Mountain Lion: How to get the most out of iMessage

http://blog.joelesler.net/2012/07/mountain-lion-how-to-get-most-out-of.html

by joelesler • 14 years ago

16 13 14 years ago

blog.joelesler.net

dmix• 14 years ago

This is surprisingly difficult to set up on both the iPhone and on OSX.

Apple seriously needs to put some UX talent working on this.

jsz0• 14 years ago

IIRC the initial setup process of an iOS device walks you through this step by step. I don't remember doing any of these steps when I signed into Messages on OSX. This article seems to be more for the people who skipped associating an e-mail address with their iMessages settings the first time around?

natrius• 14 years ago

I don't understand the use case for a platform-specific messenger. When your whole company uses Blackberries, BBM makes sense. Otherwise, why not use something that everyone you know can use? Behind text messaging, Facebook Chat has the largest user base in my social circles.

I've assumed that most iMessage use thus far has been as a transparent transport for SMS over a data connection. Is this correct?

joelesler• 14 years ago

Apple is positioning it (IMO) as a replacement for text messaging on iOS. The fact that it works across devices is the killer feature.

ComputerGuru3• 14 years ago

The article is wrong, there's still a huge part missing from the so-called "unified" messaging and Apple needs to step up their game ASAP.

No matter how you configure the "caller ID" option, if a friend iMessages you (i.e. they initiate the convo) to your cell phone number and not email (most common, as if they were texting but it silently switched to iMessage), the message will only be received on your phone.

Apple needs to add an option to allow you to authenticate/verify your phone number as a valid receive address for the desktop ASAP.

Johngibb• 14 years ago

I agree. This makes iMessage so frustrating, as I've got two threads with a lot of people - one associated with my phone number (started on my phone) and another associated with my email (started on my iPad).

zwily2• 14 years ago

Coming with iOS 6.

ComputerGuru3• 14 years ago

No. That's coming for the iPad, not for the desktop. There is no iOS6 for the desktop (and it's not in Mountain Lion :)

pkulak• 14 years ago

Not to mention that with a phone number you have text message as a fall back. I have lots of iMessages sent as text messages when I have bad service.

prezjordan• 14 years ago

Also, if you send someone a text and they have an iPhone, it will use your email. Some of my friends have iPhones, but not my email, and are confused.

richardburton• 14 years ago

Thanks a lot for this tutorial. I am really amazed that Apple has not thought this through properly. Really disappointing. Creating a vibrant set of iOS messaging and sharing channels would really increase their barrier-to-entry.

Mountain Lion: How to get the most out of iMessage

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