Never stuck for something to say.

Yes. Tap Draft on a mate’s page and a sheet opens with an opener written from their interests and your last note (on iPhones with Apple Intelligence, written on the phone itself). Tap Another opener for a different one and change any word. Chips across the top change what it’s for: Hello, Thanks, Really going? and Our year. Send opens their usual chat with it typed in, and the catch-up logs itself when you come back.

Yes. On the Draft sheet, write or change a line the way you would say it and tap Keep. It becomes one of your openers (up to twelve), with that mate’s first name turned into a gap so it fits anyone. Draft and the Text button on a nudge then offer yours first, taking turns so the same line doesn’t go out every time.

Messages, WhatsApp, Signal, Telegram, Instagram, Messenger, LINE and Snapchat. Edit a mate and pick one under “Texts on”, and their Text and Draft buttons open that app instead of Messages. WhatsApp, Signal and Telegram find people by number, so save it with its country code. Instagram, Messenger, LINE and Snapchat need a username. WhatsApp opens with the drafted hello typed; for the others Draft copies it for you to paste.

Yes. Edit a mate and add their email address, and Email joins the More button on their page, or leads it if email is how you usually keep up. For a mate with no number saved, the Draft sheet sends your message as a new email. Come back to the app afterwards and it’s logged as a check-in, with Undo if you didn’t send it.

Yes. Edit a mate and pick a language under “Write to them in”. The Draft sheet’s lines, their birthday and name-day wishes, a postcard’s line and the “Let them know” hello then come out in that language, while the app itself stays in yours. Openers you saved yourself are left as you wrote them.

Yes. Drafted texts and prompts open with what you call someone, not just the first word of their name: “Aunt Carol” stays Aunt Carol and “Dr Priya Shah” is Dr Priya. To use something else, edit a mate and fill in “What you call them”. Mates you bring in from Contacts start with the nickname from their card.

Yes. Tap More on a mate’s page, then Send a postcard, and pick one of twenty hand-drawn cards, from coffee soon? and miss you to get well and three for the holidays. Keep or change the line that comes with it. Send opens Messages with the card attached (several mates make one group thread), or the share sheet for other apps. The cards have no words on them, your mate needs nothing installed, and it’s logged once it’s sent.

Yes. Every mate’s page has a “For next time” list for links to send and ideas to do together. Tap Draft and the message starts with it (“Saw this and thought of you”), and a link you send comes off the list by itself. You can also tap Share in Safari, Photos or any app, choose Howdy Mate! and pick the mate (iOS 17 or later). It all stays on your phone.

Share to Howdy Mate →

Yes, with one line and at most one reminder. Got a message you mean to answer? Press and hold the mate and tap “They messaged me”: their row reads “Your turn to reply” and one reminder that evening has an I replied button. Sent a text and heard nothing? Tap “Waiting on a reply?” and if three days pass, one nudge suggests a call. Logging any catch-up with them settles it.

Yes. A mate’s page carries a question to bring to your next catch-up; tap it for three more, from a light, a catching-up or a deeper set, and shuffle any you don’t fancy. Save one for next time and it joins that mate’s things to remember, so it shows when you log the catch-up or draft a message.

Tap ⋯ at the top of Today, choose “Got a few minutes?” and pick 2, 10 or 30 minutes. Howdy Mate! suggests three mates worth reaching right now, leaning toward how you usually reach each one, so a quick text goes to the mate you always text. Nobody in another time zone is suggested in the middle of their night. Each one is a tap from the call or chat, and it’s logged when you come back.

Yes. On the Mates tab, filter to a group and tap Message everyone. A Messages sheet opens with one group text to everyone in it who has a number saved, with a hello already typed, and sending it logs a text with each of them. To text a handful of mates who aren’t a group, tap the search bar on Mates, tap Select, tick 2 to 20 and tap Message.

Yes. Open a mate’s ••• menu and tap “Introduce to someone…”. Mates who live in the same city or share an interest come first. You get one group text to both, already written, to edit and send. Once it’s sent it counts as a catch-up with each of them, and about two weeks later the next message drafted for either one asks whether they ever met up.

Once in a while. When a mate has been around a lot lately, Today may ask “Who’s been good to you lately?” and name them. Write a thank-you opens Draft on Thanks, with a short message from your last catch-up, and it counts as a catch-up. It shows at most once a month, and nobody is suggested twice in a year. To thank anyone else, tap Draft on their page and pick Thanks.

Yes. Tap Draft on a mate’s page and pick Our year (it appears once you’ve caught up with them twice this year). It writes a short note from what you logged, like how many times you caught up and your favourite moment, with a hand-drawn December postcard. Change anything and send it. Through December, Today offers your five most-seen mates one at a time.