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iOS 5, the operating system that Apple released in October for the iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch, introduced many exciting features. My favorite feature, My Favorite New iOS 5 Trick!, is a handy shortcut, but there are plenty of other amazing features you should know about, including iMessage.
iMessage is a feature that not only is handy, it might also save you money. iMessage allows users of the iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch to send free messages, similar to text messages.
What You Need to Know
- With iMessage, text messages you send to another iOS device (iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch), are free. Your carrier will not charge you for either sending or receiving an iMessage.
- iMessages do not count against your monthly allotment of text messages for your cell phone plan.
- You can send text and/or photos in iMessages.
- iMessages can be sent from your iPhone or 3G iPad even if you don’t have a Wi-Fi connection.
- Unlike text messages, there are no character limits for iMessage so you can write as much as you want.
- iMessage works with Siri so you can tell Siri to send a message for you.
- iMessage works across international borders.
How to Use iMessage
To use iMessage, go into Settings => Messages and turn iMessage On. You also can choose to turn on Send Read Receipts. That means that people who send you iMessages will be notified when you read the message.
If you own an iPad or iPod Touch, you can enter the email address you want to use with iMessage. On the iPhone, you use your cell phone number plus you can add an email address if you want to use an email address for iMessage as well. This comes in handy if you own both an iPhone and an iPad or iPod Touch and want to receive your messages on both devices.
Using iMessage on an iPhone
On an iPhone, using iMessage is easy but can be confusing. There is no separate app for iMessage, you just use your regular texting app.
In Settings on your iPhone, you can turn off “Send As SMS.” With this option off, the message won’t be sent out if message can only be sent as a text message and not an iMessage. You want to turn this option off if you’re not sure whether someone has iMessage and you’re concerned about being charged for sending a text message.
Using iMessage on the iPad and iPod Touch
You can receive iMessages on your iPad and iPod Touch. Go into Settings => Messages and turn iMessage On. You may be prompted to log in to your iTunes account the first time you set up iMessage. You then choose an email to be assigned to the device.
Go to the Message app and open it. Choose from your contacts and send a message to someone else with iMessage. You need to use an email address instead of a phone number even if you’re sending an iMessage to someone with an iPhone.
To send an iMessage to someone on his iPad or iPod Touch, use the email address that he has linked to iMessage. If the person does not have iMessage registered to that email address, you won’t be able to send the iMessage.
iMessage in Action
The app will recognize whether you have sent a message to someone with an iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch who uses iMessage (Team Blue!). Your sent message will appear in blue:
If the person receiving the message doesn’t use iMessage, your sent message will be in green (this message was sent to someone who has an iPhone but hadn’t yet upgraded to iOS 5 so didn’t have iMessage).
Unfortunately, there is no way to know whether the person you’re sending the message to uses iMessage (Team Blue) or doesn’t (Team Green) until after you have sent the message.
Sometimes iMessage doesn’t work. If you’re counting on iMessage working, make sure to turn off “Send As SMS” (see above). If you send a message to someone who has iMessage, but iMessage isn’t available, your message will appear in green and the notice “Sent as Text Message” will appear below your message.
These text messages were sent to me from a Wonder of Tech reader in Jamaica this weekend who has iMessage, but it wasn’t working:
Whether a person is Team Blue or Team Green may not matter to you if you:
- have an unlimited text plan,
- don’t send images in your texts or
- don’t send texts to people internationally.
Tech Tip
After you have been using iMessage for a while on your iPhone, check to see how many monthly text messages use your cell phone plan. If you have a lot of friend who use an iPhone you may see that the number of text messages you have sent and received has dropped significantly.
If you use Verizon, you may be able to save money by reducing your text plan from unlimited texts at $20/month to 1000 texts at $10/month. Unfortunately, AT&T only offers a “one-size-fits-all” unlimited text plan at $20/month.
iMessage on the Mac
Last week, Apple announced Mountain Lion, an update to the operating system for Mac computers due out in the Summer. Part of the update includes Apple bringing iMessage to Macs so you will be able send and receive iMessages from your computer. Learn more about using iMessage on your Mac here: iMessage and Mountain Lion
Bottom Line
If you have an iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch, make sure you’ve upgraded your device to iOS 5 and activated iMessage in Settings. Then enjoy sending messages to your Team Blue friends around the world for free!
