iOS 4.0 also included support for a red exclamation mark to appear on the app's icon to warn failure to send a message. It also added support for displaying a character count to notify when one had gone over the standard SMS character limit.

Among the new features was the ability to search within text messages, much like the search feature in Mail. Messages received minor upgrades with iOS 4. Other changes included support for copy and paste, and the ability to forward or delete multiple messages at a time. Messages also gained support for sharing contacts using the vCard standard. The original iPhone did not receive support for MMS, citing hardware challenges.

The change in name was due to the iPhone gaining native support for the MMS protocol, in addition to the previously available SMS protocol. It replaced the Text application which had been the native messaging application since the iPhone's inception. Apple released Messages for the iPhone as a built-in application with iPhone OS 3.0 on June 17, 2009.

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