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Messages (Apple)

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This article is about the app. For the instant messaging service, see iMessage.
Messages
Developer(s)Apple Inc.
Initial release
  • iOS:
    • June 29, 2007; 17 years ago (2007-06-29) (as Text)
    • June 17, 2009; 15 years ago (2009-06-17) (as Messages)
  • macOS: July 25, 2012; 12 years ago (2012-07-25)
  • watchOS: April 24, 2015; 9 years ago (2015-04-24)
  • visionOS: February 2, 2024; 10 months ago (2024-02-02)
Operating systemiOS, iPadOS, watchOS, macOS and visionOS
PredecessoriChat (macOS)
TypeInstant messaging
LicenseFreeware
Part of a series on
macOS
Features
Versions
Applications
Utilities
Related

Messages (formerly Text) is a text messaging software application developed by Apple Inc. for its macOS, iOS, iPadOS, watchOS, and visionOS operating systems.

All version of Messages support Apple's own iMessage service, while the mobile version of Messages on iOS – used on iPhone and cellular-enabled models of the iPad – also supports SMS, MMS, and RCS in iOS 18.[1] Users can tell the difference between a message sent via SMS and one sent over iMessage as the bubbles will appear either green (SMS/MMS/RCS) or blue (iMessage).[2][3]

First released in 2007, the mobile version was known as Text prior to iPhone OS 3, while the desktop Messages application replaced iChat as the native OS X instant messaging client with the release of OS X Mountain Lion in 2012,[4] bringing additional support for iMessage and FaceTime integration.

Supported messaging services and protocols

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Messages supports the iMessage, SMS and MMS protocols, and, as of iOS 18, Rich Communication Services (RCS) is also supported.[1] Messages that are sent via SMS, MMS, or RCS appear in green bubbles, while messages sent via iMessage appear in blue bubbles.

iOS and iPadOS versions

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The Text app debuted on iPhone OS 1 as a built in app.

With iPhone OS 3.0 on June 17, 2009,[5] the Text application was renamed Messages, due to the addition of MMS protocol support, in addition to the previously available SMS protocol.[6] The original iPhone did not receive support for MMS, citing hardware limitations.[6] Messages also gained support for sharing contacts using the vCard standard. Other changes included support for copy and paste, and the ability to forward or delete multiple messages at a time.[7]

Messages received minor upgrades with iOS 4. Among the new features was the ability to search within text messages, much like the search feature in Mail. It also added support for displaying a character count to notify when one had gone over the standard SMS character limit.[8] iOS 4.0 also included support for a red exclamation mark to appear on the app's icon to warn failure to send a message.[9][10] Developers were provided with a new API that allowed them to add embedded messaging functionality to their apps.[10]

iMessage support was added with iOS 5 on October 12, 2011.[11][12] The iPhone supported SMS, MMS and iMessage, while the iPad and iPod touch only supported iMessage. With iMessage, users could send text, picture messages and contacts over WiFi or 3G to other iOS 5 devices without using their carrier quota. In addition, a user could start their conversation on one device and continue on another. Messages also introduced typing indication, delivery and read receipts.[12][13] With the introduction of Notification Center, new SMS, and MMS notifications could now be seen on the lock screen or by pulling down the Notification Center, in addition to iMessage notifications.

iOS 6 improves syncing between multiple devices. iPod touch and iPad users could now use their iPhone phone numbers to send or receive iMessages.[14] Earlier, iPhone users could not receive iMessages sent to their phone number on iPad or iPod touch. Users could now add additional emails to receive and send messages on any device.[15] iOS 6 also added a Share button on apps like Safari and Photos, which enabled users to share links and photos using SMS/MMS or iMessage without leaving the app.[16]

Messages received a new user interface in iOS 7. Apple also added the ability to see a message post date by swiping from right to left.

In iOS 8, users can send audio and video messages by holding down the record button. In group conversations, users can remove/add someone to a thread, name a thread, share their location in a thread, view all attachments, and turn on Do Not Disturb to not receive notifications from a specific thread.[17] As a part of the new continuity feature, users can now use their iPhones as a relay to send and receive SMS and MMS messages on Macs and iPads.

In iOS 9, the app received a redesigned overlay when sending an audio clip, as well as seeing contact photos in list view on iPhone 6 or later.

In iOS 10, the app has its own App Store allowing the user to download third-party apps that allow users to send stickers and play games within the app.[18] It also received new visual effects, for example, chat bubbles with a "loud" or "gentle" effect.[19][20]

In iOS 11, the iMessage app store received a new user interface.

iOS 12 introduces a new type of customizable Animoji called "Memoji" which allows a user to create a 3D character of themselves. There were also new Koala, Tiger, Ghost, and T-Rex Animojis.

