How Do I Turn Off Messages Effects On My iPhone? Here’s The Fix!

Enough is enough — they were cute at first, but the effects in your iPhone’s Messages app are getting on your nerves and it’s time to turn them off. In this article, I’ll explain how to turn off effects in the Messages app on your iPhone, iPad, and iPod so you can get back to texting as usual.

Before you go looking for “Disable iMessage Effects” in Settings, let me save you the trouble — it isn’t there. Apple will probably include that feature in a future update after enough people complain, but for now, the only way to turn off effects in the Messages app is by turning on a setting in Accessibility.

How Do I Turn Off Messages Effects On My iPhone, iPad, or iPod?

  1. Open Settings.
  2. Tap on Accessibility.
  3. Tap on Motion.
  4. Tap on Reduce Motion.
  5. Tap the switch on the right side of Reduce Motion to turn it on and disable iMessage effects in the Messages app on your iPhone, iPad, or iPod.

accessibility motion reduce motion

iPhone Messages Effects: Turned Off.

Turning on Reduce Motion isn’t a perfect solution because it doesn’t just turn off effects in the Messages app on your iPhone — it disables the less-annoying animations too. The silver lining to turning on Reduce Motion is that it’s a battery life saver, and a part of my series about how to save iPhone battery life.

If you’re not happy about not being able to turn off iMessage effects in Settings -> Messages on your iPhone, you can share your thoughts with Apple on their product feedback website.

Thanks for reading, and remember to Payette Forward,
David P.

About Author

I'm a former Apple employee and the founder of Payette Forward, and I'm here to help you with your iPhone.

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Anonymous
5 years ago

I hate all the bubble noises in Private Message! It makes my Dog go nuts!!!

Anonymous
5 years ago

Doesn’t work

Anonymous
5 years ago

I have an old 5C I want to give to my grandson just to use to play games on WiFi . How do I turn off messages, texting, etc. so he is not contacting people to bother them? Lol

Anonymous
5 years ago

didnt work for me ,anything esle ??

Anonymous
5 years ago

thanks

Anonymous
5 years ago

FINALLY A FIX!!!
My 76-year-old father had the exact same issue for months. Apparently he was just fat fingering it and pressing the blue up arrow too long every single time. If you just Tap it quickly, it sends perfectly. He didnt realize that.
(Using Settings Accessibility Didnt help at all.)

Anonymous
5 years ago

This is SO annoying! Thank you for showing me how to get rid of it!

Anonymous
5 years ago

I set reduce motion to green but the bubbles still came up. I don’t know how to exit the bubble screen, pressing the x doesn’t take me back to my text

Anonymous
5 years ago

Hate it. Besides being juvenile, I have had texts just sit there (that I thought were sent). The phone was waiting for me to choose an effect.

Anonymous
5 years ago

Thank you for this FIX to stop my iPhone “effects”. I use my phone for business purposes and don’t want or need any effects. Again,Thank You.

Anonymous
6 years ago

I have done this (changed the settings per your instructions) and I still often get directed to “gentle effects” and have to virtually stab my phone multiple times to get out of this, and just send the message. Any advice on why this keeps happening? It is extremely irritating.

Anonymous
6 years ago

THANK YOU VERY MUCH. I Hated that effects thing!

Anonymous
6 years ago

Have a iPhone 5s and upgraded to IOS 11.2.6 and none of the ways to disable message effects that I’ve found works. Even if iMessage is turned off and using only SMS the message effects screen displays if you touch the send button too long. Tried turning on Reduce Motion and still have effects. Tried turning on Reduce Motion and turn off Auto Play Message Effect and still have effects. Another option found is turn off the 3D button but on the 5S there isn’t an option for 3D buttons. Apple evidently insists we have effects whether or not we… Read more »

Anonymous
6 years ago

It helped, thank you

Anonymous
6 years ago

send with effect I HATE IT APPLE should remove it, not too many people like it, I ask over 500 members in my group none likes this option

Anonymous
6 years ago

Looks like we all agree … the bubbles bulls*** in iMessage is driving us crazy!! Why can’t the whizz bang programmers at Apple make this an OPTIONAL rather then MANDATORY feature? They would be better off fixing iTunes and its bug in burn to disc which sorts and burns the to-be-copied files alphabetically reader then by track number.

