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So, iMessage is a complete fail?

J

jabingla2810

macrumors 68020
Original poster
Oct 15, 2008
2,271
938
If I am wanting to receive an iMessage to both my iPad and iPhone, does the sender need to have my number and email address saved in their contacts?

I know about 40 people who have iPhones, so I thought receiving messages on my iPad would be a great blessing, but only one of those people knows mt email address.

So am I only going to get messages pushed to my iPad that he sends and no one else?

Or have I got this wrong, and iMessage knows that any iMessages going to my phone number should also be pushed to my email address?

Thanks if anybody can clear this up. :)
 
iMessages will work with both your iPhone number and your Apple ID, but primarily your Apple ID. A message sent to one, will be sent to all other linked addresses/numbers.
 
Intell said:
iMessages will work with both your iPhone number and your Apple ID, but primarily your Apple ID. A message sent to one, will be sent to all other linked addresses/numbers.
Click to expand...

OK, so playing this out logically: a friend of mine in my address book sends me a text to my phone number. I should receive this text on my iPad since my phone number and email address are linked to my account. I then reply to his text on my iPad. Let's say he doesn't have an iOS device. What happens?
 
Yep, and you can edit if you want to link your Apple-ID and phone number in the settings app.

I works great.
 
thelookingglass said:
OK, so playing this out logically: a friend of mine in my address book sends me a text to my phone number. I should receive this text on my iPad since my phone number and email address are linked to my account. I then reply to his text on my iPad. Let's say he doesn't have an iOS device. What happens?
Click to expand...

It doesn't work on SMS. Both you and your friend must have an iOS device running iOS 5 for iMessages to work. As per your scenario, the SMS would only appear on your iPhone.
 
Intell said:
It doesn't work on SMS. Both you and your friend must have an iOS device running iOS 5 for iMessages to work. As per your scenario, the SMS would only appear on your iPhone.
Click to expand...

I see, thanks. So basically I never have to worry about managing whether a message is an SMS or an iMessage. If I'm sending anything over an iPad, it has to be via iMessage. On my iPhone, it's an iMessage if the recipient is an iOS user and an SMS otherwise.
 
PalacePlayers said:
Yep, and you can edit if you want to link your Apple-ID and phone number in the settings app.

I works great.
Click to expand...

Are you able to get this to actually work? I just ran a test with my buddy who is also on iOS 5. I have an iPhone 4 and and iPad 2.

Both the iPhone and iPad have my appleID associated with them in iMessage settings, and my phone also has my phone number. But they are NOT linked.

If my buddy texts my phone number, it comes through as an iMessage, but ONLY to my phone.

If he texts my appleID email address, then it comes to both devices.

If there is a way for my iPad to link to my phone number too, please explain.
 
Intell said:
iMessages will work with both your iPhone number and your Apple ID, but primarily your Apple ID. A message sent to one, will be sent to all other linked addresses/numbers.
Click to expand...

that's not how it worked in the beta, you message the phone number, it goes to the iPhone only, you message the email address it goes to both. unless this changed in GM and i missed it in the release notes, then you got it wrong.
 
Hmm, so judging from the responses it looks like, if this isn't fixed, it could be a massive missed opportunity.
 
Moyank24 said:
Beta is called Beta for a reason...

Wait until it's released for real before passing judgement.
Click to expand...

We're not in beta anymore.

Seems like you gotta stick with email if you want iMessages on all your devices.

Not the worst thing in the world, but certainly not great.
 
You can setup your iMessages to receive at multiple addresses. I have mine come to my iPhone through my e-mail and phone number, but it also sends them to my iPad (which is only setup through my e-mail). It seems to handle things pretty intelligently, so I wouldn't call it a fail at all, especially since I work in a basement and don't get any cell service, but I get WiFi.
 
Intell said:
Correct, except if the iMessage is not delivered within 5 minutes it gets resent as an SMS. But only if the sender and receiver is an iPhone
Click to expand...

A question:

If I'm sending an iMessage to a friend overseas (free of charge) but it can't get through and then 5 minutes later gets sent as an SMS do I have to pay the ridiculous international sms charges enforced by my Telco?
 
smoking monkey said:
A question:

If I'm sending an iMessage to a friend overseas (free of charge) but it can't get through and then 5 minutes later gets sent as an SMS do I have to pay the ridiculous international sms charges enforced by my Telco?
Click to expand...

Probably, but only if both the sender and receiver are iPhones with an active cellular account. I think, not sure, that the SMS backup send feature can be disabled.
 
smoking monkey said:
A question:

If I'm sending an iMessage to a friend overseas (free of charge) but it can't get through and then 5 minutes later gets sent as an SMS do I have to pay the ridiculous international sms charges enforced by my Telco?
Click to expand...

it prompts you to ask if you want to send as SMS instead first. you can turn off 'send as SMS' in settings app.

Here's a coupla pics to illustrate :)

http://cdn.iphoneincanada.ca/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/iMessage_fail.png
http://www.gadgab.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/im3.jpg
 
Intell said:
Probably, but only if both the sender and receiver are iPhones with an active cellular account. I think, not sure, that the SMS backup send feature can be disabled.
Click to expand...

Thanks Intell and Shandyman.

1. That means if the receiver has wifi turned off and their phone turned off/in a non 3G area it won't be sent... ever?

2. Does the SMS sending only apply if sending via an iphone/3G? If you were using an email address/Apple ID then it wouldn't apply??? And if that's the case then for people in my situation it's probably going to be safer to register everybody out of country as an ID or email.

I'll just have to wait and see...
 
smoking monkey said:
2. Does the SMS sending only apply if sending via an iphone/3G? If you were using an email address/Apple ID then it wouldn't apply??? And if that's the case then for people in my situation it's probably going to be safer to register everybody out of country as an ID or email. It might be a bit of a PITA though to have a blanket setting of on or off as you might want domestic as SMS and international as non SMS.

I'll just have to wait and see...
Click to expand...

yes, SMS is iPhone only. if you know someone's going abroad, just message via their email they have set for iMessage and you'll not get the SMS issue at all.
 
shandyman said:
yes, SMS is iPhone only. if you know someone's going abroad, just message via their email they have set for iMessage and you'll not get the SMS issue at all.
Click to expand...

Thanks for posting the Pics. That really helps to explain it better. If this imessage works the way I'm guessing, then it is going to be awesome in its simplicity.
 
I have ios 5 set up on my iPad 2, my iPhone 4 (set to send to my # and apple ID) and my girlfriend's iPhone 4. And I have one other friend with it as well. I cannot for the life of me have any of the messages that are sent between the four of us go to both of my devices.

Is there anything specific I need to do?
 
thelookingglass said:
OK, so playing this out logically: a friend of mine in my address book sends me a text to my phone number. I should receive this text on my iPad since my phone number and email address are linked to my account. I then reply to his text on my iPad. Let's say he doesn't have an iOS device. What happens?
Click to expand...

When you go to Settings - you can select which addresses iMessages will work on. If someone sends you an iMessage on any of those email addresses - it will go to all devices that have that email address configured in settings under messages. If someone sends it to your phone number - it will only go to iPhone as iPad cannot receive phone numbers.
 
Soo, all these rumours about sending iMessages with iChat... will that be possible?
 
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