Problem: No time to type out a long messsage
Solution: Customize your text responses
Sometimes a quick “ok” is not enough. You need to write a longer text so the recipient understands why you cannot answer their phone call or respond to their text messages.
Let’s start with the phone calls. Apple lets you ignore a phone and instead respond with a text message. You can choose between three default messages such as “Sorry, I can’t talk right now” or “I’m on my way.” You can change these messages by opening Settings > Phone > Respond with Text. Here you will see the three default messages. Tap on the message you want to change and type in your custom text.
You also can do something similar with text messages. Instead of typing out a lengthy response, you can create shortcuts. Open the Settings app and select General > Keyboard > Add New Shortcut. Choose a shortcut such as “omw” and then type in the complete text phrase. In this example, we want “omw” to stand for “On my way home, see you soon.”