Tags iMessage reads

iMessage supports far fewer tags than most platforms:

og:description is completely ignored

iMessage does not display og:description anywhere. The preview shows only the title, image, and domain name. Adding the tag won’t hurt – other platforms use it – but iMessage will never render it.

Title truncation

iMessage truncates og:title at roughly 44 characters, much shorter than Facebook (~88) or Twitter (~70). Put the important words first:

<!-- Good: key info first -->
<meta property="og:title" content="iPhone 16 Pro Review: Camera Upgrades">

<!-- Bad: key info at the end, gets cut off -->
<meta property="og:title" content="Our Comprehensive and Detailed Review of the New iPhone 16 Pro Camera">

Fallback chain

When OG tags are missing, iMessage tries:

1. og:title (or twitter:title)
2. <title> HTML tag
3. The URL itself

For images:

1. og:image (or twitter:image)
2. apple-touch-icon (the iOS home screen bookmark icon)
3. favicon

The apple-touch-icon fallback is unique to iMessage. Without an og:image, iMessage shows the touch icon as a small thumbnail alongside the link.

Video support

iMessage supports inline video previews via og:video. The video must be MP4:

<meta property="og:video" content="https://example.com/preview.mp4">
<meta property="og:video:type" content="video/mp4">

Videos autoplay muted and loop, like a GIF. Keep file sizes small – the sender’s device downloads it over their own connection.

Recommended minimal setup

This is all iMessage needs:

<meta property="og:title" content="Your Title (under 44 chars)">
<meta property="og:image" content="https://example.com/image.jpg">

The domain name appears automatically. Since og:description is ignored, put your effort into a short title and a good image.