Issue replying to individual message in a group chat

Hi Jerry Dammers,

Thanks. Just to clarify, are using the "inline" message response to reply just to the one person in the group?

Or, are you sending a reply to the entire group, and an Android user is replying?

If you are sending the message to the entire group, and when an Android user replies, it is sent as a separate message, not to the group. This is mentioned in Send a group text message on your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch : "All responses in a group SMS are sent as individual text messages and the recipients can’t see the other responses from the group."

For the "inline" message, are you following these steps?

Reply to a specific message in a conversation

You can respond to a specific message inline in group or individual conversations to improve clarity and help keep the conversation organized.

1. In a conversation, touch and hold a message, then tap Reply .

2. Write your response, then tap .

Tip: You can quickly reply to messages with a Tapback expression (for example, a thumbs-up or a heart). Double-tap the message bubble that you want to respond to, then select a Tapback.

People can respond inline as long as they’re using an iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, or Mac and have iMessageturned on.

Send and receive messages on iPhone

That being said, if the iPhone appears to become unresponsive when attempting to go to a different message thread, or you're unable to navigate any time that you try to complete this task, we'd suggest reaching out to Apple to take a deeper look using: Official Apple Support

Take care!

Hey Jerry Dammers ,

When sending a message it will overlay the Messages app with the Reply conversation as expected. To leave the reply conversation you only need to tap empty space for it to leave the screen and then return to the normal conversation. It does not do this on its own.

This has some more information on how to reply in a conversation.

Reply to specific messages on your iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch - Apple Support

You may need to follow the steps in this article if the Messages app is not responding correctly. Please take note that the Messages app cannot be updated in the App Store, and cannot be deleted. You can disregard the third and fourth steps in the article.

If an app on your iPhone or iPad stops responding, closes unexpectedly, or won’t open - Apple Support

Please don't hesitate to let us know if you need additional assistance.

Take care.

Hello Jerry Dammers,

Thanks for using the Apple Support Communities!

Could you please confirm if you're referring to replying to an individual message within a group message thread?

If so, could you please also verify if your iPhone is fully up to date? Update your iPhone or iPad

Ensuring you're up-to-date can help narrow down possible causes of this.

Cheers!