iOS 16 Lets You Sort Personal and Work Messages on Dual-SIM iPhones

iOS 16 introduces a useful new feature for dual-SIM iPhone users: the ability to sort messages per SIM in the Messages app. This feature is particularly beneficial to those who have both personal and work lines set up on a single iPhone.

General Apps Messages
"Messages now supports the ability for customers with a dual SIM iPhone to filter their messages based on their SIMs," says Apple's release notes for the second beta of iOS 16, which was made available to developers for testing on Wednesday. When enabled, the feature filters both iMessages and SMS/MMS messages.

It appears that per-SIM message sorting requires enabling message filtering in the Settings app under Messages → Filter Unknown Senders. Then, users can tap on the icon with three dots at the top of the Messages app, which opens a menu with options to sort messages based on "All Lines" or individual SIMs, such as Personal, Business, or Travel.

iPhone XS and newer models are equipped with both a physical nano-SIM card slot and a digital eSIM, allowing for dual-SIM functionality. This means you can have two lines of service on one iPhone, which is useful for having personal and business lines on a single iPhone or for purchasing data-only plans via eSIM while traveling abroad. Starting with the iPhone 13 lineup, dual-SIM mode also works with two eSIMs.

iOS 16 is currently in beta for registered Apple developers. The update will be released to all users with an iPhone 8 or newer around September.

Related Forum: iOS 16

Popular Stories

Generic iOS 19 Feature Mock Light

iOS 19 Leak Reveals All-New Design

Friday January 17, 2025 2:42 pm PST by
iOS 19 is still around six months away from being announced, but a new leak has allegedly revealed a completely redesigned Camera app. Based on footage it obtained, YouTube channel Front Page Tech shared a video showing what the new Camera app will apparently look like, with the key change being translucent menus for camera controls. Overall, the design of these menus looks similar to...
2024 iPhone Boxes Feature

Apple Changes Trade-In Values for iPhones, iPads, Macs, and More

Thursday January 16, 2025 6:45 am PST by
Apple today adjusted estimated trade-in values for select iPhone, iPad, Mac, and Apple Watch models in the U.S., according to its website. Some values increased, while others decreased. The changes were not too significant, with most values rising or dropping by $5 to $50. We have outlined some examples below: Device New Value Old Value iPhone 15 Pro Max Up to $630 U ...
2024 App Store Awards

Apple Explains Why It Removed TikTok From the App Store in the U.S.

Sunday January 19, 2025 6:58 am PST by
Apple on late Saturday removed TikTok from the App Store in the U.S., and it has now explained why it was required to take this action. Last year, the U.S. passed a law that required Chinese company ByteDance to divest its ownership of TikTok due to potential national security risks, or else the platform would be banned. That law went into effect today, and companies like Apple and Google...
Generic iOS 18

Everything New in iOS 18.3 Beta 3

Thursday January 16, 2025 12:39 pm PST by
Apple provided the third beta of iOS 18.3 to developers today, and while the betas have so far been light on new features, the third beta makes some major changes to Notification Summaries and also tweaks a few other features. Notification Summary Changes Apple made multiple changes to Notification Summaries in response to complaints about inaccurate summaries of news headlines. For...
iOS 19 Roundup Feature

iOS 19 Rumored to Be Compatible With These iPhones

Saturday January 18, 2025 10:28 am PST by
iOS 19 will not drop support for any iPhone models, according to French website iPhoneSoft.fr. The report cited a source who said iOS 19 will be compatible with any iPhone that can run iOS 18, which would mean the following models: iPhone 16 iPhone 16 Plus iPhone 16 Pro iPhone 16 Pro Max iPhone 15 iPhone 15 Plus iPhone 15 Pro iPhone 15 Pro Max iPhone 14 iPhon...
iPad Pro vs iPhone 17 Air Feature

Here's How Thin the iPhone 17 Air Might Be

Friday January 17, 2025 3:38 pm PST by
For the last several months, we've been hearing rumors about a redesigned version of the iPhone 17 that Apple might call the iPhone 17 "Air," or something along those lines. It's going to replace the iPhone 17 Plus as Apple's fourth iPhone option, and it will be offered alongside the iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Pro, and iPhone 17 Pro Max. We know the iPhone 17 Air is going to be super slim, but...
mail categories macos

Apple's Redesigned Mail App is Expanding to the Mac — Here's When

Sunday January 19, 2025 6:02 am PST by
Apple plans to expand the iPhone's redesigned Mail app to the Mac starting with macOS 15.4, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. The first macOS 15.4 beta should be made available in the coming weeks, and Apple has previously suggested that the iOS 18.4, iPadOS 18.4, and macOS 15.4 series of software updates will be released to the public in April. The revamped Mail app debuted on all...
apple power beats pro 2

Powerbeats Pro 2 Coming Soon: Apple to Announce Them 'Imminently'

Sunday January 19, 2025 8:25 am PST by
In September, Apple said that it would be launching Powerbeats Pro 2 in 2025, and it appears the wireless earbuds are coming very soon. Powerbeats Pro 2 images found in iOS 18 code In his Power On newsletter today, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said the Powerbeats Pro 2 are "due imminently." In addition to Apple filing the Powerbeats Pro 2 in regulatory databases last month, Gurman said Apple is...

Top Rated Comments

Fabian90 Avatar
34 months ago
Is it possible to automatically switch on/off a SIM at a set time? Example: Work SIM only active from 9-5
Score: 12 Votes (Like | Disagree)
JosephAW Avatar
34 months ago
Wished they solve the search issues of older messages. It’ll show the results in a search but when you tap the message it jumps to the most recent text message instead of the search results.
Score: 10 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Joe Rossignol Avatar
34 months ago

Starting with the iPhone 13 lineup, dual-SIM mode also works with two eSIMs.

I did not even know this! Does that mean you can have two eSim activated + a physical sim or is it two eSim or 1 eSim and one physical sim?
2 eSIMs *OR* 1 eSIM + 1 nano-SIM.

Apple: "With iPhone 13 Pro Max, iPhone 13 Pro, iPhone 13, and iPhone 13 mini, you can use Dual SIM with either two active eSIMs or a nano-SIM and an eSIM."

Source: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT209044
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Mousse Avatar
34 months ago

It simply bewilders me, do none of the Apple engineers actually use Apple devices and software? Aren't they constantly frustrated by the obvious missing functionality? Don't they go into work and start nerding away at fixing them, if nothing else, so that they can use those fixes themselves?
Eat your own dog food. ('https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eating_your_own_dog_food')

Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
sideshowuniqueuser Avatar
34 months ago

Wished they solve the search issues of older messages. It’ll show the results in a search but when you tap the message it jumps to the most recent text message instead of the search results.
It just struck me what the problem is. Apple are missing a Steve Woz. Massively. Woz would sort out all these obvious, and long missing, features pronto.

It simply bewilders me, do none of the Apple engineers actually use Apple devices and software? Aren't they constantly frustrated by the obvious missing functionality? Don't they go into work and start nerding away at fixing them, if nothing else, so that they can use those fixes themselves?
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
zorinlynx Avatar
34 months ago
It would be more useful to be able to sort by work or personal CONTACTS. Most people don't have dual SIMs and use their phone for both work and personal use.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)