In iOS 13, user profiles can be created and Memoji can be used as an iMessage profile picture. All iOS devices with an A9 processor or newer can create custom Memoji.

In iOS 14, user profiles can be created and Memoji can be used as an iMessage profile picture. All iOS devices with an A9 processor or newer can create custom Memoji.

In iOS 15, Messages introduces a new feature called "Shared with You", which organizes links and other content shared through Messages in a dedicated section in their native apps for later viewing.

In iOS 16, sent messages can now be edited within 15 minutes and can be deleted within 2 minutes.

In iOS 17, there is a new "Check In" feature which allows the user to pick a location and Check In notifies the contact once the user reaches the destination safely. If the user stops moving towards the destination and does not respond to prompts, the user's location, route, and battery level are automatically shared with the contact. The contact otherwise has no access to the user's location, and this information is end-to-end encrypted.

In iOS 18, RCS support is now enabled.[1][21] Messages sent with RCS appear in green, and a label denoting that the message is being sent with RCS is visible in the composer box.

watchOS version

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Apple Watches can send and receive SMS and MMS messages through a paired iPhone, while iMessages can be sent and received over Wi-Fi without a paired iPhone.[22] As the Apple Watch has no keyboard, users can respond to messages using preset replies or text transcribed by Siri. Apple Watch can also send emojis, audio recordings, and hand-drawn "scribbles".[23]

visionOS version

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Launched on the Apple Vision Pro on February 2, 2024, the Vision Pro comes with the Messages app pre-installed, allowing users on visionOS to send and receive messages, emojis, stickers, and media with the iMessage protocol, just as they can on iOS or macOS. Users can create messages with their voice, a virtual keyboard, or a Bluetooth connected keyboard.

macOS version

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Messages was announced for OS X as a beta application on February 16, 2012 for Macs running Mac OS X 10.7 "Lion".[24] The stable release of Messages was released on July 25, 2012 with OS X Mountain Lion, replacing iChat.[25] In addition to supporting Apple's new iMessage protocol, Messages retained its support for AIM, Yahoo Messenger, Google Talk and Jabber.[26]

Messages unitizes the newly added Notification Center to notify of incoming messages. The introduction of a new Share button in applications like Safari, Finder and Preview gave users the ability to share links to webpages, photos, and files.[27] Messages also supported dragging and dropping files and photos for sharing. It also supports video calling through Apple's FaceTime and the third-party IM services it supports.[28] With the release of OS X Mountain Lion 10.8.2, Messages gained the ability to send and receive iMessages using an iPhone phone number.[29]

Messages received a major redesign in OS X Yosemite, following the flat design aesthetic introduced in iOS 7. As a part of the new Continuity feature, users can send and receive SMS and MMS messages through paired iPhones running iOS 8 or later.

macOS Big Sur dropped the original codebase in favor of porting the iOS version using Catalyst.[30][31] Big Sur brought conversation pinning, the ability to mention individuals, message searching, and more tools to send messages such as Memoji. Users received the ability to undo or edit messages in macOS Ventura, a carryover from iOS 16.

Reception

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Praise

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As a headlining feature in iOS 5, Messages was widely reviewed and was met with fairly positive reviews.

Dante Cesa from Engadget, in his review, praised the "brilliance" in Apple's execution of Messages. He complimented the way Messages did not change the earlier SMS UI and would automatically convert an SMS/MMS to iMessage if the recipient was registered; and from iMessage to SMS/MMS if they stopped using the service.[32] Dan Moren from Macworld was also in praise of Apple execution saying that "...there's no having to explain to your less technically savvy friends how they can send you a free message instead of an SMS; it's all done automatically."[33] This feature was widely praised.[34][35][36]

AnandTech praised[34] Apple's technical achievements with Messages, particularly with iMessage. They noted that doing away with SMS's character limits (140 or 160) helped eliminate messages being sent and received split up into two or more messages. In their tests they found that Apple actually prioritized using cellular networks to send text messages as opposed to WiFi networks in spite of possibly incurring data costs. They claimed that data usage with text based iMessage was small enough to ignore especially when it is considered that cellular networks are more secure than WiFi (protected or not). With picture or video messages, Apple prioritized WiFi given the much higher data consumption as compared to text.

