How iMessage works
You have just bought your first iPhone and you have discovered that through iMessage you can send free messages to all your contacts that have an “iPhone”. You have immediately set to work to activate and configure the service but, not yet very practical Apple services, you are experiencing some difficulties. I guessed? Well, then let me explain to you in detail the detailed procedure to succeed in your intent.
If you spend a few minutes of your free time, I can explain how iMessage works and how to configure the service in the best way on iPhone, iPad and Mac. How do you say? Did not you know that you can use iMessage from your computer too? Well yes! You can send text messages, voice messages and multimedia files directly from your computer, with the ability to synchronize messages with your mobile devices. Interesting, right?
So come on, let’s not waste any more time in chatter and let’s go straight to the point! Put yourself in a comfortable position, read the next paragraphs carefully and put into practice the indications I am about to give you. I assure you that activating and using iMessage is really a breeze and, in fact, you will be able to send as many messages as you want from all your Apple devices. I just have to wish you good reading and have fun!
Index
- How iMessage works – IMessage costs
- How iMessage works – How to activate iMessage on iPhone
- How iMessage works – How to activate iMessage on iPad
- How iMessage works – How to activate iMessage on Mac
- How iMessage works – How to use iMessage
How iMessage works – IMessage costs
How iMessage works
iMessage is a service that allows you to send text messages, voice messages, photos and videos to Apple devices such as iPhone, Mac and iPad using the Internet connection.
The only expense to be incurred for having iMessage on your device is the activation cost, equal to 0.30 euros (or the cost of an international SMS according to the tariffs of your operator). Subsequently the service has no recurring cost and allows you to send messages for free, provided you have available an active Internet connection (Wi-Fi or 3G / 4G) and communicate with another person in possession of an iMessage account (otherwise a classic SMS is sent at the cost provided for by the tariff plan).
Any reactivation of the service after a deactivation entails an additional charge of 0.30 euro. The charge, therefore, takes place for each activation and not for the activation of the single account.
How iMessage works – How to activate iMessage on iPhone
How iMessage works
To take advantage of the messaging service offered by Apple, you must first activate iMessage on iPhone: a procedure that takes a few seconds and requires only an active Internet connection.
To activate iMessage, make sure that your iPhone is connected to the Internet via Wi-Fi or via cellular data network, then press the gear wheel icon on the device’s home screen to access the iOS Settings. Now, tap on the item Messages, press on the item Use your Apple ID for iMessage, enter the password and press the Login button. If you do not have an Apple ID yet, you can read my guide on how to create an Apple ID.
After logging in with your account, move the lever next to iMessage from OFF to ON and a notification will warn you that your operator may charge you the cost of an international SMS as anticipated just a moment ago. Come on then confirm, pressing on the OK option, and you’re done.
Once iMessage has been activated, you must proceed with the configuration of the service. So tap on the item Send and receive and indicate how you want to send and receive messages: under the item You can receive iMessage messages on you can select your phone number and email addresses associated with your Apple ID to receive messages through them, while below the item Start new conversations from you can select the number or email address to use as the default sender for iMessage messages.
How iMessage works – How to activate iMessage on iPad
How iMessage works
You can activate iMessage also on iPad and the procedure to follow is similar to the one described above for iPhone. Then access the iOS Settings (by pressing the gear wheel icon on the device’s home screen) and tap on the Messages item.
Now, if you intend to use the same Apple ID used for the other devices, move the lever next to the iMessage item from OFF to ON, find the item You can receive iMessage messages on and put a check mark next to your phone number and / or to the email addresses associated with your Apple ID, then under the item Start new conversations from, select the phone number or email address to be used as the default sender for iMessage messages.
If your iPad is equipped with Cellular connectivity and you intend to use a different SIM, repeat the procedure following the instructions previously described for iPhone, by selecting the phone number associated with the SIM used on the iPad.
How iMessage works – How to activate iMessage on Mac
How iMessage works
The Messages application is installed as standard on all Macs and you can send free messages and paid SMS messages (according to your rate plan) even through your computer. To do this, you need to activate iMessage on Mac without additional costs.
After activating and configuring the service on your phone number via iPhone, start the Messages application on your Mac and, if required, sign in with the same Apple ID you use with iMessagge on iPhone. Now, click on the item Messages in the menu bar at the top and click on the Preferences option, then presses on the Account item and, in the left sidebar, select your iMessage account.
