iMessage

Apple's Messages app offers one of the most convenient ways of having a text-based conversation with your contacts on iPhone and iPad, but messages aren't the only things you can send and receive. Apple's iMessage service enables all manner of files and attachments to be shared, such as photos, links, documents, audio messages, and more. Files that are sent to you can of course be accessed...

With iOS 17, Apple brought some headline features to iPhones, like StandBy Mode and NameDrop, but Apple also introduced some smaller quality-of-life improvements that are well worth familiarizing yourself with. Inline replies in the Messages app is one of them. If you use WhatsApp, you're probably aware of the quick reply feature that the platform has had for several years. To reply to an...

In the Messages app on iPhone and iPad, Apple includes a bunch of screen effects that add fireworks, confetti, and more to the whole screen when you send an iMessage to someone. Because it's not obvious how to access these iMessage screen effects, they're often overlooked, which is a shame because they can surprise recipients, make them smile, or even laugh out loud – if you use the right...

In iOS 16, Apple has added some major updates to the Messages app, introducing some features that rival third-party messaging platforms have had for years. One of these changes is the ability to edit iMessages in iOS 16. Keep reading to learn how it works. Almost everyone with a smartphone can relate to the situation where you send a text message only to immediately realize that the meaning...

In iOS 16, Apple has added some major updates to the Messages app, introducing some features that rival third-party messaging platforms have had for years. One of these changes is the ability to unsend sent iMessages in iOS 16. Keep reading to learn how it works. Have you ever sent a text message only to immediately wish that you hadn't? In previous versions of iOS, if you sent a message...

This article explains how to create polls in group chats on Apple's Messages app for iPhone and iPad. Keep reading to learn how it works. If you often participate in group chats over iMessage, you'll know how hard it can sometimes be to decide on something or make plans when there's a lot of people in the group. Other messaging apps like Telegram – and soon WhatsApp – get around the...

The Messages app in macOS offers users a convenient way of communicating with friends, family, and colleagues across a variety of Apple devices. With Messages for Mac, you can send unlimited messages to any Mac, iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch that uses iMessage, Apple's secure-messaging service. If you have an iPhone, you can also send and receive SMS texts. The following steps show you how ...

In iOS 10, Apple introduced the Messages App Store, allowing users to jump into miniature versions of their favorite apps so they could do things like choose a movie time, send their location, pay a friend, give a recommendation from Apple Music, and attach stickers. With the launch of iOS 11, the app drawer and selection experience of Messages apps have been streamlined, and this guide will walk ...

One of the main focal points of the Apple Watch is communication, and as such, it offers a Messages app much like the one on the iPhone. It's not quite as robust as the Messages apps available on other iOS and Mac devices, but Messages on Apple Watch lets you send pre-made replies, animated and non-animated emoji, and full voice-to-text messages. For those of you who want to learn the ins and ...

A leaked version of the European Union's Digital Markets Act (DMA) indicates that Apple could be forced to make major changes to the App Store, Messages, FaceTime, third-party browsers, and Siri. According to a leaked working document intended to reflect the "final" version of the DMA, seen by MacRumors, the EU is planning to enact changes that seek to have a significant impact on the way...

Google for the last several years has been pushing a new communications protocol called Rich Communication Services, or RCS, which is designed to replace the current SMS standard. ‌RCS‌ offers support for higher resolution photos and videos, audio messages, bigger file size, improved encryption, and more. For the last few months, Google's senior vice president of Android, Hiroshi Lockheimer, ...

Last Friday, code suggested Google would soon roll out an update for Google Messages that would display iMessage Reactions from iPhone users as emoji on Android devices, and now that update has started rolling out. Screenshots from 9to5Google reader Jvolkman According to 9to5Google, some Android users are beginning to see iMessage reactions in Google Messages as emoji that are linked to the...

The Google Messages app on Android devices may soon start showing iMessage reactions as emoji characters instead of text, according to some digging done by 9to5Google. In the Messages app on iOS and Mac devices, users can add a reaction like a heart, thumbs up, thumbs down, a laugh, a question mark, or an exclamation, all of which show up as annotations to an iMessage. These reactions can...

Following his company's reveal of Windows 11, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella sat down with The Wall Street Journal's Joanna Stern to discuss the next generation of Windows and the possibility of Apple bringing some of its services, such as iMessage, to Windows. One major theme of Windows 11 is its openness to third-party app marketplaces and Microsoft's end goal of making the platform a center ...

