Maybe you want to save a favorite quote, be it a birthday text, a meeting reminder, or text marketing, there are innumerable needs and requirements of texting oneself. 

Configuring iMessage

First thing, make sure that iMessage is on. Open the Settings app and scroll down to ‘Messages’ and tap it.

Then, see that the toggle for ‘iMessage’ is on.

While you’re at it, also see how you’re sending and receiving iMessage. Tap ‘Send & Receive’ to see the details.

Now, close the Settings app and hop over to the ‘Phone’ app. Tap the ‘Contacts’ tab from the bottom of the screen.

Then, tap your name or the option that says ‘My Card’.

Here, make sure that you have all the addresses (phone numbers and email addresses) that you’re using in iMessage saved as your contact information.

If all the addresses aren’t in the same contact, you’ll get separate chat threads depending on whether you’re entering your phone number or email address. But when they’re all part of the same contact, all messages will appear in a single chat.

Also, enter your name if you haven’t already. If you want to fake a conversation, you can edit the name to show the name of the fake contact.

Sending an iMessage to yourself

Now, go to the Messages app. Tap the ‘New Message’ icon in the top-right corner of the screen.

Enter your contact’s name, or the edited one, in the ‘To:’ text box to message yourself.

Type the message in the message box, and send it like a regular message.

When you are sending yourself a message, you’ll also receive the same sent message in a gray bubble.

So, the conversation is a two-part conversation, and exactly why it’s easy to fake a conversation.

You can even send yourself a photo or video, and it will simultaneously appear in the conversation.

It is a time-consuming task to fake a conversation unless it’s a minimal one. It’s a great way to save any information for yourself, though. And it will be available across your Apple devices that are using the same iMessage addresses. All you have to do is delete the messages from either the blue bubble or the gray bubble. If it is a photo, you can go on and delete on photo to match the conversation flow. To delete a message, tap and hold a message and select ‘More’ from the menu that appears.

Select the messages you want to delete and tap the ‘Delete’ icon in the lower-left corner of the screen.

A confirmation prompt will appear. Tap ‘Delete Message’ or ‘Delete [n] Messages’ to delete multiple messages.

You can also use scheduling to text yourself

Using the Shortcuts app is probably the only way to schedule a text message on iPhone that does not involve any third-party application.

Launch the “Shortcuts” application on your iPhone.

Note: iPhone 13 or later comes with preinstalled Shortcuts app. If your iPhone does not have a Shortcuts app, then you can download it from the Apple App Store.

Click on the “Automation” tab at the bottom of the screen.

If you have never used Automation on your iPhone before then click on “Create Personal Automations”.

If you have used Automations on your iPhone before, then you won’t see the “Create Personal Automations”, rather you’ll have to click on the “+” icon in the top right corner of the screen and then click on “Create Personal Automation”.

Click on “Time of Day”.

Now, choose a time at which you want to schedule your text message on your iPhone.

Choose a month and a date you want to send the text on, and at last click on “Next”.

Note: This method of scheduling messages using the Shortcuts app on a particular date of a month creates recurring automation. If you want the text to be sent out daily at the given time, then select Daily or Weekly if you want it to be sent on a particular day (or days) of the week. Select Monthly and select the date on which you want the text message to be sent.

At last, hit “Add Action”.

Now, in the “Send Message” section, choose your contact, in this case, your ID address, and then click on “Next”.

Type the text message you want to schedule and hit “Next”.

Now your text message is scheduled on your iPhone. But there is a feature in the Shortcuts app that actually asks you before sending the scheduled text. If you want it to automatically send the text without your input, then turn off the toggle of “Ask Before Running”. This option is on by default.

If you want the Shortcuts app to ask you before it sends that schedule message, then you can keep it on.

When you have reviewed your scheduled text, click on “Done”.

We have already shared with you that this way Shortcuts app creates a recurring text that will send the same message on the same date of every month. Clearly, nobody wants that to happen. Therefore, to delete it, you have to view your automation and then swipe from right to left. Then choose “Delete”.

There are also some third-party apps that can be utilized. We don’t have to limit ourselves when trying to schedule a reminder text to ourselves in the near or far future. There are some third-party applications for you that you can easily download from the Apple App Store. Go through all of them to learn about the best apps to schedule a text message on iPhone.

Some examples include:

• Reminderbase – Scheduled Text
• AutoSender – Automatic Texting

Conclusion

Texting yourself through iMessage on an iPhone is simple and uncomplicated. There are no complicated hacks or hoops to jump through. In a variety of situations, texting yourself can be really useful. Your chat thread can do it all for you, whether you need a place to save your grocery lists or want to pretend to have a discussion for whatever reason. All in all, this is handy for iPhone owners that want to send an iMessage to themselves.

On the other hand, Shortcuts is a complex app, and without prior knowledge of logic and programming, it is quite difficult to completely utilize the benefits of the app. While Apple intended to ease the tasks for users, they have created something that itself is convoluted.

Again, it’s not the most elegant option, but using shortcuts to schedule texts is much better than some other third-party workarounds.