Does iMessage bring anything at all to the table if I already have unlimited messages

[Prodo123]

Again, it saves a state to memory, saving to ram would be saving to "faster" memory....but it doesn't continue to run in the background.

Enabled apps, usually low-resource apps, *do* run in the background...how many times do I have to say this?
All of your RAM data as well as your current state are stored in the RAM. More RAM in use is more electricity used.
Enabled apps use the processor, draining even more battery.

Either way, it still drains battery and you're better off constantly closing them.

 

[George Knighton]

I like the speed of iMessage compared to SMS.

 

[xraydoc]

Enabled apps, usually low-resource apps, *do* run in the background...how many times do I have to say this?
All of your RAM data as well as your current state are stored in the RAM. More RAM in use is more electricity used.
Enabled apps use the processor, draining even more battery.

Either way, it still drains battery and you're better off constantly closing them.

All the RAM in the device (all 512MB) is powered, regardless if an app has written data to it. Battery savings comes from having 512MB in the phone as compared with 1GB or more if that much RAM isn't needed. But removing code/data from RAM and having it sit with all 0s doesn't save a single electron's worth of power.

 

[elistan]

I'm not an IC designer, but my understanding is that whether the OS maintains a pointer to a chunk of memory and considers it free or allocated does not have any effect on the amount of electricity that memory requires to operate. In other words, example backgrounded process such-and-such having 32MB allocated to store its state is just as power consuming as the OS having that same 32MB marked as free.

Also, in addition to the Memory Management document, Apple's "App States and Multitasking" doc is a very interesting read.
http://developer.apple.com/library/...cationsFlow/ManagingYourApplicationsFlow.html

Specifically, apps can do one of two things about multitasking in iOS:
- Basically say, "wait, gimme a second to finish this up." The app gets a brief slice of time (seems to be five seconds?) to finish up a process if it specifically requests it. This appears to be what Safari is doing if it's loading a page and you hit the home button.
- Request one of a few specific background APIs. They are: play music, VOIP, track location, receive info from an external device such as a heart rate monitor, and download and process newsstand info. Apps in this state have restrictions on what the can and cannot do, restrictions that foreground apps do not have. A music playing app in the background, for example, will go from backgrounded to suspended if it stops playing. If it uses too much CPU, the OS has the option to kill it. Now, and app COULD do general processing in addition to its specific background task while in the background, and this could indeed lead to higher CPU usage and greater battery drain, but for non-multitasking apps like Facebook and InfinityBlade, this isn't an issue.

 

[gentlefury]

All the RAM in the device (all 512MB) is powered, regardless if an app has written data to it. Battery savings comes from having 512MB in the phone as compared with 1GB or more if that much RAM isn't needed. But removing code/data from RAM and having it sit with all 0s doesn't save a single electron's worth of power.

I think you meant save a single electron's worth of power and yes that was my point. Not really sure how you people are using it....I use mine CONSTANTLY, and I get home with about 40% battery left consistently. I don't really talk on my phone very often, but I listen to streaming music and podcasts a LOT (like 6GB/month a lot) and a text, and receive over a hundred emails a day.

I keep the screen on auto bright + low if that means anything.

 

[Primejimbo]

My wife read someplace if you go to the restrictions and turn it on and restrict Ping that will help. I haven't looked it up or anything, has anyone else heard this?

 

[Theraker007]

Nope. Jailbreaking and installing a memory/CPU monitor confirms what I found.
Even if the app is fully closed, it still uses the RAM to initiate a faster boot time. More RAM in use = more power in use.
Of course, unless Apple invented a memristor and can store data on RAM without using any power.

please stop posting. You've hijacked my thread with misinformation and it isnt helping at all.

 

[Prodo123]

please stop posting. You've hijacked my thread with misinformation and it isnt helping at all.

You asked if turning off iMessage would solve your battery problem, and asked if iMessage does anything bad other than the perceived battery drain.
If you caught it on my first post, you would have caught that I did not tell you anything about iMessage. There is no need to; turning it off will not solve your problem. Turning off Push will not solve your battery problem. Turning off background apps, disabling certain location services and freeing memory will solve it.

I like to tackle the source and find the problem instead of a shoot-and-miss on the possible solutions.

