Moving data from one smartphone platform to the other can be tricky. In a perfect world, there would be a quick, easy-to-use solution to getting your text messages from the platform you're leaving to the platform you're going to. And there is — you just have to set it up at the right time.

Apple recently (and finally) brought Messages to iCloud, which we've written about a bit over the past month because it's just that useful and necessary of a feature. However, with all new, great things comes confusion; setting it up can be a bit of a head-scratcher and apparently, figuring out just what it's doing is equally question-inducing.

Android/iOS: Snapchat announced a new feature yesterday that allows any user to delete any messages they send in individual or group conversations. In other words, if you Snapchat message your mum "nice bod", but meant to send that to your favourite friend instead, you can now use Snapchat's "Clear Chats" feature to prevent all the awkwardness ever.

A new iPhone messaging bug has been discovered that affects the current version of iOS as well as the beta currently doing the rounds with developers. The 'black dot' bug can overload iMessage if sent to your iPhone. The good news is there is a way to avoid it crashing your iPhone every time you open Messages.

iOS: If you live in your Messages group chats, you know how cumbersome it can be to share something other than pictures of yourself. Popping in and out of other apps, copying and pasting links, looking for that share button that seems to be in a different spot every time -- it can get frustrating. Luckily, you can eliminate the app-switching annoyance by using Message's App Store, which lives right next to your text box in the Messages app.

So, you're interested in secure, encrypted chat apps. You have a few different choices, but as with any chat app, what all your friends are using is important. To that end, Signal and WhatsApp are easily the most popular. Here's how they compare.

If you own multiple Apple devices, you've probably signed into all of them with your Apple ID. You've also probably noticed that when you get a Facetime call your computer rings, or when you get an iMessage your iPad beeps. For most of us, this is a small annoyance worth fixing. For others, it's a potential privacy nightmare.

iOS: When you flip your iPhone over to the landscape view when you're typing a message, it automatically changes to the handwriting interface. Chances are, most of us don't hand write messages and would prefer the landscape keyboard here. Good news, though, How-To Geek points out that when you tap the keyboard button, iOS remembers your preference.

Earlier this year, Facebook announced it was building bots that would let companies chat with you in Messenger. Now, the company has announced sponsored messages. They're like ads, but for your chat app.

In iOS 10, Apple refreshed its Messages app with a ton of new features. One of those features, an app store specifically for Messages, met with a resounding "meh" from users and a "hurray!" from brands. Good news though, not all of those apps are terrible branded sticker packs. In fact, there are some genuinely useful ones.

iOS: Not everyone likes the new features in Messages. So, if you have an annoying friend sending you a million stickers, you'll be happy to hear that it's possible to at least remove those stickers, though you can't stop them from arriving in the first place.

The biggest new change in iOS 10 is the Messages app, which is suddenly a lot more playful with the addition of animations and stickers. Here's how to make the most of it.

Read receipts are one of those bizarre things that some people love, but others hate. While you should probably just turn them off if you don't like them, iPhone 6s users can keep them on while still seeing messages with a little 3D touch trick.

By default, iMessage saves every single photo you're sent (you can change this, of course), which is super handy, but also eats up a ton of space. It's easy enough to pop in and delete those photos one-by-one, but 9to5 Mac points out a somewhat hidden trick to selecting multiple photos at once.

Mac: If you've been using Messages for a while, you may not want to let your archived messages go when you move to a new Mac. iCloud should backup and restore a lot of it, but if that history goes back pretty far, it won't get it all. iMore shows you how to make sure it comes over to your new computer.

Being rude in your emails or text messages doesn't usually get you very far, especially when it's already difficult to sense the tone with text. The FoxType tool can analyse your text and offer rewrite suggestions so you avoid unnecessary rudeness.