Apple has put iMessage at the center of its promotional materials for WWDC next week, hinting that the company's popular messaging service could be seeing substantial upgrades. iMessage appears to be a central theme in the marketing for this year's WWDC. For example, the placeholder for WWDC's live stream on YouTube, which is already live, features iMessage bubbles, Tapback, and iMessage's...

While sharing a Twitter link in an iMessage conversation typically results in a light-blue bubble with an in-line preview of the tweet, and an image if one was included, tweet previews appear to be broken right now. As of Friday morning, Twitter links shared in iMessage conversations appear as basic gray bubbles with the twitter.com domain and no other information. It's unclear if this is an ...

It's no secret that Apple sees iMessage as a big enough selling point to keep the service exclusive to Apple devices, however new court filings submitted by Epic Games in its ongoing lawsuit with the company reveal just how Apple executives have rationalized their decision not to develop a version of iMessage for Android. Apple clearly recognizes the power that iMessage has to keep users...

Instagram has confirmed that a bug is preventing proper Instagram URL previews from appearing in iMessage conversations. In a statement to Mashable, Instagram says the behavior is not normal, and that it's "working to resolve Instagram link previews in iMessage so that they load normally." The lack of link previews was first brought up on Reddit around two months ago, so it seems the issue ...

New universal chat app "Beeper" combines 15 different chat platforms into a single inbox and offers iMessage on Android and Windows (via The Verge). The app comes from a team including former Pebble CEO Eric Migicovsky, and enables users to integrate a range of messaging services, including WhatsApp, SMS, Signal, Telegram, Slack, Twitter, Skype, Hangouts, Discord, Instagram, and Facebook...

Apple is testing new iMessage features internally, according to information obtained by MacRumors. While these features could potentially arrive as early as iOS 14, they could be held back until a later software update or perhaps never released. For starters, there is a new Slack-like mention system that would allow users to tag other contacts with their name like @Joe or @Jane. When you type...

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg on Tuesday singled out Apple's iMessage mobile messaging service as Facebook's "biggest competitor by far." (via CNBC). The comments were made to investors during an earnings call for the company's third quarter performance, in which the Facebook CEO admitted the social platform was losing out to iMessage in "important" territories like the U.S., where iPhone sales ...

Apple Business Chat, a platform for businesses to provide customer service through iMessage, is now available in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Italy, Singapore, Japan, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom. The feature launched in the United States earlier this year. The international expansion coincides with 30 additional businesses adopting Apple Business Chat around the...

Apple Business Chat, which is customer service through iMessage, is expanding to a total of 10 new partners and technology platforms. Apple on Friday announced that satellite TV provider DISH, concessions operator Aramark, hotel chain Four Seasons, food and gift producer Harry & David, and credit card company American Express are adopting the service. Here's the rundown from Apple:Aramark ...

Russian company ElcomSoft today claimed that the latest version of its Phone Breaker software can remotely access iMessage conversation histories stored in iCloud, although there are several strings attached. Namely, the person attempting to extract iMessages from an iCloud account would need the following before being able to do so:Elcomsoft Phone Breaker version 8.3 The associated Apple...

Yet another Unicode bug has been discovered that is capable of crashing apps and operating systems, ranging from WhatsApp on Android to iMessage on iOS. We won't share the exact string, to prevent it from spreading further, but it includes black dot (⚫️) and pointing left (👈) emojis plus other hidden characters. Simply put, this particular Unicode string cannot be rendered properly and leads ...

T-Mobile today announced support for Business Chat in the Messages app on iOS devices, a feature Apple introduced in a beta capacity with the release of iOS 11.3 and macOS 10.13.4. Apple Business Chat is available for all T-Mobile customers, allowing them to interact with T-Mobile's support staff directly in the Messages app. T-Mobile says that its customers can access Apple Business Chat ...

French developer Pierre Blazquez today shared what he claims are the final iOS 11.3 release notes, supposedly obtained from Apple's servers. His tweet contains images of the release notes in English for the United States. Apple blog Mac4Ever shared the release notes in French, which we've translated and embedded below in English. While there aren't too many surprises, it's worth noting that ...

Apple released iOS 11.2.1 on Wednesday with multiple bug fixes, but an emoji-related issue continues to affect the Messages app on iOS devices. The bug happens as follows: start a fresh conversation with a new recipient in the Messages app, send a single emoji as the first message, and much of the interface will essentially go blank with the top menu disappearing. The glitch effectively...

There's no official way to get iMessages on a non-iOS device like an Android smartphone, but a new Android app aims to provide a workaround, at least temporarily. weMessage is designed to allow you to get iMessages on an Android device, but for it to work, a Mac is required. weMessage uses a weServer app on a Mac, which takes iMessages that are delivered to a Mac and forwards them to an...