The best way to diagnose this problem would be keeping your iPhone on Airplane Mode for the entire day. If your battery problem still persists, then it's not related to any data or location services, including Wi-Fi, iMessage, and location reminders. In that case it's either background apps, corrupt iOS, or a hardware issue. At that point, attempt a restore. If that does not work, take it to an Apple Store because that isolates the problem to be with the battery itself.

 

[JAT]

Enabled apps, usually low-resource apps, *do* run in the background...how many times do I have to say this?
All of your RAM data as well as your current state are stored in the RAM. More RAM in use is more electricity used.
Enabled apps use the processor, draining even more battery.

Either way, it still drains battery and you're better off constantly closing them.

Just wanted to agree among all the naysaying. I have had some recent battery issues on my 4, before iOS 5 came out. Finding some app and shutting it off always fixed it. I do think that some of this can be apps screwing up and not behaving properly.

Although, from the thread about it, there does seem to be a battery control issue with iOS 5, at least for the 4s. This would be a separate problem, and closing apps probably won't help everyone. Apple needs to find and fix this, just like they've done a couple other times in iOS history.

 

[uaecasher]

iMessages is really help full especially if you have a 3g iPad.

 

[ladytonya]

I like iMessage. I only message one other person with an iPhone but it seems to me like the messages come through faster. My boss is getting an iPad soon to use in court and I'm hoping that we can iMessage through that so I stop using my texts at work!

As for multitasking, I think ya'll are pretty much beating a dead horse. Individuals are going to believe what they want to believe when it comes to the nature of multitasking on iDevices. Personally, I just go with what works for me. I let pretty much everything sit down there in the drawer, only shutting down things like ESPN Radio and Pandora that I know will run in the background. I've read good arguments and have seen documentation that seemingly proves that it works both ways. Seems to be a topic that people just need to agree to disagree on!

 

[i0Nic]

Advantages of iMessages even if you have unlimited text
- You can message across your devices: iPhone, iPad, iPod and probably Mac soon
- Even if you have unlimited text, the other party might not
- You get read/delivery receipts, and get an indicator when the other person is replying
- Speed: iMessages send faster than SMS

 

[RabbitLuvr]

Question: Does iMessage use data (sending/receiving/both)? I have grandfathered unlimited data, but my husband does not. We both turned off iMessage in case it uses data. We have unlimited texting, though.
I'm not sure how iMessage would benefit us?

*Neither of us messages anyone with an iPad or iTouch.
**Most people we message have unlimited texting, and feel that those who don't should either adjust their plans to match their usage or let us know when not to text them.

 

[George Knighton]

Question: Does iMessage use data (sending/receiving/both)? I have grandfathered unlimited data, but my husband does not. We both turned off iMessage in case it uses data. We have unlimited texting, though.
I'm not sure how iMessage would benefit us?

*Neither of us messages anyone with an iPad or iTouch.
**Most people we message have unlimited texting, and feel that those who don't should either adjust their plans to match their usage or let us know when not to text them.

It sounds like in your case the only advantage to iMessage would be the very fast sending and receiving of messages between iDevices, iPhone to iPhone.

iMessage should relieve some of the stress on AT&T and Verizon as new iPhone users send huge amounts of images and video via MMS, which in many cases will now go through low latency, high capacity broadband servers of DSL and cable providers.

Nobody knows yet how significant an impact this will have, but although the primary motive was to help Verizon and AT&T, it might have the eventual effect of reducing the price of unlimited text packages, or even eliminating those charges completely.



iMessage does not use your cellular provider's data if you are connected to broadband WiFi when you use it.

If you are not connected to a broadband provider, then, yes, it will use your cellular data.

 

[gloss]

Delivered/Read receipts are nice.

 

[shortcrust]

Enabled apps, usually low-resource apps, *do* run in the background...how many times do I have to say this?
All of your RAM data as well as your current state are stored in the RAM. More RAM in use is more electricity used.
Enabled apps use the processor, draining even more battery.

Either way, it still drains battery and you're better off constantly closing them.

Ludicrous.

 

[OneMike]

I am trying to turn off everything unnecessary on my iphone 4s to try and figure out why my battery life is so horrendous. I assume any service that requires pushing things to my device or multiple devices is contributing, so I already turned off location services to most of my apps except the maps apps and a few other essential ones.