Anonymous
6 years ago

Imessage effects are one of the worst aspects of the recent upgrade. . Incredible that there is no way to disable this unwanted feature.

Anonymous
6 years ago

If I accidentally tap too hard and get the message effects screen, I can’t get rid of it. I did follow the directions above and hope it helps, but now under “Reduce Motion” there’s another button that says, “Auto-play Message Effects”. Should that be off or on?

Anonymous
6 years ago

I followed the instructions and still persist. The most annoying add on to a text there is : Stupid stuff!!

Anonymous
6 years ago

I keep losing my connection even with anew cord.

Anonymous
6 years ago

Very much appreciate you’re doing this. I did complain. Thanks for the link also.

Anonymous
6 years ago

I followed these directions and it seemed to have worked, but tonight, I just tried to send a text to a friend and rather than send it, it diverted to the the list of options (which includes send with Loud, with Gentle Effects and Invisable Ink, etc). I was so disappointed. I thought it was gone. I just want to be able to send a text. I don’t even know why I get this message sometimes and not other times. Does this “fix” only work on iMessages or is it supposed to work on all texts?

Anonymous
6 years ago

thanks for the info, it truly was a pain

Anonymous
6 years ago

My phone updated overnight and this crap was on it. Thanks for the info. I hate the effects

Anonymous
6 years ago

Does not work

Anonymous
6 years ago

done this a few times already and it still happens sometimes. very annoying and embarrasing on a business phone

Anonymous
6 years ago

Did not work. Still get message effects

Anonymous
6 years ago

Just a light tap to send your messages will FIX this problem. If you hit send hard it defaults to the balloons. Just quickly hit your send arrow fast. It will work!!!!!!!!!!!!

Anonymous
6 years ago

I sure hope this works (although I noticed now quitting active apps is more difficult) because it sent balloons on a message of condolenses for a tragedy before I could stop it!!!! (No matter how hard I tried to back out.)

Anonymous
6 years ago

Just TAP ever so lightly to send your messages without effects. If you hold your arrow down harder or longer, it will go into the Effects! Give it a try!

Anonymous
6 years ago

I cannot get rid of the slam effect

Anonymous
6 years ago

I did everythingyou suggested, but I still get the effects screen. What now?

Anonymous
6 years ago

it has to do with how long you hold your finger on the send arrow. hold too long and you get the “send with effect” screen. something like the mouse double click speed

Anonymous
6 years ago

Thanks very much. Phew! Insanity beckoned. I’ve fed back to Apple as you suggested.

Anonymous
6 years ago

well done thanks for easy fix!!

Anonymous
6 years ago

Thank you! I would write the text then the infernal machine would not send the text. Should I choose balloons or slam? Community college didn’t offer any short courses in texting effects skills. Thank you for outsmarting those pencil neck geeks in Cupertino. You have greatly served humanity.

Anonymous
6 years ago

Those idiot effects were the worst idea ever. Hope this works.

Anonymous
7 years ago

I have done this – worked for a while, but the effects came back and won’t disable.

Anonymous
7 years ago

Me too. !

Anonymous
7 years ago

Did what you said I hope it works

Anonymous
7 years ago

BLESS YOU. Truly, I am grateful.

Anonymous
7 years ago

did not fix my iphone 4. it’s pissing me off

Anonymous
7 years ago

I’ve tried it too – sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t

Anonymous
7 years ago

I have done this and I still get the gentle effects etc. help!!

Anonymous
7 years ago

How do you turn off the annoying tapback feature?

Anonymous
7 years ago

What is worse is that the person receiving the meessage gets a line stating the special effect. They get confused by it!

Anonymous
7 years ago

On a phone call Apple told me to turn off “reduce motion” that did not help. Now it is back on and I still get the irritating special effect promp. Not on the first try but yes after that.

Anonymous
7 years ago

My I phone will no longer allow me to send text without asking me if I want loud, soft, slam, etc. How do I stop this stupid thing asking me this on every text line I send

Anonymous
7 years ago

Since I accepted this upgrade I never knew if texts I had prepared would actually be sent when iMessage effects took over. Sometimes it would take up to a minute for my message to leave my phone after I pressed every available button. VERY frustrating! Thank you for your help!

Anonymous
7 years ago

Thank you for your help — this has been driving me crazy. I hate it!