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Should Apple set up iMessage to send SMSes?

M

moonman239

Cancelled
Original poster
Mar 27, 2009
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I just e-mailed a text message from my iPad to someone who does not accept iMessages. This made me think. Wouldn't it be nice if Apple created an iMessage-to-SMS gateway? I would prefer, of course, that a designated phone number, whether the device that uses that number is an iPhone or not, show up on the recipient's phone as the sender's phone number.

I imagine this would make the iPhone look more favorable to someone who's stuck with a carrier that charges more for texting than for a good data plan.

Maybe this would also make the iPod touch or iPad more favorable to those who do not, and may never, want to buy an iPhone.

What are your thoughts?
 
N

nickhutson

macrumors regular
Mar 15, 2009
137
89
Carriers still charge for SMS?

They gave up doing that years ago here in the UK - unless you're on PAYG - and even then, they're often included.
 
T

ThisIsNotMe

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Aug 11, 2008
1,849
1,062
Apple is all about ecosystems.
I would much rather see them expand on iMessage (free texting between iOS devices) and implement free VoIP calling between iOS devices first.
 
JoEw

JoEw

macrumors 68000
Nov 29, 2009
1,583
1,291
Couldn't they simply send the iMessage from ipad/mac to your iPhone then as SMS? Therefore not curcumveniting carrier texting fees and allowing the ability only for people who have an iPhone of course. I don't understand why Apple has yet to do this, would help iMessage significantly.
 
A

apollo1444

macrumors 65816
Jul 22, 2011
1,329
27
mexico
you can send an iMessage sms to someone who does not accept iMessage just tap over the message and tap "send as sms"
 
S

sarcosis

macrumors 6502a
Apr 25, 2006
591
8
These United States
nickhutson said:
Carriers still charge for SMS?

They gave up doing that years ago here in the UK - unless you're on PAYG - and even then, they're often included.
Click to expand...

Sadly we still do. Makes me upset every time I think about it. That's why I try not to think about it since there isn't anything that I can do about it.
 
zorinlynx

zorinlynx

macrumors G3
May 31, 2007
8,168
17,687
Florida, USA
This is a feature I've been wanting Apple to implement ever since iMessage came out.

I'm often using my iPad and my iPhone is nearby, across the room, etc. I'd love for a received text message to be quietly sent to the iPad, allowing me to respond, using the phone as an SMS gateway on the same local network.

It would be trivial to implement and be a remarkably handy feature! Also, when the iPad and iPhone join the same Wifi network, they could sync conversations so you always have the same Messages view across your iDevices.

I doubt it'll happen, though.
 
M

Michael CM1

macrumors 603
Feb 4, 2008
5,681
276
paulbennett95 said:
Wouldn't happen due to the carriers, they'd be pissed off if Apple circumvented their SMS fees like that.
Click to expand...

Carriers have pretty much given off monetizing that. Aside from legacy plans, most of the US carriers are pretty much throwing unlimited voice and SMS at you -- for $20 more a month. iMessage helped kill that, thankfully.
 
siurpeeman

siurpeeman

macrumors 603
Dec 2, 2006
6,318
23
the OC
apollo1444 said:
you can send an iMessage sms to someone who does not accept iMessage just tap over the message and tap "send as sms"
Click to expand...

you can only do that from an iphone, not an ipad or ipod touch. instead of sending imessages as texts, it'd be nice if apple just made an imessage app for android or windows phone.
 
bushido

bushido

Suspended
Mar 26, 2008
8,070
2,755
Germany
nickhutson said:
Carriers still charge for SMS?

They gave up doing that years ago here in the UK - unless you're on PAYG - and even then, they're often included.
Click to expand...

8-19 cent each if you have no unlimited text or volume package here in Germany

but thanks to iMessage and mostly WhatsApp i havent sent an sms in months
 
Michael Goff

Michael Goff

Suspended
Jul 5, 2012
13,329
7,421
nickhutson said:
Carriers still charge for SMS?

They gave up doing that years ago here in the UK - unless you're on PAYG - and even then, they're often included.
Click to expand...

Carriers would charge for you to turn on your phone if they could get away with it.

They'll charge for anything.
 
M

moonman239

Cancelled
Original poster
Mar 27, 2009
1,541
32
I did a little work on an SMS gateway for Macs. It was an AppleScript that would detect an incoming iMessage and send the message to a designated cellphone via Google Voice.

User sends message intended for John Appleseed to his iMessage account -> User's designated Mac receives the message, and sees that it is intended for John Appleseed -> Mac relays message via Google Voice's texting feature to John Appleseed's cellphone.

One problem that this idea introduces is the problem of how the computer is supposed to know where the message is supposed to go. The user would either have to create one email address for each contact and add all addresses to his iMessage account, or he'd have to type out the recipient's name every time he sent a message.

The first option might be good enough for now, but I don't think the AppleScript would know which email address the user sent the iMessage to.

A possible, and easy, solution would be to simply send an e-mail to the recipient's phone. Anyone can send an email to almost any phone, and it will be converted to an SMS by the carrier. To find the e-mail domain to use, do a Web search for "email-to-SMS gateway (recipient's carrier's name here)." For AT&T, the domain to use is mms.att.net.
 
jclardy

jclardy

macrumors 601
Oct 6, 2008
4,159
4,367
apollo1444 said:
you can send an iMessage sms to someone who does not accept iMessage just tap over the message and tap "send as sms"
Click to expand...

This is only on iPhone - OP is talking about doing it from a device without an SMS plan so Apple would be sending the SMS.
 
CAWjr

CAWjr

macrumors 6502
Jan 19, 2010
488
59
Atlanta, GA
I pay for unlimited text on my AT&T family plan because I have a number of text alerts set up from multiple services that do not use iMessage, plus we still have friends who (shockingly) don't have iPhones & cannot send iMessages & I would rather not have to bother with the worry of "Am I over my monthly allotment of texts?"

Yeah it sucks, & I would rather not have to deal with it, but you cannot wipe out your text message plan altogether because the carriers will not allow you to turn it off. And without a plan, people can send you text messages all day & you are charged for incoming messages just as much as you are charged for outgoing messages.
 
Agent OrangeZ

Agent OrangeZ

macrumors 68040
Mar 17, 2010
3,015
3,015
Planet Earth
I think Apple should build in a way that allows iPhone to link with other iMessage capable devices (iPad/Mac) via Bluetooth and then allow the client connected iMessage apps to use the SMS connectivity of the iPhone (SMS composed on the iPad/Mac routed through the iPhone automatically and wirelessly).
 
ChristianVirtual

ChristianVirtual

macrumors 601
May 10, 2010
4,122
282
日本
I still don't understand why people still use (and pay) SMS ... is there still a phone outside not able to send a simple eMail via IMAP ? Even simple "flip-phones" have email. The only SMS I receive is when someone hit my voice box ...
 
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