Have you used iMessage? Have you wondered why some of your messages were in blue? Have you tried iMessage on your iPad or iPod Touch? Let us know in the Comments section below!
Hey Carolyn,
Though I don’t have the iDevices, I have a smart phone and we do have a similar application and it is free this end of the world. I use to chat with my brother. And it makes things so much easier. Though the iMessage feature where we can send the message as a text makes it more interesting!
Hi Hajra, Perhaps you have a Blackberry? Yes, Blackberry Messenger is very similar and has many fans. But most people who have Blackberry phones know about Blackberry Messenger while many people who own iPhones don’t yet know about iMessage because it is fairly new.
My wish is that iMessage could work with Blackberry Messenger but I can understand where cell phone companies want to give an added incentive to buy their phones by making these texting systems proprietary.
iMessage sounds like a really cool app but its a pity if it can’t work worldwide. We still have a long way to go when it comes to doing certain things, and that’s a shame.
Hi Adeline, iMessage does work internationally. I don’t know why it didn’t work for my friend in Jamaica. I have used iMessage with friends in the UK without a problem.
I agree with you, it would be great to have iMessage work across different platforms so you could send free text messages to anyone regardless of what kind of phone or device they had. There are some texting apps like that, but generally the person has to have the same app for it to work properly. No single app has had an overwhelming adoption rate for me to recommend it here. But so many people own iPhones and may not know about iMessage that I wanted to cover it in The Wonder of Tech.
Now that’s interesting Carolyn. My niece and nephew have an iPhone and my sister has an iPad. So I just need to make sure that they’ve upgraded to the iOS 5? I can let them know about this service and then we can text each other through these devices! Now that’s pretty cool and would get me use to actually texting now.
So if someone texts me on my iPod and they aren’t on this system then I would have to have a WiFi connection right! See, I’m still learning!
Thanks for sharing this one Carolyn. It’s so hard for me to keep up with all this technology but I’m doing my best!
~Adrienne
Hi Adrienne, Yes, that’s right. Find out if your niece, nephew and sister have upgraded to iOS 5. Then find out the email addresses they use with iMessage (and make sure they’ve turned it on in Settings). Then you can use iMessage to send them text messages for free.
You need to connect your iPod Touch to Wi-Fi to send and receive iMessages. You will only be able to send and receive iMessages with people who use iMessage so you can’t use iMessage to send a text to someone on an Android phone, for example.
Some people don’t like to use text messages because they don’t like to pay for texts. But with iMessage, the text messages are free. I think you’ll really enjoy using iMessage, Adrienne! 🙂
WOW! Love this idea of the iMessage and will be sharing it with others.
Once again your images/graphics are fantastic. Do you find or make most of them? Either way I am dazzled.
Best wishes for a Magnificent Monday. Until next time, aloha. Janet
Hi Janet, I predict you will really like iMessage when you get your iPhone since you have so many friends with iPhones. You’re probably used to Blackberry Messenger so you will have an easy transition to iMessage.
Thank you, I’m glad you like the image. I made it myself on a site I could review, but I wouldn’t want to break your heart. The site is being shut down in April. I’m having fun with it while I still can, though.
I LOVE iMessage. Especially to text with people who aren’t in my city. I didn’t even realize that it was free until my daughter pointed it out. I actually do have an unlimited plan, but not for long distance. In fact, right now, my daughter is in New York, so we can easily be in touch! Thanks for the lesson and explanation Carolyn.
Hi Ruth, I’m so glad you’re using iMessage to stay in touch with your daughter across international borders for free. I imagine if it weren’t for iMessage you wouldn’t be texting her much at all to avoid the international texting charges.
iMessage really is an important enhancement for Apple devices. 🙂
I just switched over from iPhone to Android with my new HTC Rezound, however, this iMessage does sound cool, if you can reduce those monthly message option payments what else can you ask for?
Thanks for sharing Carolyn.
Hi Praveen, Interesting that you switched from an iPhone to an Android phone. Are you happy with Android? Are you wishing you switched over sooner? I’m always curious about those who make the switch from one operating system to the other.
There are apps you can use on Android that allow you to send texts for free and there is Google Voice. But Android phones can’t use iMessage, unfortunately.
