Walkthrough of Apple's iMessage in iOS 5
One of the surprising new iOS 5 features announced during the WWDC 2011 keynote was the introduction of Apple's own messaging service called iMessage. The new service offers a number of advantages over current SMS/text messaging. Features include delivery receipts, see when someone's typing, secure encryption and support for iPad and iPod Touch devices. iMessage also circumvents the costly text messaging plans required by carriers. According to DaringFireball, Apple's mobile carrier partners only learned about the new feature at the same time as the rest of us: during the keynote.
Cult of Mac has posted a nice walkthrough explaining how iMessages work alongside standard SMS messages.
Fortunately, for the end user, the transition will be relatively transparent. iMessage has been integrated into the existing "Messages" app. If you would like to text someone, iOS 5 automatically checks to see if they are eligible to receive iMessages rather than the more costly standard text message:
Once a contact is known to support iMessage, a special blue chat bubble appears by that contact's name to indicate they support iMessage. If you don't want to ever send any standard text messages, there is a preference for Messages to only try to send iMessages instead of SMSs. In summary:
Overall, iMessages are great. Being able to see when a message has been delivered and whether it's been read or not really enhance the communication experience. The best part is that you don't have to even think about them because if Apple is doing all of the work completely behind the scenes so that you won't even notice. Using iMessages on multiple devices with the new support of iCloud ensures that you'll never miss a beat when you're working on both your iPad and iPhone.
Apple previewed iOS 5 during the WWDC 2011 keynote on Monday. iOS 5 is presently available as a beta to registered developers but won't be released to the public until this fall.
Popular Stories
Following six weeks of beta testing, iOS 16.4 was released to the public this week. The software update includes a handful of new features and changes for the iPhone 8 and newer. To install an iOS update, open the Settings app on the iPhone, tap General → Software Update, and follow the on-screen instructions.
Below, we have recapped eight new features and changes added with iOS 16.4,...
General Motors (GM) will phase out Apple CarPlay and Android Auto in its vehicles starting this year, shifting to a built-in infotainment system co-developed with Google (via Reuters).
GM owns Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, and GMC in the United States. It will stop offering Apple CarPlay and Android Auto starting with the 2024 Chevrolet Blazer, which goes on sale this summer. The company plans ...
With the Apple Music Classical app and an Apple Pay Later early access program now available, the list of previously-announced iOS features that have yet to launch is beginning to shrink. However, there are still a few features we are waiting for. Below, we have recapped three more iOS features that are expected to launch in 2023, including an Apple Card savings account for Daily Cash,...
Apple this week announced the official dates for the 34th annual Worldwide Developers Conference, with the annual WWDC keynote event set to take place on Monday, June 5. The keynote is where Apple unveils new versions of iOS, macOS, watchOS, and tvOS, and sometimes, we get hardware announcements.
Rumors this year suggest there are at least three new devices that are set to be unveiled in the ...
iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max users will be able to customize the sensitivity of the solid-state buttons on their device, thanks to a new sensitivity toggle in Settings. That's according to details provided by a hitherto reliable source that shared additional details on the MacRumors forums. Earlier this week, the same anonymous tipster revealed that the iPhone 15 Pro models will use...
Apple has again pushed back mass production of its mixed-reality headset and the device may not appear at this year's Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC), Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo today said.
Apple headset concept by David Lewis and Marcus Kane In a tweet, Kuo explained that Apple "isn't very optimistic" about whether the headset will be able to create an "iPhone moment." As a result,...
The periscope camera lens that will be exclusive to the iPhone 15 Pro Max will be solely supplied by Largan, according to the 相機鏡頭中獲利-apple-camera-lens-suppliers-face-two-risks-high-53db8da990b2">latest no by Apple industry analyst Ming-Chi Kuo.
Rumors about the iPhone getting a periscope lens have been circulating since early 2020, when Kuo first mentioned the possibility. The analyst...
Top Rated Comments
But if you just go to text and the iPhone's like "Hey, they have an iPhone...don't worry this one's free!" then that is seriously bad-ass.
Are you kidding? AT&T's text messages cost $1,310 per Megabyte. Thats pretty darn costly.
Tell me about it. This whole text message fee from the phone companies is nothing more than collusion on their parts to fix prices. They all get to squeeze $5 extra out of every customer per month. It adds up.
The data for text messages should be covered by either the phone plan or the data plan. This is ridiculous.
The green is there to remind you that the carriers are raping your hard earned green dollars when you text over their SMS service. The blue is on Apple's service to let you know everything's cool. :p
His point is that you are paying $20 a month for something that realistically costs the provider pennies a month in support. An SMS is a fraction of a MB, if not a kB. It's the easiest money a comm company can make.
I also don't know why you think there is going to be an explosion of data usage. No music streaming, and I'm sure most of the syncing will be Wifi only (home network near computer) with the explicit option to choose the data delivery method for such operations.
That being said, it's not as if this is anything new. Carriers have supported BB's implementation of the same type of feature for years without fuss.