What the new Messages drawing tool does
The new Messages drawing tool in iOS 27 is an expanded, built-in Markup canvas that lets you sketch, annotate, and send drawings without leaving your conversation, using the same tools available in screenshots and PDFs. Instead of a hidden, landscape-only panel, Apple now places a dedicated Drawing option directly in the Messages app drawer, so it is easier to find and use on both iPhone and iPad. When you open it, you see a full Markup toolbar with pen, highlighter, crayons, and paintbrush options, plus tools for shapes, text, stickers, and signatures. Finished drawings send as standard images, so people on older iOS versions can still view and save them in Photos. This makes the Messages markup feature feel more like an integrated iPhone drawing app, rather than a separate, hard-to-discover mode.
How to open the Drawing tool in Messages
To start using the iOS 27 drawing tool in Messages, open any conversation on your iPhone or iPad and look at the controls near the text field. Tap the plus (+) button next to the chat box to open the iMessage app drawer, where you will see available apps like Photos, Camera, and now Drawing. Tap Drawing to launch a blank Markup canvas right inside the thread. Unlike the old system that needed landscape orientation, the new canvas works in both portrait and landscape, so you can stay in your usual viewing mode. If you often use drawings, keep the Drawing option near the top of your app drawer for quick access. This simple entry point turns Messages into a convenient space for sketches, notes, and quick diagrams as part of your normal chats.
Using Markup tools: pens, shapes, text, and more
Once the Drawing canvas opens, you can treat it like a compact iPhone drawing app built into Messages. Along the bottom (or side, depending on orientation), you will see the familiar Markup toolbar: pen, highlighter, crayon, and paintbrush icons for different textures, plus an eraser and color picker. You can adjust stroke thickness to emphasize headings or fine details. The shapes tool lets you insert perfect rectangles, circles, speech bubbles, and arrows, ideal for pointing at parts of a photo or diagram. Text boxes allow typed captions or labels, which is handy if handwriting is hard to read. Stickers and signatures add personality or quick approvals to shared notes. According to iPhone in Canada, this full suite of modern Markup tools is now “front and centre” in Messages, replacing the older, limited sketch interface with something much more capable.
Practical ways to use drawings in your chats
The Messages markup feature shines when you use it for everyday tasks. For quick planning, sketch a simple floor plan, seating chart, or packing checklist and send it directly in your group chat. In family conversations, draw a child’s doodle together or annotate homework photos by circling questions and adding notes. For work or study, highlight sections of a screenshot, add arrows to diagrams, or insert typed text boxes to explain changes. Because drawings send as regular images, your contacts can download, forward, or insert them into other apps. iOS 27 also brings faster message loading and better syncing across devices, so these images appear more reliably in all your conversations. Combined with existing tools like photos, reactions, and voice notes, the drawing canvas gives you another clear way to communicate ideas when words alone are not enough.
Tips for smoother conversations with drawings
To keep your chats organized when using the iOS 27 drawing tool, send drawings alongside short text messages that explain what you are showing. Each message now gets its own send indicator, so you can see at a glance whether a sketch or a follow-up note has been delivered. If a message fails, iOS will try resending it automatically, which helps when you share larger Markup images or annotated screenshots. In busy group chats, reaction notifications are consolidated, so you will not be flooded with alerts when several people respond to the same drawing. On the Mac, similar Markup tools are available in Notes and Freeform, making it easier to sketch ideas there and share screenshots of them back into Messages on your iPhone or iPad for a consistent workflow.
