How to See When a Message Was Sent in iOS 8

It happens to everyone; you send a message, and hear nothing back. Then you wonder when you actually sent your message, because it felt like a long, long time ago. Prior to iOS 8, it was a guessing game, trying to figure out when your messages actually sent.

Now it’s really easy to find out when your messages sent. This method works for Messages, so if you’re using a different app, you’ll want to use whatever method they have. For those who like the existing Apple messaging app, here’s how you do it.

Finding Message Timestamps

1. Open your Messaging app.

2. Select the thread (discussion) you want to view.

3. Once the chat is open, just slide your finger to the left from any point on the screen.

The timestamps slide right out, just like magic. This tells you when messages were sent from you, but offers no way to know if they were received or read by the other person. similarly, timestamps for their messages show when you received them.

It’s a very clean way to be able to check when messages were sent or received on your end. It’s only available on iOS 8, though, so if you’re communicating with someone using a dated version, get them to update!

Head to our iOS How To’s section for more tips and tricks for your iPhone or iPad.

We like the ability to find when our messages were sent, or when yours were received by us, but what do you think? Have you checked your message timestamp yet? Let us know how you like this slight tweak to Messages in the comments section below!