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 bug in macOS High Sierra is causing users to receive iMessages and SMS texts on Macs and other iCloud-connected devices long after they were originally sent, according to reports that have been gradually building up over the last week or so. First spotted by AppleInsider, a growing number of complaints on Apple's support forums detail the issue, which is affecting Mac owners with iPads,...

Amazon Drive's iOS app has been updated with an iMessage app extension to easily share files in the Messages app on iPhone and iPad. After updating to version 1.9.0 of the app, Amazon Drive users can simply open Messages, tap the App Store logo to reveal the iMessage app drawer, and tap on the Amazon Drive icon. From the list of directories that appears, users can then select an individual...

Apple has sent its top privacy executives to Australia twice in the past month to lobby government officials over proposed new laws that would require companies to provide access to encrypted messages. According to the Sydney Morning Herald, Apple privacy advocates met with attorney general George Brandis and senior staff in Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull's office on Tuesday to discuss their...

Apple revealed more details of its new Business Chat feature for iMessage at a WWDC developer preview on Friday. Coming in iOS 11, Business Chat allows real customer service representatives to communicate directly with users, making the feature separate from existing AI chat bot systems. Users send the first message to start a Business Chat conversation by tapping Message icons that appear...

Messages users sending texts in iOS 11 this fall will be able to share iMessages with two all-new Screen Effects in Apple's texting app. Specifically, a new "Echo" option sends any selected piece of text to friends by multiplying the message all over the screen. The second, "Spotlight," puts an emphasis on your message by placing a large spotlight on the text as it's sent over to your friend's ...

StubHub, the world's largest online ticket marketplace, today announced that it has updated its iOS app with a new iMessage integration for sharing events and voting on which tickets to buy or where to sit. StubHub's new iMessage app After updating to the latest version of the StubHub app, users can open the iMessage app, search for and share a sports game, concert, or other event, and select ...

The iMessage App Store turned six months old this week, and the app analysts at Sensor Tower have decided to see where Apple's miniature app store stands among users and developers following an initial launch rush last year. According to Sensor Tower, more than 5,000 apps have either added iMessage features, or launched exclusively on the text message-based App Store. Unfortunately, while the...

Apple today shared a new advertisement on its YouTube channel, this time designed to promote both the iPhone 7 and the iMessages sticker feature that was introduced in iOS 10. The video features people running around putting a variety of bright, animated stickers on objects, food, other people, and more, mimicking the kind of stickers that are available on iOS. "Say it with stickers on...

Many iPhone and iPad users appear to be experiencing issues with Apple's iMessage service, which seems to be down for some people. Those who are having problems are unable to send iMessages and are instead being forced to communicate via standard green bubble text messages. According to user reports on Twitter, the problem started for some users last night. Not all iPhone and iPad owners are...

Earlier in the year, rumors began swirling around the possibility Apple might launch a version of iMessage for Android smartphones due to the company's increased focus on services, "which means opening up certain avenues beyond its own iOS and OS X platforms." The original report pointed to a potential announcement at WWDC, which came and went with no such news, and an Apple executive later co...

Over the past week, a sticker pack that mimics the design of the iconic bubbles in the Messages app has rocketed to the top of the Messages App Store charts, but its popularity will be short-lived as Apple is going to pull it from the App Store. Phoneys, currently the number two paid app in the Messages App Store in the United States, features chat bubble stickers that you can place over real...

Apple today shared a new television ad on its YouTube channel, designed to introduce people to the new Screen Effects feature in iOS 10. In the minute-long spot, a sole red balloon drifts through mountains, over the sea, and through hilly terrain to reach the city, where it's joined by hundreds of additional balloons floating through the streets. The shot pans to an iPhone user who receives a...

Conversations in the Messages app feature end-to-end encryption that makes the content of the messages impossible to decipher, but according to documentation found by The Intercept, Apple tracks who its customers send iMessages to and is able to hand that information over to law enforcement when compelled to do so through a court order. When a text message is sent to someone, the Messages app...

Apple has implemented a series of short- and long-term defenses to its iMessage protocol after several issues were discovered by a team of researchers at Johns Hopkins University, according to a report published today (via PatentlyApple). This attack is different to the one Johns Hopkins researchers discovered in March, which allowed an attacker to decrypt photos and videos sent over iMessage. ...

In a wide-ranging commentary piece about WWDC 2016, tech journalist Walt Mossberg included an interesting bit about why Apple has not expanded iMessage to competing software platforms like Android.When I asked a senior Apple executive why iMessage wasn’t being expanded to other platforms, he gave two answers. First, he said, Apple considers its own user base of 1 billion active devices to...

Among many iOS 10 announcements made at WWDC yesterday, one notable update to Apple's mobile operating system came in the form of third party developer support in Apple's iMessage chat platform. With the new SDK, developers can create app extensions -- similar to third party keyboard apps available now on the App Store -- that let users interact with apps from directly within Messages....

Apple is planning to announce an iMessage app for Android users at WWDC, according to a report from MacDailyNews citing sources "familiar with the company's thinking."Apple will announce that iMessage encrypted text messaging is coming to Android users at WWDC next Monday at WWDC 2016, according to a source familiar with the company's thinking. [...] Apple is increasingly focused on services...

VoIP-Pal announced today that it has filed a lawsuit against Apple in a U.S. District Court in Las Vegas, Nevada, seeking over $2.8 billion in damages for alleged infringement of its patented internet communication technologies. The Bellevue-based company calculated its $2,836,710,031 figure using a 1.25-percent royalty rate based on an apportionment of Apple's estimated historical profit from ...

MacRumors has been receiving a growing number of complaints from customers who are unable to log into iMessage and FaceTime after updating to OS X 10.11.4, which was released to the public on Monday. There are threads covering the issue on the MacRumors forums and the Apple Support Communities, along with user complaints on various social media networks. The majority of the complaints are...

A flaw in Apple's encryption systems has been found that enables an attacker to decrypt photos and videos sent over its iMessage instant messenger service. According to The Washington Post, the security hole in Apple's code was exploited by a group of Johns Hopkins University researchers, led by computer science professor Matthew D. Green. Green reportedly alerted Apple to the problem last ...