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FSMBP

macrumors 68030
Original poster
Jan 22, 2009
2,711
2,600
After reading numerous posts/comments, it seems that people who are against iMessage are the ones who don't understand it.

What does it do?
It's built into your iOS's Messaging app (the same one you already send Texts in). When you go to text someone, iOS 5 will automatically detect if that person is using an iOS 5 device & send it as an iMessage. If they aren't using iOS 5, it just sends it as a Text automatically. The End-user does NOTHING different that what you do today.

What are the benefits of iMessage versus just Texting?
-iMessages don't count against texting plans
-iMessages will tell you if your message is delivered (and Read, which is optional)
-There is no character limit, unlike the 160 characters in SMS
-iMessages use data (ex. 1KB), so you iMessage people internationally cheaper than SMS
-iMessage works on iPod touch, iPad
-Group Messaging
-iMessage works on Edge & 3G & Wifi (Good for us AT&T users with no reception :))

What's the difference between iMessage & WhatsApp or Kik?
-To use WhatsApp or Kik, the other user has to have the those Apps. iMessage is built in.
-You use one app for SMS/iMessage, versus using WhatsApp and SMS/iMessage
-It's free (unlike WhatsApp)
-WhatsApp & Kik work on Android/iOS/Other platforms, iMessage is only for iOS 5 Devices
-With WhatsApp, you'll have messages scattered across WhatsApp and between your default Messages app.
-iMessages works on iPod touch/iPads. WhatsApp does not work on iPod touches/Wifi iPads

The Key here is: you do NOTHING different than you're currently doing to send an iMessage/Text; iOS picks the best option (iMessage being the best since all the benefits I listed above).

Why wouldn't you use iMessage?
-The only reason I can think of is this, you're traveling internationally & data is more expensive than international texting.

It makes no sense not to use iMessage. You can still use WhatsApp or Kik for Android/WP7 users but it makes no sense not to take advantage of iMessage too.

In summary: Apple automatically sends your texts are iMessages when possible (which is good since it's cheaper & has a lot of benefits.) People will be sending iMessages & not even know it (people who are oblivious that is).

Feel free to discuss or point out things I've missed.
Thanks.
 
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Kubus

macrumors regular
Jun 8, 2011
124
0
Montreal, QC
Benefit: If you have terrible network reception in your basement (like me) you don't miss out on that important message while you're down there since you're covered with WiFi... Or some underground classrooms at universities that have bad reception but have WiFi etc... Or on a plane that has WiFi and you have to be on airplane mode and otherwise would be unable to communicate.
 

charpi

macrumors regular
Sep 30, 2006
205
12
iMessage is a great feature to have but the con is like facetime, you only can use it with other iOS 5 devices. Like it or not, we all have friends with WP7 or Android and what not and we cannot connect with them this way.

Great writeup BTW
 

canyonblue737

macrumors 68020
Jan 10, 2005
2,142
2,604
again charpi you are missing the point... the "messages" app on your iphone with iOS 5 will AUTOMATICALLY send iMessages to anyone with iOS 5 and regular SMS, MMS to anyone else with no user input from you. best of both worlds is NOT a "con".
 

kas23

macrumors 603
Oct 28, 2007
5,629
288
It would be cool if we could send files (non-photo, non-video), like we can in iChat.
 

charpi

macrumors regular
Sep 30, 2006
205
12
I agree it is not a con if we are comparing iOS5 with iOS 4 but it is a con when comparing iMessage to whatsapp and such.

I guess it depends on what we are comparing iOS5 against then.
 

FSMBP

macrumors 68030
Original poster
Jan 22, 2009
2,711
2,600
Thanks for the compliments!

I just like the fact that iMessaging will be seamless. This is where Apple beats WhatsApp & Kik. Like I said, people will be sending iMessages & not know it - but will see their text charges drop.
 

nightfly

macrumors newbie
Jul 8, 2009
28
0
Will it work via 2g network? Or it will fall back to sms only mode when there is no 3g network?
 

FSMBP

macrumors 68030
Original poster
Jan 22, 2009
2,711
2,600
Will it work via 2g network? Or it will fall back to sms only mode when there is no 3g network?

It will only work on 3G & Wifi & Edge. If it doesn't have those options - it will send as a SMS.
 
Last edited:

wxman2003

Suspended
Apr 12, 2011
2,580
294
I seriously believe the US carriers will not go along with allowing iMessage, as they do not want anything eating their profits away. Sure RIM does it, but APPLE is becoming a much larger player than RIM. They will either block that feature, or charge per message.
 

waterskier2007

macrumors 68000
Jun 19, 2007
1,868
225
Novi, MI
my problem with it is that I have an iPad and iPhone. I want to use my phone number as my imessages "account/identifier" because the people who i would normally text know that number, but I would like to receive on both my iPad and iPhone so I can take advantage of the ability to resume a convo on either device (like was advertised in keynote). However, I cannot use a phone number as my PIN for iPad so this kind of stinks and the only way I can use the same account on both devices is with an email, which not many of my iOS having friends would normally know
 

heisenberg123

macrumors 603
Oct 31, 2010
6,496
9
Hamilton, Ontario
what if the other person doesnt have iOS 5 and you do will it charge you as an SMS?


i use whatsapp only for international friends and i dont know if ill stop using just playing it safe that i know whats app uses data only and i dont have to rely on apple make the connection that we both have the required iOS etc to make it a data message and not a sms
 

Small White Car

macrumors G4
Aug 29, 2006
10,966
1,463
Washington DC
I seriously believe the US carriers will not go along with allowing iMessage, as they do not want anything eating their profits away. Sure RIM does it, but APPLE is becoming a much larger player than RIM. They will either block that feature, or charge per message.

Are they also going to start blocking the hundreds of IM and free-text apps in the app store?
 

