This feature is available in the US, UK, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, France, Germany, Italy, India, Singapore, Philippines, and Japan. If you live outside of those regions, try GIPHY instead.

If the GIF you want to send is already saved to your iPhone, you can simply attach it like a regular photo. Just tap the camera icon next to the typing area, tap the two overlapping photos at the top-left, select the GIF, and send!

You may have to swipe across the row of icons to find it.

The GIF will send to anyone regardless of whether they have an iPhone or not, however, it will only be animated if the recipient is also using the iPhone Messages app.

To install GIPHY, head to the App Store on your iPhone, search for giphy, and tap Install once you find it. You can also find GIPHY by pointing your browser to https://apps. apple. com/us/app/giphy-the-gif-search-engine/id974748812 and tapping Install.

The first time you open GIPHY, you’ll need to create an account. It’s totally free and just takes a moment.

The first time you open GIPHY, you’ll need to create an account. It’s totally free and just takes a moment.

You can tap the heart to add the GIF to your favorites, making it easy to come back to when you want to send it again. You can always reach your favorites by tapping the outline of a person at the bottom of the screen.

If you want to send the GIF in an app that isn’t in the list, tap Copy GIF. You can then paste the copied GIF into a new message by tapping and holding the typing area and selecting Paste. Another option is to tap Copy GIF Link, which allows you to paste a clickable link into a message instead of the GIF itself.

Once you’ve installed GIPHY, you can also use the GIPHY keyboard in the Messages app without having to open the GIPHY app to search! Just open or compose a new message in GIPHY, scroll through the icons above the keyboard, and then tap the black GIPHY icon with a rainbow sticker inside. [2] X Research source

Tap the typing area in a message to open the keyboard. Swipe all the way left across the icons and tap the three horizontal dots •••. Tap Edit at the top-left. Scroll down and tap + next to “#images”. Tap Done at the top-left and return to the message—you should have #images now.

Open a conversation in Messages and scroll all the way to the left of the row of icons above the keyboard. Tap the three horizontal dots •••. Tap Edit at the top-left. Tap the red minus button next to #images. Tap Remove from Favorites. Tap the switch next to #images to turn it off. Tap Done. Tap Edit at the top-left again. Tap the switch next to #images to turn it back on—this automatically adds it to the Favorites section, too. Tap Done to confirm.

If this doesn’t clear up problems with GIPHY, try uninstalling and reinstalling the app.