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Why doesn't the b/u/i feature work in text messages?

Question:


Q:


Why does’nt the b/u/i feature work in text messages? I have an i12 mini w up to date IOS 14.7 software. This feature appears sometimes when I select to highlight one word or entire sentence.

it comes up as cut/copy/paste-> B/U/I

and other times when I select @ highlight one word or entire sentence it comes up Paste/Search/Lookup -> with not option doe BUI what am I doing wrong? Shouldn’t all these options to be available for us to choose.

not a program that interprets the content of a sentence importance thereby limiting/restricting options that should be available anytime keyboard users in use?

iPhone 12 mini, iOS 14

Posted on Aug 3, 2021 12:08 AM

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Posted on Aug 3, 2021 7:16 PM

thanks for the reply;,,,couple of questions please. If the iPhone keyboard is able to ascertain the proper situation that the BUI can be used on Rich text. Then shouldn’t I be able to tell or know when that situation is in play? In other words,

does is the BUI feature only available when using the keyboard replying to emails from iPhone and when completing content on webpages, but BUI is not available on the text messaging keyboard? Maybe I am crazy but I sure thought I had used it in the content of a text msg, in both iMessage or SMS.

4 replies
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Aug 3, 2021 7:16 PM in response to sterling r

thanks for the reply;,,,couple of questions please. If the iPhone keyboard is able to ascertain the proper situation that the BUI can be used on Rich text. Then shouldn’t I be able to tell or know when that situation is in play? In other words,

does is the BUI feature only available when using the keyboard replying to emails from iPhone and when completing content on webpages, but BUI is not available on the text messaging keyboard? Maybe I am crazy but I sure thought I had used it in the content of a text msg, in both iMessage or SMS.

Aug 3, 2021 6:25 PM in response to cinegal

Hi cinegal,

Thanks for reaching out using Apple Support Communities. Here to help.

We understand you are inquiring as to why sometimes you are unable to edit text to rich text format such as bold, italics, underline.


Currently this feature is supported only in certain applications and use cases that also support rich text. The iPhone keyboard should detect when this is available and will offer the option when highlighting text if it is available.


Hope this helps! Take care for now.

Aug 3, 2021 8:06 PM in response to cinegal

Hi cinegal ,

Thanks for following up.


As far as we can tell from our testing, the Messages app does not currently support rich or formatted text for iMessages or SMS messages. Other applications will allow this, such as Mail or Notes. The text field or application determines what type of text is accepted, and the iPhone keyboard will not offer the B/U/I option if rich text is not accepted in that field.


The ability to edit text in this way may vary on various websites or applications. Feedback and suggestions are always welcomed by Apple at the link below.


Apple - Product Feedback


Hope this helps. Thank you for using Apple Support Communities.

Why doesn't the b/u/i feature work in text messages?

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