Really basic iMessage question!

[zachnelson]

Can I use iMessage on my Mac to send a text message to a phone which is not an iOS device?

And if so, do the messages get synced between all my Macs and iOS devices?

(ie. does iMessage work like Google Voice?)

 

[frunkis54]

Can I use iMessage on my Mac to send a text message to a phone which is not an iOS device?

And if so, do the messages get synced between all my Macs and iOS devices?

(ie. does iMessage work like Google Voice?)

you can only send an iMessage between iOS to iOS or mac to iOS

 

[miles01110]

You can send a message to a non-iOS device, but it will be an SMS, not an iMessage.

 

[zachnelson]

you can only send an iMessage between iOS to iOS or mac to iOS

Interesting, so for normal text messages I have to use my phone. It would be cool if there was a way to send texts through the computer like Google Voice.

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You can send a message to a non-iOS device, but it will be an SMS, not an iMessage.

So... is this message only from the phone or can you send a message to a non iOS device from a Mac?

 

[Weaselboy]

you can only send an iMessage between iOS to iOS or mac to iOS

This is correct and Miles is mistaken.

If on an iPhone and the recipient is not an iOS user it will default to normal SMS, but this does not work on Messages in OS X.

 

[Julien]

Interesting, so for normal text messages I have to use my phone. It would be cool if there was a way to send texts through the computer like Google Voice.

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...

"Normal" text is a cell phone carries system is tied to your cell phone number and has nothing to do with Apple. So there is no way to send a cell phone text from your Mac or any other device that is not connected to a cell service provider.

iMessage is a completely different system (as well as Google Voice) that bypasses the cell phone providers text service. Apple just integrates the 2 in one App and differentiates then by bubble color. Green for text and blue for Apple iMessage.

Also this thread belongs in the iOS5 forum since it's not iOS6 specific.