iOS 10 has brought some impressive new iMessage functionality. At its simplest, you can easily apply stickers and special effects to your iMessages but the process goes much further than that.
Now, users can add polls, information or play simple games all via iMessage plugins and specific apps for the purpose. We’ve rounded up 10 great apps for improving your iMessage experience.
1. OpenTable (Free)
OpenTable has been a mainstay for iOS users for a long time. It simplifies the process of booking a restaurant reservation and finding somewhere nice to eat. Its iMessage functionality makes it easy to suggest places to friends, before voting on what the preferred option is. It’s great for co-ordinating, right down to the ability to book through iMessages.
2. Genius: Song Lyrics (Free)
Not all iMessage apps have to be hugely practical. Genius: Song Lyrics makes it simple to send lyrics to friends or loved ones, even allowing for you to add them to pictures. It’s a little gimmicky but if you’re a big music fan, you’re going to appreciate the flexibility. You can even save frequently used lyrics for later use, too.
3. Words with Friends (Free) 
Remember when everyone was obsessed with Words with Friends? Its iMessage compatibility means it’s making a comeback. Through iMessage, you can start matches as well as chat about your games with friends. More importantly, you can play words in the game all through a chat conversation. It’ll revitalise your one time love.
4. Square Cash (Free)
Want to pay friends quickly for something? There are plenty of options already out there, but iMessage support for Square Cash just made things even simpler. You can use it to pay up through iMessage, all in a matter of seconds. It’s simple and straightforward, solving those pesky rows over money.
5. Scanbot (Free)
Scanning apps are a great way of speeding up the tedious process of snapping a photo of a document and sending it somewhere. Scanbot is a great solution for many reasons, enabling you to scan to PDF or JPG with high accuracy. iMessage support makes it vastly better, enabling you to directly scan and send images to friends, making the process near lightning fast in its efficiency.
6. Momento ($1.99)
GIFs are a huge deal. Momento will automatically create GIFs of your best moments via your Camera Roll. It does all this from inside iMessage, making it easy to share such footage with friends and family. It’s a great way to look back at some happy times.
7. Checkmate! ($0.99)
Chess is a game as old as time. Ok, not quite, but almost everyone has played it at some point. Checkmate! makes it easy to start a conversation via iMessage before delving into a game of Chess. It’s far simpler to play via multiplayer than with other Chess games, ensuring even your elderly relative should be able to figure things out.
8. GIF Keyboard (Free) 
Continuing the GIF theme, GIF Keyboard makes it simple to throw in the perfect GIF for any occasion. You can easily browse through the extensive collection, all via iMessage. Simply press and hold on a GIF to drag and drop it onto an text in iMessage, then hit send. It’s simple to do and guaranteed to spruce up some more mundane text messages.
9. iTranslate (Free)
iTranslate improves upon its already extensive translation services by making it easy to do while sending and receiving iMessages. Offering translations in over 90 languages, it’s easy to communicate with friends overseas, as the app deciphers words and phrases instantly for you.
10. Doodle (Free)
How hard is it to organize meeting up with a group of friends? Doodle simplifies the process massively by giving you a place to discuss things. Working within iMessage, you can talk out plans, before taking a poll on where you want to go, what you want to do, and anything else that might come up. You can easily invite new people into the conversation too, saving all the hassle that comes from no one being able to make a decision.