Criticism

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Most of the criticism for Messages relates to iMessage. Before the release of iOS 6 and OS X Mountain Lion (10.8.2), the inability to receive iMessages sent to iPhone phone numbers on the iPad, iPod touch, and Mac was criticized.[36][37][38] This feature was addressed in iOS 6 for iPhones, iPads and iPod touches and OS X 10.8.2 for Macs.

Messages also came under fire due to multiple cases of Apple's iCloud service going down. Messages relies on iCloud to send and receive iMessages.[39][40][41][42]

Apple famously refused to adopt the RCS texting standard within Messages. In 2022, an iPhone user during an event asked Tim Cook if there were any plans to adopt RCS within the Messages app and iPhone. Cook explained that the majority of iPhone users simply were not expressing interest in RCS coming to iPhone and Messages. The person then followed that question up, explaining that their mother uses an Android phone whilst they use an iPhone, to which Cook jokingly replied "Buy your mom an iPhone" to massive controversy.[43] This dialog and quote was later referenced in an anti-trust lawsuit against Apple Inc. filed by the United States Department of Justice.[44] Google ran an advertising campaign known as "Get The Message", pressuring Apple to implement RCS within iOS.[45] It encouraged social networking users to share the hashtag "#GetTheMessage" with a link to the Get The Message homepage with information about RCS. Several Android OEMs joined the campaign and created their own advertisements, such as Samsung.[46] RCS later came to Messages in iOS 18.