Surely

Guest
Oct 27, 2007
15,042
11
Los Angeles, CA
iMessage is a great feature to have but the con is like facetime, you only can use it with other iOS 5 devices. Like it or not, we all have friends with WP7 or Android and what not and we cannot connect with them this way.

Great writeup BTW

FaceTime can also be used with Macs that have the FaceTime app.

As far as I know, Macs don't run iOS.;)
 

err404

macrumors 68030
Mar 4, 2007
2,525
623
How does iMessage work with iCloud

How does iMessage work with iCloud? I am under the impression that messages are synchronized between your devices through the cloud and that your iCloud ID is you iTunes account...
I have four iDevices attached to the same iTunes account. Two are mine and two are my wife's. Do your iMessage notification appear on all devices (iPhone and iPad)? Obviously I don't want to receive notifications for messages sent to my wife. How does iMessage/iCloud group devices and notifications?

Edit: I found the answer. You can assign different ID's to different services on a per device basis.
 

JBTX

macrumors newbie
Apr 10, 2011
15
0
FSMBP

Thanks for the nice write up, I have one question. Will we be able to use iMessage if we are sharing an itunes account? And use a different account for iMessage like we can currently with face time?
 

Daveoc64

macrumors 601
Jan 16, 2008
4,074
92
Bristol, UK
I think you're right. It will only work on 3G & Wifi and will fallback to SMS on 2G (Edge). The reason is probably why Apple didn't allow MMS on Edge (it might be too slow for their standards).

Both MMS and iMessage work on GPRS and EDGE.

2G != EDGE
 

tigress666

macrumors 68040
Apr 14, 2010
3,288
17
Washington State
I like imessage but I have an app (Textfree) that lets me have all the advantages and the only disadvantage is that you don't get a read receipt or it telling you that the person is typing. And people just have to use a seperate phone number to text me at.

But anyone can text me at that for free and I can text back unlike imessage.

Only advantage imessage has is that it uses my own phone number, no having to tell people to use a seperate number. But instead I would have to tell people if you have an iphone running ios 5 you can text me.

Only disadvantage I see to a texting plan with the app is that apparently it doesn't support things like auto texts from companies (like I can't text my coke reward points cause coke apparently can't text me on it) and if I don't use it for a few weeks it logs me off and all the sudden I don't realize people are texting me cause it's not going to tell me until I log on.
 

HeezyBear

macrumors regular
May 21, 2010
169
3
I think a lot of people are confused about how iMessages will work on the iPod Touch and iPad. I think some people think that if they have an iPod Touch or iPad and not an iPhone that somehow when someone goes to text message them, the sender's iPhone may detect that they have an iOS 5 device and it would then send an iMessage to their iPod Touch or iPad which is nowhere near them and thus they would miss the message on their non-iPhone phone.

I know it doesn't work this way and there's another way to associate iPod Touch and iPad to iMessage, but a guy on the front page thread was crying up and down how iMessages would fail because of this.
 

Chocolatemilty

macrumors 6502a
May 17, 2009
653
113
Los Angeles, CA
Wonderful write up. Cleared up some stuff in was wondering about iMessages for sure.

One thing I'd like to know, though, for those who have the beta and have used iMessages on their devices, is the notifications for iMessages on both the iPhone and iPad. Many of us have both of these devices, so is the notifications for an iMessage only coming to one or both devices?

My best guess is that when you're having a conversation on your iPhone using iMessages and then switch to your iPad when you get home, you'd have to send a message yourself to the person you're talking to so the iMessages service understands you have now switched devices and should start sending the notifications to your iPad. Do you guys think that's how it's going to work?

Or it can be as simple as opening the iMessages app on your iPad and then the service understanding you're now using it on your iPad. However, say the iMessages app on your iPad is still open, open under the lock screen, or backgrounded, would it still receive notifications if you're now on your iPhone using iMessages?

I may have already answered my own question, but am just looking for some clarification. Hahaha...
 

err404

macrumors 68030
Mar 4, 2007
2,525
623
Or it can be as simple as opening the iMessages app on your iPad and then the service understanding you're now using it on your iPad. However, say the iMessages app on your iPad is backgrounded, would it still receive notifications if you're now on your iPhone using iMessages?

I may have already answered my own question, but am just looking for some clarification. Hahaha...

I would expect that all devices connected to your iMessage ID would receive the notifications. If a device has iMessage currently active, no notification would be sent.
I wonder if cleared notifications sync between devices, or do you need to acknowledge them separately?
 

FSMBP

macrumors 68030
Original poster
Jan 22, 2009
2,711
2,600
FSMBP

Thanks for the nice write up, I have one question. Will we be able to use iMessage if we are sharing an itunes account? And use a different account for iMessage like we can currently with face time?

I am not sure. From what I've read, you can have separate emails associated with iMessage. So you can have a separate iTunes Store account & iMessage Account.

Hopefully, developers will answer more questions as I'm not sure. I see other people's answers, I will update the original post.

Thanks.
 

TonyC28

macrumors 68030
Aug 15, 2009
2,758
6,938
USA
I seriously believe the US carriers will not go along with allowing iMessage, as they do not want anything eating their profits away. Sure RIM does it, but APPLE is becoming a much larger player than RIM. They will either block that feature, or charge per message.

True, texting is a huge profit for them since it costs them almost nothing to have a text go over their network and they charge us so much for it. But, like voice plans, they have set texting packages in such a way that if you do a fair amount of texting the unlimited plan is the best choice. If you're over the limit of what the cheaper plan would allow you then its a good chance you'd still be over that even when everyone you know with an iPhone doesn't count. Obviously that won't be the case for everyone, but I would guess that the majority of users are well over the limit of the cheaper texting plan.
 
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