When a draft carries more than one thing — something you are replying to, something you are forwarding, a link that has generated a card — the bar above the typing box splits into tabs, one for each.
Each tab has its own settings, and switching between them does not disturb what you have typed.
What you will be able to do
- check_circle Edit each piece of context on a draft separately.
- check_circle Change one without losing the others or your text.
- check_circle Recognise when one message is carrying too much.
- check_circle Send a composite message that is actually readable.
Each tab above the typing box opens its own set of options for that part of the draft.
tab The bar is a control, not a label
Most people read that bar as a reminder of what they are replying to and never touch it. It is a control surface. Tapping the reply banner lets you change what you are replying to, or where the reply is going. Tapping the forward banner lets you drop the original sender's name or the captions. Tapping the link card lets you resize or move it, or remove it.
The tabs appear only when there is more than one of these on the draft, which is precisely when you most need to get at them and are least likely to look.
Nothing you have typed is lost while you do this. You can set up all three, go back and change your mind about one, and the message in the box is untouched throughout. That is what makes it worth using rather than sending and re-sending.
Three tabs, and one question
The question is whether all of this belongs in one message.
reply What you are answering
forward What travels with it
link The card underneath
call_split When the tabs are a warning
Three tabs is fine when it is one argument and a mistake when it is three errands.
settings Working the bar
- Assemble the draft Reply, forward, link, in any order.
- Tap each tab in turn They are buttons, not labels.
- Narrow the reply to a quote Or send it to another chat.
- Decide the forward's name and captions Before sending, not after.
- Size or remove the link card Depending on what else is on the message.
- Ask whether it is one point If it is not, send two messages.
This page is the control bar on one draft. The curriculum step is what those controls decide: what a forwarded message reveals about its author, when a caption should travel with media, and how sharing changes what the recipient can trace.
At a glance
- 1Context bar
Replies, forwards and links each show above the input.
- 2Change one
Adjust one without losing your typed text.
- 3Too much?
Split a message that carries three jobs.
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