Accessibility

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Using Apple's VoiceOver screen reader (on both iOS and macOS), visually impaired users can tap on a message and have it be read out to them. They can also navigate the Messages UI using Voice Over. Utilizing Siri with Messages enables one to dictate and send messages with just a few commands. Siri is also able to read out new incoming messages.[47] The default font size on iOS Messages is editable under the Accessibility tab in the Settings application.[48]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b c Johnson, Allison (2024-06-10). "Apple is bringing RCS to the iPhone in iOS 18". The Verge. Archived from the original on 2024-06-10. Retrieved 2024-06-13.
  2. ^ Chance, Miller (16 November 2023). "RCS messages will use green bubbles, Apple confirms". 9to5Mac. Archived from the original on 18 November 2023. Retrieved 15 June 2024.
  3. ^ "What is the difference between iMessage and SMS/MMS?". Apple Support. Archived from the original on 2024-06-14. Retrieved 2024-06-15.
  4. ^ AppleInsider Staff (February 16, 2012). "Apple Unveils Mac OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion Coming this Summer". AppleInsider. Archived from the original on January 17, 2021. Retrieved February 12, 2013.
  5. ^ Ben Parr (June 16, 2009). "iPhone OS 3.0 Released: What You Should Know". Mashable. Archived from the original on March 12, 2017. Retrieved February 12, 2013.
  6. ^ a b "Apple Previews Developer Beta of iPhone OS 3.0" (Press release). Apple Inc. March 17, 2009. Retrieved March 26, 2023.
  7. ^ Peter Cohen (March 17, 2009). "Cut and paste, MMS highlight iPhone 3.0 improvements". Macworld. Archived from the original on April 28, 2021. Retrieved February 12, 2013.
  8. ^ "Apple Previews iPhone OS 4" (Press release). Apple Inc. April 8, 2010. Retrieved March 26, 2023.
  9. ^ Jason Chen; Rosa Golijan (June 20, 2010). "The Complete Guide to Using iOS 4". Gizmodo. Archived from the original on December 11, 2012. Retrieved February 12, 2013.
  10. ^ a b Rene Ritchie (June 14, 2010). "iOS 4 walkthrough". iMore. Archived from the original on July 31, 2014. Retrieved February 12, 2013.
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  12. ^ a b "New Version of iOS Includes Notification Center, iMessage, Newsstand, Twitter Integration Among 200 New Features" (Press release). Apple Inc. June 6, 2011. Retrieved March 26, 2023.
  13. ^ Jason Parker (October 12, 2011). "Apple iOS 5 review: Modest, but definitely worthwhile". CNET. Retrieved February 12, 2013.
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  17. ^ Rossignol, Joe (2 June 2014). "iOS 8 improves messaging on iMessage". iDownloadBlog. Archived from the original on 10 February 2017. Retrieved 5 June 2014.
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  20. ^ "The 7 best new features of iOS 10". Archived from the original on 2017-01-19. Retrieved 2017-01-08.
  21. ^ Espósito, Filipe (2024-07-08). "RCS on iPhone rolling out to more carriers with iOS 18 beta 3". 9to5Mac. Retrieved 2024-07-16.
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  23. ^ "Check those messages on your Apple Watch too". iMore. 2019-08-17. Archived from the original on 2019-11-09. Retrieved 2019-11-09.
  24. ^ Tim Stevens (February 16, 2012). "Messages Beta now available for Mac OS X Lion". Engadget. Archived from the original on November 17, 2012. Retrieved February 12, 2013.
  25. ^ Chris Welch (July 24, 2012). "Apple announces OS X Mountain Lion will be released on Wednesday". The Verge. Retrieved February 12, 2013.
  26. ^ John Siracusa (July 25, 2012). "OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion: the Ars Technica review". Ars Technica. Archived from the original on March 12, 2017. Retrieved February 12, 2013.
  27. ^ Dan Moren (July 25, 2012). "Up close with Mountain Lion: Sharing". Macworld. Archived from the original on March 12, 2017. Retrieved February 12, 2013.
  28. ^ Alvaris Falcon (17 February 2012). "A Look Into: Messages – New IChat For Mac OS X Mountain Lion". Hongkiat. Archived from the original on 12 March 2017. Retrieved February 12, 2013.
  29. ^ Glenn Fleishman (September 19, 2012). "Use Your iPhone's Number with Messages in OS X 10.8.2". TidBITS. Archived from the original on July 2, 2017. Retrieved February 12, 2013.
  30. ^ "macOS Big Sur: What's new in the Messages app". Macworld. 2020-11-10. Archived from the original on 2021-01-28. Retrieved 2021-01-22.
  31. ^ Espósito, Filipe (2020-05-23). "Apple working to replace Messages app on Mac with a Catalyst version iOS 14 code reveals". 9to5Mac. Retrieved 2021-01-22.
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  33. ^ Dan Moren (October 11, 2011). "iOS 5 Review: Ambitious update rings in the changes". Macworld. Archived from the original on March 29, 2023. Retrieved March 29, 2023.
  34. ^ a b Vivek Gowri; Andrew Cunningham; Saumitra Bhagwat; Brian Klug (October 18, 2011). "Apple iOS 5 Review". AnandTech. Archived from the original on April 7, 2013. Retrieved February 12, 2013.
  35. ^ Chris Hall (October 14, 2011). "Apple iOS 5 review". Pocket-lint. Retrieved February 12, 2013.
  36. ^ a b Jacqui Cheng (October 12, 2011). "iOS 5 reviewed: Notifications, iMessages, and iCloud, oh my!". AnandTech. Archived from the original on March 8, 2013. Retrieved February 12, 2013.
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  38. ^ Nilay Patel (July 25, 2012). "OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion review". The Verge. Archived from the original on March 1, 2013. Retrieved February 12, 2013.
  39. ^ T. C. Sottek (November 18, 2012). "Apple iMessage and FaceTime down for users on iOS and OS X". The Verge. Archived from the original on March 16, 2013. Retrieved February 12, 2013.
  40. ^ Gregory Gomer (October 25, 2012). "iMessage Outage: iMessage is Down for Apple Users [Report]". BostInno. Retrieved February 12, 2013.
  41. ^ Gregory Gomer (October 30, 2012). "iMessage is Down AGAIN for Apple Users, Second Time in a Week [Report & Cute Photos]". BostInno. Retrieved February 12, 2013.
  42. ^ Gregory Gomer (November 18, 2012). "iMessage Outage: iMessage is Down AGAIN for Apple Users [Report & Cute Photos]". BostInno. Archived from the original on February 2, 2013. Retrieved February 12, 2013.
  43. ^ Lawler, Richard (2022-09-08). "Tim Cook says 'buy your mom an iPhone' if you want to end green bubbles". The Verge. Retrieved 2024-10-13.
  44. ^ Bitter, Alex. "Watch Tim Cook's famous 'Buy your mom an iPhone' quip that caught the attention of the Justice Department". Business Insider. Retrieved 2024-10-13.
  45. ^ "'It's Time for Apple to Fix Texting' Says New Android Website Pushing RCS Messaging Technology". MacRumors. 2022-08-09. Retrieved 2024-10-13.
  46. ^ Romero, Andrew (October 10, 2023). "Samsung joins in on taunting Apple with RCS 'Get The Message' push [Video]".
  47. ^ "Apple - Accessibility - Vision - iPhone". Apple Inc. Archived from the original on February 15, 2013. Retrieved February 12, 2013.
  48. ^ Austin Krause (October 8, 2012). "How to Increase the Font Size in iOS". groovyPost. Retrieved February 12, 2013.
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