iOS 10 officially launches to the public tomorrow and one of the standout features of the update is an entirely new Messages app. In addition to interface tweaks, built-in GIF search, and new message sending effects, third-party apps can now build extensions for Messages. One of the first apps to hop on the Messages bandwagon is popular lyric annotation service Genius.
Genius announced in a blog post today that with an update to its iOS app coming tomorrow, users will be able to send “Genius Lyric Messages” right from the Messages app on iOS. Essentially what this means is that from the keyboard in the Messages app, users will be able to bring up Genius and search for a song, select a few lines from it, attach an image, and send the text in a card-like message.
Genius touts that everything about Lyric Messages is customizable. For instance, the background image associated with the lyric can be pictures you take, including selfies. When the user at the other end receives the Lyric Message, they can tap on it to be taken directly to the full set of lyrics in the Genius app.
As for the use cases for Lyric Messages, Genius points to those times where “Beyoncé puts it better than you ever could.” Genius has become one of the most popular tools on the web for reading and analyzing lyrics, and with an iMessage extension, the company likely hopes that it will reach a new set of users who would previously use Google to quickly find lyrics to copy and paste into an iMessage.
Creating your own Lyric Message is as simple as choosing a song, taking a pic, and finding the perfect recipient of your very own lyrical moment.
In some ways, Genius is leapfrogging Apple’s own services with Lyric Messages. While iOS 10 will add lyrics support to the Music app, there’s no way to quickly share lyrics from there with other users.
Extension support in iMessage is one of the standout features of iOS 10 as a whole. In addition to the fun and entertaining use cases like sending lyrics with Genius, there are a variety of other ways in which the feature will be used. For instance, Apple pointed to services like Square Cash building an iMessage extension for quickly sending money between users.
The latest version of Genius for iOS will be available tomorrow on the App Store. The app is free and Lyric Messages will come as part of tomorrow’s update. Be sure you also update to iOS 10 tomorrow to take advantage of the feature.