People like me who have txt disabled on their iPhones. Gives you the ability to message us. And those who are on older grandfathered plans with unlimited amounts of txts per mo.

 

[SwissMade]

I have unlimited texts but still find myself using WhatsApp more frequently for photo sharing and keeping in touch with friends and colleagues overseas. iMessage is a nice addition but for me it's not yet replacing WhatsApp which supports multi-platforms (most of my friends and colleagues use Blackberrys rather than iPhone) and boasts additional features such as location/contact/audio sharing and status updates.

 

[Tsuchiya]

Honestly...no not really.

The main benefit is for those who aren't on unlimited plans and want to get in touch with you.

I still think WhatsApp is superior as it allows you to communicate with other devices, but iMessage is still a nice inbuilt app. I like that it works across different iOS devices though, pretty neat.

 

[xxxamazexxx]

Let's say your friend is traveling abroad and you don't even know where on earth she is and what number she is using (that is, if she still maintains telecommunication of some sort). iMessage is the no-brainer solution to keep in touch in such scenarios.

 

[greytmom]

Question: Does iMessage use data (sending/receiving/both)? I have grandfathered unlimited data, but my husband does not. We both turned off iMessage in case it uses data. We have unlimited texting, though.
I'm not sure how iMessage would benefit us?

*Neither of us messages anyone with an iPad or iTouch.
**Most people we message have unlimited texting, and feel that those who don't should either adjust their plans to match their usage or let us know when not to text them.

iMessage uses data, but you would have to send thousands and thousands every month to make even the smallest dent on your data. I wouldn't worry about it.

 

[RabbitLuvr]

It sounds like in your case the only advantage to iMessage would be the very fast sending and receiving of messages between iDevices, iPhone to iPhone.

iMessage should relieve some of the stress on AT&T and Verizon as new iPhone users send huge amounts of images and video via MMS, which in many cases will now go through low latency, high capacity broadband servers of DSL and cable providers.

Nobody knows yet how significant an impact this will have, but although the primary motive was to help Verizon and AT&T, it might have the eventual effect of reducing the price of unlimited text packages, or even eliminating those charges completely.



iMessage does not use your cellular provider's data if you are connected to broadband WiFi when you use it.

If you are not connected to a broadband provider, then, yes, it will use your cellular data.

iMessage uses data, but you would have to send thousands and thousands every month to make even the smallest dent on your data. I wouldn't worry about it.

Thanks for the replies! I guess we'll just leave iMessage turned off for now, may switch it back on in the future. I'm just mostly worried about Husband's data plan, he's been resisting getting any kind of smart phone because he doesn't like having to pay for the data plan. Trying to help him save data wherever possible.

 

[gentlefury]

Ludicrous.

Makes about as much sense as the full iPod weighing more than the empty one! LOL

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iMessage uses data, but you would have to send thousands and thousands every month to make even the smallest dent on your data. I wouldn't worry about it.

Actually you would have to send over 200 million per month to even use up the lowest data plan available (200MB/Month)

 

[The Phazer]

I am trying to turn off everything unnecessary on my iphone 4s to try and figure out why my battery life is so horrendous. I assume any service that requires pushing things to my device or multiple devices is contributing, so I already turned off location services to most of my apps except the maps apps and a few other essential ones.

iMessage being turned on is unlikely to use any significant power (though iOS's memory management is simply not as good as some people are claiming. There are unquestionably bugs, and the Apple system apps are not subject the same restrictions on running in the background anyway).

However, sending iMessages unquestionably uses more battery than SMS - simply establishing a 3G data connection uses up a fairly significant amount of battery, no matter how much data is sent. Meanwhile SMS are effectively hidden inside the base station ping with virtually no battery life impact as a result.

I've turned iMessages off, simply because it gives very little benefit but is less reliable (I didn't actually have a single iMessage not fail when I had it on, so it just slowed my SMSes down by five minutes).

Phazer

 

[gloss]

Makes about as much sense as the full iPod weighing more than the empty one! LOL

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Actually you would have to send over 200 million per month to even use up the lowest data plan available (200MB/Month)

Well, it is true that more RAM uses more power, but all given RAM on a phone is powered at all times, so...