If I switched between Android and iPhones like the OP, I definitely see why I would keep iMessage and FaceTime off. But there never is a time when both services are turned off. Both are essential for keeping in touch with family and friends.
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iMessage: On or Off?
- Thread starter NoCleverSNForMe
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You have to remember why would Apple provide such infrastructure and service for free to any non-Apple user.
They want you tied up and to buy in to their ecosystem
Make sure you have Settings - Messages - Send as SMS enabled on your iPhone.Until you text someone that doesn't use an Apple device or .... (gasp!) has iMessage turned off.
[doublepost=1501094287][/doublepost] That is very handy, but why cripple it to not include non-iMessage users ? I know (and text) plenty of people without iPhones so for some, I can text from my computer while others I have to use the phone.
Texting from my computer was something I did on Android for years. Apple could allow it to work with non-iMessage users too if they wanted to as well. Just allow the phone to sync regular SMS from the phone to the "cloud" and then to computers and vis-versa.
iMessage is always turned on for me. I can also reply the iMessages from my iPad if need be. I like that functionality as well as you dont have to reach for the phone all the time.
Yep. Continuity is the primary reason I stick to iPhones. I can make/answer regular phone calls and SMS via the iPad (pretty much always in front of me) while the iPhone is buried in the depths of my purse.
Glitch perhaps? I have no problem sending/receiving regular green SMS from any of my devices.
Oh, I know why they do it - it's surely by choice (it's arrogance....) Not everyone uses Apple devices.
[doublepost=1501102061][/doublepost]
I'll keep playing with it since apparently it will do regular SMS. Just to be clear, I'm talking about sending texts from my iMac or MBA.
Right now, in my Messages window (on the iMac), the only people (conversations) are between people with iPhones. It doesn't match what my iPhone has though.
Found it ! You have to enable "Text Message Forwarding". Mine is currently disabled, but it does list my iMac and my MBA. Just enabled it on the iMac (the MBA is in my backpack at the moment).
The fact that my iMessage conversations exist simultaneously on all my devices is one of the most awesome things (for me) about using iOS/MacOS devices. That, and the built in end-to-end encryption and all the other features built into iMessage. Everything all built in, synchronized between devices, without having to lean on 3rd party services, download extra apps, or do any funky configuration.
The mind boggles at the thought of not using it.
The mind boggles at the thought of not using it.
Until you text someone that doesn't use an Apple device or .... (gasp!) has iMessage turned off.
[doublepost=1501094287][/doublepost] That is very handy, but why cripple it to not include non-iMessage users ? I know (and text) plenty of people without iPhones so for some, I can text from my computer while others I have to use the phone.
Texting from my computer was something I did on Android for years. Apple could allow it to work with non-iMessage users too if they wanted to as well. Just allow the phone to sync regular SMS from the phone to the "cloud" and then to computers and vis-versa.
I can text the green bubble people
Or those without an iPhone from all of my devices the same as iMessage.My sister is a Galaxy 5 user, that poor poor girl, and we text each other daily. She has to use her phone. I'll respond from the Mac Pro, iMac, phone or laptop.
Here's a question.
Google with it's reputation of putting out new services and removing old ones could put out a service similar to iMessage if they wanted to. Bake it into Android. They could have done that years ago.
So, why haven't they?
Google with it's reputation of putting out new services and removing old ones could put out a service similar to iMessage if they wanted to. Bake it into Android. They could have done that years ago.
So, why haven't they?
Do you keep iMessage turned on?
I'm a techie, so I have switched between various Androids and iPhones throughout the years. I love experimenting to see what's new on the other side of the aisle, both in hardware and software. Whenever I have switched to an Android, I run into the problem of not having my texts come through in group messages (and even in certain direct one-on-one messages) when I turn off iMessage in Settings and even used the Deregister tool on Apple.com.
Fast forward a few years: I fixed the problem and have made switching between both platforms easier. I keep iMessage and FaceTime turned off all the time. Whenever I've tested out an Android (most recently, the Galaxy S8), I am able to pop in my SIM and not worry about messages not coming through.
However, now I'm realizing that no matter how much fun or pretty an Android initially looks, I'll always come back to iOS since I own multiple Macs, an Apple TV, and an Apple Watch.
Should I turn iMessage and FaceTime back on? Is it worth it? Do you value your use out of it? Thanks! I really appreciate it!
under messages.
Leave the imessage ON
send read receipts OFF "this piss me off if someone see my message and they dont respond"
send as SMS ON
check what your Send & Receive should have everything check on receive, and only your cell number on start new conv's
MMS messaging ON
Group Messaging ON
the other settings are your preference the low quality image mode i have it off
I must say the whole system can be quite buggy, got into a situation last year where one account could only be sent from or sent to using iMessage and not SMS because a third device was available to use iMessage (an iPad). Apple support suggested disabling iMessage and/or phone passthrough to the iPad which wasn't an acceptable solution, so gave up and not sure if its fixed itself since then!
