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best email address to use for Messages app

Batavian

Batavian

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Mar 10, 2011
464
38
I have a wifi only iPad that I use the Messages app. I use it to text friends & family and to their iOS devices.

Under the Settings tab, and then Messages settings, there is an option for setting which email address to use for sending & receiving iMessages. My question...

Is using the iCloud address any faster than using...say...a Gmail address?

My gut feeling is that the iCloud address is the fastest as its less "hops" its got to make. So instead of a message going through Apple's servers, then Google's, then back through Apple. Sending a message through an iCloud account keeps it all in the iCloud servers would, in my mind, be quicker.

I could use Apple's me.com email address, for the same reason above. But I've heard that the me.com (like MobileMe) is being phased out.

Of course, if I had an iPhone, I would think using Messages with a phone number would be fastest. But I don't (have an iPhone) so that option is out for me. I do however send my wifi only iPad messages to other iPhone numbers that my friends have, should I know they have their devices with them.
 
r2shyyou

r2shyyou

macrumors 68000
Oct 3, 2010
1,758
13
Paris, France
Batavian said:
I have a wifi only iPad that I use the Messages app. I use it to text friends & family and to their iOS devices.

Under the Settings tab, and then Messages settings, there is an option for setting which email address to use for sending & receiving iMessages. My question...

Is using the iCloud address any faster than using...say...a Gmail address?

My gut feeling is that the iCloud address is the fastest as its less "hops" its got to make. So instead of a message going through Apple's servers, then Google's, then back through Apple. Sending a message through an iCloud account keeps it all in the iCloud servers would, in my mind, be quicker.

I could use Apple's me.com email address, for the same reason above. But I've heard that the me.com (like MobileMe) is being phased out.

Of course, if I had an iPhone, I would think using Messages with a phone number would be fastest. But I don't (have an iPhone) so that option is out for me. I do however send my wifi only iPad messages to other iPhone numbers that my friends have, should I know they have their devices with them.
Click to expand...

Maybe I'm out of the loop on this but I don't think email addresses or phone numbers have anything to do with speed or really anything else iMessage-related, other than privacy & Caller ID display.

What I mean by that is that no matter what you set as your "send from" or "receive at" info, iMessages only route through Apple's servers and nowhere else (i.e. they don't "hop" through email providers or telcos). The speed at which they're sent and received is dependent solely on your data connection and the status of Apple's servers.
 
DJLC

DJLC

macrumors 6502a
Jul 17, 2005
958
401
North Carolina
It wouldn't make any difference... it's simply the name Apple will attach to your messages as they go thru the iCloud / iMessage servers.

That said, I do find it pretty confusing. I have my Apple ID email, plus an icloud.com email, plus a me.com email, plus my cell number. I never quite understood which one was "correct" or whatever; Apple just keeps adding this crap on my behalf.
 
MozMan68

MozMan68

macrumors demi-god
Jun 29, 2010
6,073
5,158
South Cackalacky
It matters this way...what if you only have an iPad and not an iPhone? You have to use an email address to receive iMessages on the iPad, but the cell number to get cellular texts on the phone.

You start to see the genius of iMessage when you have a family where some are on iPhones and iPads and others only have cellular data...two of the three kids who already have cell phones are getting iPhones for Christmas and the third is getting an iPad mini (and the "find my friends" feature will be turned on as well...and will not be allowed to be turned off.)
 
D

Daveoc64

macrumors 601
Jan 16, 2008
4,074
92
Bristol, UK
MozMan68 said:
It matters this way...what if you only have an iPad and not an iPhone? You have to use an email address to receive iMessages on the iPad, but the cell number to get cellular texts on the phone.

You start to see the genius of iMessage when you have a family where some are on iPhones and iPads and others only have cellular data...two of the three kids who already have cell phones are getting iPhones for Christmas and the third is getting an iPad mini (and the "find my friends" feature will be turned on as well...and will not be allowed to be turned off.)
Click to expand...

How does any of this "genius" affect the speed that a message takes?

As above, there is no difference in speed when sending an iMessage based on the email address.
 
Batavian

Batavian

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Mar 10, 2011
464
38
Thanks for the comments!

r2shyyou said:
iMessages only route through Apple's servers and nowhere else
Click to expand...

This kind of gets to the crux of my point as I'm assuming that an iCloud.com email address also resides on Apple servers.

For example, let's say I am using Messages with an email address XYZ@iCloud.com. So my message passes through...

message>>>Apple server>>>recipient

My thought on using Messages with another email address, say XYZ@Gmail.com, my message would go something like...

message>>>Apple server>>>Google server>>>Apple server>>>recipient

DJLC said:
I have my Apple ID email, plus an icloud.com email, plus a me.com email, plus my cell number. I never quite understood which one was "correct" or whatever
Click to expand...

Agreed. I have everything you mentioned except a cellphone/iPhone number. It seems I can choose from any email address that I have set up on my wifi-only iPad. I have the same question as you, sort of. Which is the "best" address to use?

MozMan68 said:
It matters this way...what if you only have an iPad and not an iPhone? You have to use an email address to receive iMessages on the iPad, but the cell number to get cellular texts on the phone
Click to expand...

Precisely. If I had an iPhone, that would be my first choice. It's certainly my first choice when choosing which number/email to use for my recipient's message. Almost always I send an iMessage to a recipients iPhone as chances are they will have their phone with them. They may not have as quick access to email on an iPad.
 
r2shyyou

r2shyyou

macrumors 68000
Oct 3, 2010
1,758
13
Paris, France
Batavian said:
This kind of gets to the crux of my point as I'm assuming that an iCloud.com email address also resides on Apple servers.

For example, let's say I am using Messages with an email address XYZ@iCloud.com. So my message passes through...

message>>>Apple server>>>recipient

My thought on using Messages with another email address, say XYZ@Gmail.com, my message would go something like...

message>>>Apple server>>>Google server>>>Apple server>>>recipient
Click to expand...

Right, I totally get the point you're trying to make and what your assumption is and I'm saying that, to my knowledge, that isn't how it works.

Think of it this way: if I mail a letter from Boston to San Francisco and put my return address as somewhere in Thailand, the post office isn't going to route it through Thailand before finally sending it to SF.

As far as I know, the same thing applies to iMessages. No matter what you set as your send and receive info, it's never going to be anything other than the following:

message>>>Apple server>>>recipient

(The above assumes that the message was sent as an iMessage and didn't fall back to standard text via the carrier.)
 
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