Apple Business Chat List Picker: When to Use It
An Apple Business Chat list picker lets customers tap a choice in Messages. Apple’s review expects a quick reply when the list has 5 or fewer options.
An Apple Business Chat list picker is the Messages sheet that lets a customer tap one or more choices, such as a product, a store, or a reason for contact. Apple now calls the channel Apple Messages for Business. The list picker name stayed. Apple’s Experience Review checklist tells reviewers to send a quick reply instead when the list has 5 or fewer options.
A one-line definition lives on the list picker answer. This guide is the version you use when you are building the flow or preparing the screen recording.
What the Customer Sees
Apple’s customer-journey page describes a list picker as a structured, scrollable sheet. Each row can carry an image or icon, a title, and a short description. The customer browses and selects without typing. Apple points it at product catalogues, service menus, and location picking, and says the list can be split into sections. A section can allow one choice or several.
The interactive-message reference is more specific about the picture. If a row has an image, Messages shows it at 60 by 60 points. Apple asks for a @3x PNG at 180 by 180 pixels and 72 dpi, and the system scales that file down for lower-resolution screens. Each image file has to be 200 KB or smaller, PNG only. The whole set of images in the message has to stay under 5 MB. A VoiceOver description is optional. If you leave it empty, VoiceOver skips the image.
Every item needs an identifier and a title. A subtitle is optional. Multiple selection defaults to off, so a section is single-select unless you turn it on. The customer’s reply comes back as those identifiers, which is what a bot or a routing rule can act on without reading free text.
When Apple Expects a Quick Reply
List picker and quick reply
| Question | Quick reply | List picker |
|---|---|---|
| How many choices | 2 to 5, per the customer-journey page | Reviewers flag a list picker that has 5 or fewer options |
| What each choice shows | A short label the customer taps once | Title, optional subtitle, optional image, grouped in sections |
| Typical job | Triage, yes or no, a first menu | A catalogue, a service list, or a set of locations |
| More than one selection | One tap | Off by default. A section can allow several |
Those two Apple pages are slightly stricter than each other, and the review page is the one that decides whether you go live. The journey page says a quick reply holds 2 to 5 options and is the right control for a triage menu. The review checklist says list pickers with 5 or fewer options should be a quick reply instead, and that sections belong only where the categories are actually different. Put the most common choices first. Send a line of introductory text before the picker. Apple also asks for a relevant thumbnail on the request bubble and on the reply bubble.
A store finder with photos and addresses is a list picker. “Track an order,” “Change a delivery,” and “Something else” is a quick reply. Putting those three lines in a list picker is the pattern the review page calls out.
Who Sends It
The brand does not post the picker to Apple. An approved Messaging Service Provider builds the payload and sends it on the Messages for Business API. Apple’s MSP feature table marks the list picker as required for the bot and API side of an integration. Apple’s FAQ also says automation has to connect through that provider, with a path to a live agent. The API guide covers the rest of that path, and approval covers the screen recording your MSP submits.
Support is documented provider by provider. The list picker capability page currently lists 47 Messaging Service Providers whose public docs include it, among them Infobip, LivePerson, Amazon Connect, and Bird. Providers without a public citation are left off that page.
A Checklist Before the Recording
Count the options. If there are 5 or fewer, switch the control to a quick reply before you record the demo.
Add a section only when the groups are different things, such as “Stores” and “Services.” A single flat list does not need a section title that repeats the bubble.
Send one sentence of context first, then the picker. Apple’s review page asks for introductory text before every interactive feature, including this one.
Use a PNG at 180 by 180 pixels when a row needs a picture, keep each file under 200 KB, and write a VoiceOver description when the image carries meaning the title does not.
Confirm the provider you already use is on the capability list. If the demo depends on a list picker and the MSP’s docs never mention one, the recording will not match what Apple asked MSPs to support. Examples from live brands show the same pattern in retail and travel: a tap chooses the thing, and a person is still available if the list does not cover it.
Sources
Plan your customer’s journey — Apple Messages for Business. Quick reply is specified as 2 to 5 options. The list picker is the sheet with images, titles, and sections.
Pass the Experience Review — Apple. List pickers with 5 or fewer options should be a quick reply. Sections need a real category difference. Introductory text comes first.
Interactive messages — Apple Messages for Business REST API. Image size, PNG limit, identifiers, and the multiple-selection default.
Apple Business Chat list picker FAQ
What is an Apple Business Chat list picker?
It is an interactive message in Apple Messages for Business, the product formerly called Apple Business Chat. The customer opens a sheet, taps one or more rows, and sends that choice back. Each row has a title and can include a subtitle and an image.
When should a list picker be a quick reply instead?
Apple’s Experience Review page says list pickers with 5 or fewer options should be a quick reply. The customer-journey page describes a quick reply as 2 to 5 single-tap choices, used for triage and simple confirmations.
Can a customer select more than one item?
Yes, if that section has multiple selection turned on. Apple’s interactive-message reference says the setting defaults to false, so a section is single-select unless you enable it.
What image size does Apple specify?
Rows display an image at 60 by 60 points. Apple asks for a @3x PNG at 180 by 180 pixels and 72 dpi. Each file must be 200 KB or smaller, and the images in one message must stay under 5 MB total.
Can a brand send a list picker without an MSP?
No. An approved Messaging Service Provider sends the message through the Messages for Business API. Apple requires list picker support on the MSP’s API integration, and automation still needs a path to a live agent.