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How to 'like' a text message on your iPhone using Tapback, the reaction feature built into iMessage

iPhone X Animojis
It only takes a few taps to like a text on your iPhone. Hollis Johnson
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Thanks to iMessage, you can respond to text messages without even saying word.

An iPhone feature called Tapback lets users choose from a selection of reactions — a heart (love), thumbs up (like), thumbs down (dislike), "haha" (laugh), exclamation (emphasized), or question mark (questioning).

The Tapback effect is popular among those who have large group chats. To see who reacted to a message in a group chat, just tap on the message itself. 

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How to like or react to a text on iPhone 

1. Open the Messages app from your iPhone's homescreen. 

2. Tap the conversation thread with the text you want to send a reaction or expression to.

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Find the iMessage you want to send a reaction to.  Meira Gebel/Business Insider

3. Double-tap or press and hold the message you'd like to send a reaction to. 

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Double-tap or press and hold to access the Tapback expressions.  Meira Gebel/Business Insider

4. In the pop-up, select which reaction you'd like you send. As soon as you pick one, the person who sent the text will receive a notification about it. For example, if you select the heart icon, the text's sender will receive a notification that says "Meira loved '[insert message here].'"

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Once you select the Tapback expression, it'll appear on the message.  Meira Gebel/Business Insider

To undo a reaction, repeat the steps above and deselect the expression you selected. The person who sent the message will receive a notification that your reaction has been "removed."

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Meira Gebel is a freelance reporter based in Portland, Oregon. She writes about business, culture, and technology for Insider. Her work has been featured in Digital Trends, Willamette Week, USA Today, and more. She is a graduate of Columbia Journalism School and San Francisco State University.  Feel free to reach out to her on Twitter, where she can be found most of the time, @MeiraGebel.