You are obviously on the top of the latest. Even the last week’s Mountain Lion announcement made it to this article. Awesome!
In fact, I didn’t know about green & blue differentiation. Thanks for letting know.
I just wish Apple makes iMessage a standard protocol of sort, so every device (even Android) can use it. But I know they won’t.
TextMessage as in the current form has to go. And if there is anything out there, that can make texting thing of past, its the iMessage. SMS is almost the pager equivalent of the world of communication. It has relevance, but presentation layer has to be radically different.
Hi iRewardChart, I agree with you. The pricing of texts from US cell phone carriers is way too high so apps like iMessage are a big help in saving costs. I wish that iMessage worked between iPhone and Android, but I understand from a business perspective why Apple wants to keep the app proprietary. If it worked on Android phones, few people would sign up for texting plans.
Hi Carolyn,
I use iMessage all the time, and I can’t wait until I get it on my Macs. But, I’ve had a very interesting experience with iMessage, and that’s when I was going to visit a friend of mine in another city in Norway. To get to him, I had to take the bus to Sweden and then a ferry from Sweden to his city in Norway. And, in case I was going to be charged a lot of money for roaming (using the 3G network) in a different country, I turned it off. When I got to his city, he was suppose to pick me up, but he didn’t show up. I called him and it turned out that he was late, and that he had sent me an iMessage. But since I had turned off the 3G/roaming I hadn’t received the message. I turned it on, and my phoned started beeping 🙂
So, I’m not sure if I trust iMessage 100% just yet, and that’s not because we can’t trust it, it’s more because I need to understand exactly how to use it.
Hi Jens, Your story is very interesting. I am a bit confused though, did you turn roaming off or did you put the phone in airplane mode (which disables the phone, 3G and Wi-Fi). If you just turned roaming off, I would have thought when you to Norway, iMessage would have automatically worked again because you were back in your home country and not roaming anymore. That makes me think that you perhaps had the phone in airplane mode?
Also, iMessage is supposed to change to text messages through your carrier if iMessage doesn’t work. As I understand most European mobile phone plans (though I admittedly have no personal knowledge of Norwegian mobile phone plans), you don’t get charged for incoming text messages, even when you are outside of your home country (very different from the US). So if you had roaming off, and didn’t have the phone in airplane mode, iMessage, if it wasn’t working, should have converted the messages to text messages which would have been delivered for free.
Whatever happened, I am sorry that you and your friend had this frustration.
That’s the weird thing. I didn’t put it in airplane mode, I just deactivated roaming and 3G, so I thought I would get a text message when I arrived in Norway without activating 3G and roaming, but that didn’t happen. It might have happened if I just waited some more, but I had to call my friend first, so I don’t know how long it would have taken before I would have received the text message.
But, this was just after they launched iMessage, so it might have been some bug in the system 🙂
Hi Jens, that may very well have been Apple getting the kinks worked out. I waited a while to review this app to make sure I was familiar with it. I haven’t been out of the country since the app was introduced, but I plan to travel soon and will check out iMessage and how it works when I have roaming off.
I haven’t heard about iMessenger until I came to your blog, but now I’ve already downloaded it and I can say that it is a really useful app. Thanks for the idea, this one could really make my life easier.
Hi Julie, I’m glad you found this post helpful but you don’t need to download the app. This app comes with iOS 5 on the iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch. I just want to make sure you didn’t download a different app because there are apps in the iTunes App Store that are called iMessage but aren’t from Apple. Look for the icon at the top of this article. That is the icon for Apple’s iMessage.
Thanks for this great information. Just when I thought I “knew it all” about messaging, I learned today that I didn’t. Really shouldn’t be a surprise, though. I didn’t even think about changing the iPad and iPod Touch imessages to On. Silly me!
Hi Carol, Yes, it can be very handy to use iMessage on your iPad and iPod Touch. Just remember that they use an email address not a phone number for iMessage.
Well, I turned on Send as SMS; let’s see what happens, huh? Actually, I don’t think I have a limit of text messages; they have told us to only watch our data usage. So far so good I think.
Thanks for sharing this handy tip.
Hi Bill, It’s good that you’re using iMessage. If your sons and wife have limits on their texts each month, they won’t be using any by sending you text messages.
If you need to watch your data, check out Mind the Cap! which has some handy tips on how to monitor your data usage.