Under the heading You can receive messages about insured that there is a check mark next to your phone number and to the email addresses associated with your Apple ID, while in the drop-down menu under the item Start new conversations from select your phone number if you want the recipients to see your phone number and not the Apple ID.
For iMessage settings on Mac, select the item General and, using the drop-down menu next to Keep messages, choose one of the options available between Forever, One year or 30 days. In addition, you can choose the sound to be applied when a new message is received via the drop-down menu next to the Sound message received option and you can set the size of the iMessage text using the cursor next to Text size.
How iMessage works – How to use iMessage
Once the activation and configuration of the Apple messaging service is complete, you are ready to start using iMessage and I assure you that it is really a breeze. Do not you believe it? Then I’ll show you right away.
All you need to do to send messages using iMessage on iPhone and iPad is to perform the procedure to send a common text message. Then start the Messages app on your device (the icon with the white bubble on a green background), tap the pencil icon inside a square to write a new message and, in the A: field, type the number of phone of the person you want to write to, otherwise tap the + button and choose the contact from your address book.
If the chosen contact has an Apple device and in turn has activated iMessage, the New message window will become New iMessage and the contact will appear in blue instead of green: this means that you can send a text message, a voice message, an image, a video and much more for free using your Internet connection.
How iMessage works
Now, in the iMessage field, type the message you want to send and press the blue arrow icon to send it. Instead, press and hold the microphone icon to record a voice message, then press the ▶ ︎ button if you want to listen to the recording again, otherwise tap the up arrow icon to send it or the X button to delete it.
In addition, you can press the right arrow icon to send multimedia messages such as photos, invitations, and more by choosing one of the available options:
- camera: to send a photo by taking it through the camera or choosing it from the photo library of your device;
- heart: allows access to the Digital Touch and send graphic animations made with the touch of the finger, to be applied even on video recorded in direct recording.
- A: send invitations to games, share music and send your location via Google Maps and much more, taking advantage of the applications installed on your device. With this button, you can also send animoji, animated emojis that follow the expressions of the user’s face. To add apps to “share” you need to press the Store button, locate the app of interest and move the relevant lever from OFF to ON.
How iMessage works
In the chat started, you can press the information button (the letter i at the top right) to view the contact details, such as the phone number, images and attachments received, but also set the Do Not Disturb mode and the Send Receipts function reading that allows the contact to know if and when you read the message received.
In addition, you can press the Send my current position option to let your recipient know where you are, otherwise you can tap on the Share my position item and choose one of the options available between Share for one hour, Share until the end day and Share indefinitely to let your contacts know about your travels.
During the conversation, you can press on a received message and apply an appreciation by pressing on a heart icon, in addition to thumb up, thumb down, double exclamation mark, question mark and Ah Ah option to express a sense of fun. Moreover, if you want to delete one or more messages sent and received, you can choose the item Other, select the messages you want to delete and press Delete (in case of a message) or Delete all (in case of multiple selection), while if you have received a photo that you want to save on your device you can press on Save and automatically is added to your iOS library.
How iMessage works
All started chats are automatically saved and you can view them from the main Messages screen. Pajamas on to access and send new messages quickly, otherwise you can press on the Edit item at the top left, select the ones you are interested in and press the Delete option to delete them.
Finally, by accessing the settings of iMessage, you can synchronize the devices on which you have activated the service, choose whether to set the option to send reading and much more. Then press the gear wheel icon to access the iOS Settings and tap the Messages item. Now, move the lever next to Send Send Read Receipts from OFF to ON if you want to send a message to the recipients of the message that you have read it, and press the Forward Text Messages option to view the devices associated with your Apple ID and allow the synchronization of sending and receiving messages.
From the settings of iMessage, you can also set the behavior of the service in case of absence of an Internet connection: if you want your messages to be sent as normal SMS, move the lever next to Send as SMS from OFF to ON, otherwise the message iMessage will remain pending and will be sent as soon as an Internet connection is available. In conclusion, if you do not want to take advantage of the service and return to normal sending of SMS and MMS, I leave you to my guide on how to disable iMessage.
How iMessage works