Add a personal touch to your group chats by giving your Messages conversations a custom background in iOS 27 and iPadOS 27. Here’s how you can change the look of your chats.
Messages remains one of the most widely used communication apps on the iPhone, helping people stay connected with friends, family, colleagues and other contacts. But after seeing the same familiar grey, blue and occasionally green bubbles against a plain background, your conversations can start to feel a little repetitive.
Apple introduced a new way to personalize Messages at WWDC 2025, giving users the ability to choose custom backgrounds for individual conversations. This means you could use a professional-themed background for a work group chat, while choosing a photo of your favorite pet for a family conversation.
The feature isn't just about making chats look more attractive. Different backgrounds can also make it easier to recognize conversations at a glance, particularly when you have several individual or group chats open. A distinctive background can help you identify the right conversation without having to read through the messages first.
Custom chat backgrounds aren't an entirely new concept, as several competing messaging platforms have offered similar personalization features for years. Apple has now brought that flexibility to Messages, giving iPhone and iPad users another simple way to make their conversations feel more personal.
OpenAI Says ChatGPT Integration with Siri Fell Far Short of Expectations
It was previously reported that OpenAI was deeply dissatisfied with its partnership with Apple over ChatGPT integration, with the company even considering legal action. Now, details of those concerns have been formally documented in a filing related to the antitrust lawsuit involving SpaceXAI.
Apple and OpenAI became involved in the antitrust case following allegations made by Elon Musk. Although Apple has since been removed from the lawsuit, the legal dispute itself remains ongoing.
OpenAI did not have access to the details of the settlement reached between Apple and SpaceXAI. However, in its latest filing, the company has outlined why it believes the lawsuit should be dismissed. The document also provides a detailed account of the unusual legal dispute and reveals how disappointed OpenAI was with the results of its Apple partnership.
Reports of OpenAI's frustration with the deal had surfaced previously, including claims that the company had considered suing Apple. The latest filing now provides further confirmation of those concerns.
According to Sections D and F of the filing, OpenAI argues that Apple's implementation of ChatGPT within iOS and Siri was problematic from the outset. Because the integration required users to opt in and was limited in how it could be accessed, users were more likely to launch the standalone ChatGPT app rather than interact with the service through Siri.
A Partnership That Fell Short
The feature launched in December 2024, but by January 2025, OpenAI had already determined that its initial usage forecasts needed to be significantly reduced. By March 2026, the company was reportedly describing the integration as "persistently underperforming."
During the same period, Apple introduced its own Apple Foundation Models, which were developed using a Gemini Frontier model for distillation. While Apple and OpenAI did not have an exclusivity agreement, Apple also did not introduce additional Siri extensions that could have expanded the partnership.
The agreement also limited OpenAI's ability to gain additional benefits from ChatGPT usage through Siri. Since user data from the integration was not collected or used for training, the main potential advantage for OpenAI was the possibility of attracting new users and converting them into paid subscribers.
How to Change the Messages Background in iOS 27 and iPadOS 27