This wasn't an issue in iOS 9 as you could manually force the message to use SMS, then they stripped that out, probably because of the new bubbles emoji thing.
This wasn't an issue in iOS 9 as you could manually force the message to use SMS, then they stripped that out, probably because of the new bubbles emoji thing.
I can text the green bubble people
My sister is a Galaxy 5 user, that poor poor girl, and we text each other daily. She has to use her phone. I'll respond from the Mac Pro, iMac, phone or laptop.
its not always green and blue bubbles you change all colors on them. but threw verizon she can text using there message feature on there app from any device all carriers have a setup like that, also if she links her cell number to email address it works the same where she can use any device any time.
If I'm not mistaken, you could do this with Google Hangouts (I think).
OK. But that's something I never used because it requires either 1)The Hangouts app or 2) going to the Hangouts website.
In the case of the app that requires that I set up ANOTHER service (or social media account) that I don't want to use.
I do have a Google account and I do use Google's services, but I have long resisted using their social media platforms because I am not interested. Which meant I never used what additional services Google Hangouts provided.
Apple sells you a service tied to their product as a means to get you to buy their product. Google "sells" you a service tied to a different service requiring you to sign up for all the other stuff you don't want in order to get what you DO want.
I'm only okay with that (Google) if most of what they provide is what I want and will use.
Maybe it's a related problem, but I have AT&T Prepay, and when I message some people with iMessage on it sometimes bounces back and says "Your message to X could not be sent." EVEN IF I have "send as SMS when iMessage is unavailable" turned on. Also, it doesn't seem to happen when iMessage is off altogether. And, double weirdness, when iMessage is on and it doesn't send, and I tap "Send as SMS" and it still returns the "Could not send" error. If I'm connected to wifi, regardless of iMessage on or off, messages always get through without a hitch.
...extra chaos points because most of the time (but by no means consistently all the time) those messages still get through and my friends tell me they received 2 or 3 duplicates of the same message*...when on my end, my iPhone says it wasn't able to send ANYTHING.
And my boss, who uses an iPhone 7+ with iMessage over data or wifi, never gets my texts, not even haphazardly.
Ideas?
*But it's not consistent, so I have to choose to either briefly flood my friends or risk the messages not getting through at all.
...extra chaos points because most of the time (but by no means consistently all the time) those messages still get through and my friends tell me they received 2 or 3 duplicates of the same message*...when on my end, my iPhone says it wasn't able to send ANYTHING.
And my boss, who uses an iPhone 7+ with iMessage over data or wifi, never gets my texts, not even haphazardly.
Ideas?
*But it's not consistent, so I have to choose to either briefly flood my friends or risk the messages not getting through at all.
Same here. iMessage is always on.
Is iMessage a big battery drain? Why not just leave it on?
If only getting she would entertain using ANYTHING other than that particular phone.
A person she trusts said out of all Android things, Samsung was the one to stay with and that Apple is the snake in the garden of Eden.
I smh that girl, no way we share the same DNA.
When I used to swtich between android, windows, bb’s and other phones I’d turn iMessage on and off. However, I’ve pretty much lost my taste for swtiching. I’ve been sticking with IOS for the past two years. I like the end-to-end encryption of iMessage and the fact it works across all my devices.
I don’t like having Google track everything I do (I’ve turned off all the tracking stuff I can in my google account) so using their serives like personal assistant would out for me anyway. Although I am having some gliches with IMessage because I am using a beta version of IOS 11, it just works for me.
I don’t like having Google track everything I do (I’ve turned off all the tracking stuff I can in my google account) so using their serives like personal assistant would out for me anyway. Although I am having some gliches with IMessage because I am using a beta version of IOS 11, it just works for me.
I'd like to see a web version of iMessage. I'd love to be able to send an iMessage from my work PC.
I looked at the Hangouts app at one time or another and it can replace the stock messaging app on Android. Personally, I always have my web browser open and with multiple tabs. When I used Android, I always had the PC-to-text "website" opened in a tab (auto-opened with the browser too) so that was a non-issue for me.
Can't use iMessage without an iCloud account. On iOS, it's almost mandatory to have an iCloud account. Just like on Android, you don't need a Google account but it makes everything so much simpler.
True.
But I use iCloud for backup as well and I use my Google account for email. Which qualify as services I am already using.
To use Hangouts like iMessage I need to add (or needed to add?) Google's social service to get it. Something I didn't want to do as I was already involved elsewhere and no one I knew used Google's social media.