends a text like “You are the bomb,” you can emphasize that it simply means “That’s true” or “I agree with you.”

Also, setting up a meeting with a friend like “Meet me at McDonald’s by 5:00 pm,” the double exclamation means “I got it” or “I will be there.”

I Get It

To indicate that something has already been mentioned, use a double exclamation. Having someone repeatedly give you the same message because they think you missed it can’t be pleasant. As a result, the “emphasize” reaction can be used reasonably. In this way, the other party is alerted of your response.

I Am Shocked

Emphasizing a text is also a great way of expressing shock. Most times, when you have good news, the first thing you want to do is share it with your family and friends.

For example, if your fiance just proposed, you hastily send pictures to your friends, and they react with a double exclamation. This reaction portrays “OH MY GOD!!!” “Congratulations,” “I’m so happy for you,” etc.   

How Do You Like or Emphasize a Text Message?

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One of the reasons for the tap-back feature is to bring a whole new level of convenience to online interactions. However, it is noteworthy that emojis are not the same as reactions, even though they both convey emotions.

Emojis appear as standard messages, while reactions directly respond to a particular text. Tapback reactions emerged in 2016 when Apple launched iMessage, whereas emojis have existed long before.

Below is a step-by-step procedure to emphasize a text;

  1. Open a chat box
  2. Long-press the message you want to react to, and a lineup of reactions will appear around the text.
  3. Click on the option with the double exclamation mark. Your reaction will appear on the message and sends it automatically.
  4. Done

Someone may ask, “How do I unsend a reaction?” It is pretty much the same process;

  1. Hold down on the message. the available reactions will appear
  2. Tap on the same reaction you want to remove
  3. It is gone. Automatically.

Conclusion

In addition to “Emphasize,” six other reactions display when you long-press on the message to which you want to respond. “Heart,” “Thumbs up,” “Thumbs down,” “ha-ha,” and “question mark” are the many responses.

However, SMS does not support reactions, so if you want to utilize them, you must stick to iMessage. 

Overall, tap-back reactions are helpful while chatting as they indicate your emotions or stance on specific topics in the most subtle way.

However, while tap-backs make for a great deal of convenience, they are ambiguous and convey multiple meanings.