IOS 26 adds a new opt-in filtering system to the messages application which poses the messages of “unknown sender” in a separate tab.
Punchbowl News (via Daring And Political thread) reports that the Republicans in Washington, DC, are already panicking about the fundraising implications of this new feature, warning that it “could cost them $ 25 million in fundraising income”.
iOS 26 has political fundraising on the edge
The note was sent by the NRSC (Senatorial National Republican Committee) last week, coinciding with the release of the public version of iOS 26. John Gruber in Daring Fireball obtained his hand on a complete copy of the memo, in which the NRSC says that changes in the functionality iOS 26 “have profound implications for our ability to collect funds, mobilize voters and carry out digital campaigns”.
We covered this iOS 26 functionality earlier this month. After the update, the messages application automatically sits the messages of unknown shippers in a separate reception box, accessible via the filter button in the upper right corner. These messages also bypass notifications.
Of the letter NRSC:
Apple iOS 26 update has aggressive messages of messages. Political texts – even verified and compliant sender – will be treated as a default spam, sent silently to an “unknown” reception box without alert or notifications. This change has deep implications for our ability to collect funds, mobilize voters and lead digital campaigns.
It is important to understand: Apple not only targets the actors of cold or spam awareness. Each political message – shortcut, long code, does not matter – is pushed into darkness. The only bypass solution to respond to a voter – is increasingly rare and entirely at the mercy of the unclear rules of Apple. How will a voter answer if he never receives the message?
As Gruber points out, iOS 26 will not classify these texts for collecting political funds as “spam”. He will simply sort these messages in the category of “unknown shippers”, because that is exactly what they are. The “spam” texts are filtered in a separate reception box view.
The NRSC continues:
Estimated prospecting losses: NRSC alone could see a turnover of 25 million dollars. Since 70% of small dollar donations come by SMS and iPhones represent 60% of American mobile devices, The macro effect could exceed $ 500 million in income from the lost GOP.
But it is not only a question of money – it is also the impact on the contacts of voters. GOTV messages, voter persuasion texts, quick response messaging, reminders of the election day – these are critical communications sensitive to time. iOS 26 breaks it all.
“If we want to grow back, it must be now. We have a very narrow window to solve this problem,” concludes the NRSC.
9TO5MAC
This is one of the most practical and useful features of iOS 26, iPados 26 and macOS 26. The fact that it already freed political funds is the icing on the cake.
And to be clear: the impact of this change will be absolutely felt by the political fundraising groups on both sides of the aisle. The functionality will also have an impact on marketing and promotional texts of brands. These brands and fundraising will have to become more creative and innovative with the way they reach people.
Update 20:07 pm HE: An earlier version of this story has indicated that the new filtering functionality of “unknown shippers” is activated by default in iOS 26. It is not correct. It is only activated by default if the user (like me) had activated the other version of Apple filtering in the messages application.
The functionality that is withdrawing rather than withdrawing will undoubtedly help reduce the impact on fundraising and marketing specialists. That said, I always expect it to be a popular functionality once iOS 26 will be published to everyone in September.
My favorite iPhone accessories:
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