Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Mobile
  3. Guides

How to create your own iMessage stickers in iOS 17

By
Promotional logo for WWDC 2023.
This story is part of our complete Apple WWDC coverage

Apple's iOS 17 brings a ton of new and fun features to the system apps. For instance, the Phone app gets Contact Posters, which lets you set full-screen photos for the caller screen. It's immersive and brings a fresh new look to the boring screen that comes up when someone is calling.

Another fun feature is being able to create stickers in the Messages app. iOS 17 lets you create a sticker by choosing any image from your photos. It uses iOS 16's press-and-hold to pick the subject but works automatically.

Recommended Videos

Difficulty

Easy

Duration

5 minutes

What You Need

  • An iPhone running iOS 17

But how do you use this feature for yourself? If you have the iOS 17 beta, here's how to create your own stickers!

An iPhone with iOS 17, showing custom stickers in iMessage.
Prakhar Khanna/Digital Trends

How to turn any photo into a sticker in iMessage

If you want to create a sticker from an image, you choose it, and the system recognizes the subject. Moreover, you get fun effects to make the stickers more fun to use.

It must be noted that you can only make these stickers if you have iOS 17, and they will only be visible to the receiver if they are also on iOS 17. You can download the iOS 17 beta now if you wish, or you can wait until later this year when Apple releases the update for everyone.

Step 1: Open any chat in iMessage — preferably the one where you want to send the new sticker. Tap on the + sign on the left of the text box.

Step 2: You will get a popup menu. Tap on Stickers.

Related

Step 3: Tap on the + sign at the top left corner of the menu.

Step 4: You will be taken to Photos within iMessage. Select the photo you want to make a sticker of.

Step 5: Tap on Add Sticker option at the bottom right corner.

Step 6: The sticker will be added with three options for you to choose from: Rearrange, Add Effect, and Delete. Tap on Add Effect if you want to customize the sticker.

Step 7: You will get four effects to choose from. Tap on your favorite one.

Creating custom stickers from my photos in iMessage has been one of the coolest new features we've seen so far. Previously, you've had to rely on third-party apps, remove the background on photos, and save them to use custom stickers. But with iOS 17, Apple has brought the functionality to its system app, and it now takes just a few taps to create your own stickers. Try it and have fun!

Editors' Recommendations

Topics
Prakhar Khanna
Prakhar Khanna
Mobile Writer
Prakhar writes news, reviews and features for Digital Trends. He is an independent tech journalist who has been a part of the…
How to download the watchOS 10 beta on your Apple Watch
An Apple Watch showing the watchOS 10 Developer Beta update.

Apple took the wraps off its new 2023 operating system releases right on schedule at June's Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC), including iOS 17 for the iPhone and watchOS 10 for the Apple Watch.

This year's Apple Watch update is particularly notable as it introduces a fresh new design to the wearable's user interface — possibly the biggest change in the history of the Apple Watch. That's not all, though, as Apple has also packed in some nice improvements to mental and vision health, plus more powerful features for cycling and hiking enthusiasts.

Read more
How to download the iPadOS 17 beta on your iPad right now
iPad showing iPadOS 17 Developer Beta 1 update screen with MacBook in the background.

During its 2023 Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) last month, Apple took the wraps off its entire lineup of 2023 operating system updates, including iPadOS 17. This year's major tablet software release promises to bring over many of the fun lock screen features from the iPhone to the larger canvas, plus a new Health app, a better way of working with PDFs and Notes, and some nice multitasking improvements.

The final release of iPadOS 17 won't show up until this fall, but Apple has just opened the doors on its public beta program for those who would like to take an early sneak peek.

Read more
How to get rid of someone else’s Apple ID on your iPhone
iPhone 11 Pro Settings

While it's always a good idea to wipe your iPhone before selling it or passing it on to someone else, it's not uncommon for some folks to forget this important step, especially if they're just handing an old iPhone down to a friend or family member. Hence, if you've acquired a used iPhone from somewhere, you may find that it's still signed into the Apple ID of the previous owner, which can be a pretty frustrating situation as it makes it difficult for you to make your new iPhone truly your own.

Depending on whose Apple ID you're using, this may be more than just an inconvenience. Using an iPhone that's fully signed in to someone else's Apple ID means that you'll be syncing data like your photos and messages with their iCloud account instead of yours, and it's likely they can even track its location via Apple's Find My iPhone. Even if they're a close friend or immediate family member, you may not want them to have that level of access to your personal life.

Read more