And if your phone is on silent mode, it's really easy to miss important time-sensitive messages when you need to read them.
Apple wants to take care of that problem by making text messages more contextual, as it says in a recently granted patent.
The document describes a text-messaging system that would let you schedule text messages based on a variety of factors, such as the time, weather, and location. It sounds as if the messaging app would communicate with other apps on your phone — such as the weather app and your calendar — to send text messages at certain times.
According to the patent, you would be able to set the specific conditions under which a text message is sent. So if it's raining outside but you want to meet your friend at the park, you could tell your phone to text that friend once it stops raining.
Apple also cites specific examples such as sending a text message to a recipient when he or she arrives at the grocery store to make sure the message is seen at the right time, or sending a message that appears on the recipient's phone when he or she wakes up.
