I am stuck in a group message that I have been using via Messages in Mountain Lion. I can press the X on the thread in the main messages window. However every time I get a new message the thread keeps coming back. Is there any way to permanently remove yourself from a group message?
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How do you remove yourself from a group message in Messages in Mountain Lion?
- Thread starter neurophysicist
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As far a I know you can't remove yourself from any iMessage group message(iOs or OSX). It needs a lot of work IMO.
Don't know what you mean ... If your friends are messaging you within a group message, you are going to receive the message regardless of whether or not you want it. If you want to remove yourself from a group message, tell your friends to remove you from their message!
Not singling you out, but this sounds typical for any problem with apple software/hardware. "Well don't use this...don't do that" iMessage should've had the functionality to remove yourself from a group chat since it came out. Sometimes you may send something in a group because it makes sense(as opposed to sending multiple individual messages), but then someone may get annoyed by the constant messages after a while and want to get out of the group chat (like one of my brothers). I think this is not too much to ask. I bet if apple included it in iOS 6 GM all the naysayers would be all over it saying it's the next best thing..
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Meaning everyone else have to break their conversation, and everyone else have to actively do something, instead of one guy just being able to leave?
Say you're in a room with a few friends and you're all having a discussion. You don't want to listen anymore, do you tell them to take the conversation somewhere else, or would you think that's rude?
This is built off of SMS, right? This has always been the case. Someone sends a group SMS, you can't opt out. You have to ask them to not message you. This isn't an Apple issue - this is a protocol issue and affects ALL phones/devices which receive SMS messages.
iMessage isn't SMS, it's more like any other instant messaging service such as MSN Messenger and ICQ than SMS.
And in those apps, you have to block someone if you don't want to receive a message - or you know, ask someone to stop messaging you.
Mad Mac Maniac
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I'm pretty sure most of those you can leave the group chat. That's how it was in AIM back in the late 90's and that's how it is in Microsoft Communicator now. That's also how it's been in skype for as long as I can remember.
Of course those are all group chats that are intended to be a temporary chat room, not a permanent group per-say.
I believe you can remove yourself from group messages on facebook too? I know you can add people to a group message (is this another thing iMessage lacks?)
So you want to stop receiving text messages sent to you? That's essentially what you're asking. This isn't an instant messaging client. It's glorified SMS & MMS. If you don't want to get them, turn off imessage in settings and tell AT&T to block SMS.
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Not trying to defend Apple or anything, its a fact (as far as I know) that that's just how you do it. It's basically emulating SMS functionality. When you send a message to a group it's basically a "Reply All" and the only way to remove someone from your reply is to create a new conversation without that person.
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Yes, that's how you do it. I don't know why you're taking out your anger at Apple on me.
Actually, I'd say its functionality is most closely related to email. iMessage isn't a live chat application, it's a message sending application. If your address is included in the To: field of a group email conversation, there's nothing you can do to remove yourself from that conversation beyond asking all parties to delete your address from the To: field of their replies.
(As a workaround, you can ignore the messages. Or with some email systems, set up a rule to mark the conversation as spam, auto-file the messages to a subfolder, or auto-delete the messages.)
(As a workaround, you can ignore the messages. Or with some email systems, set up a rule to mark the conversation as spam, auto-file the messages to a subfolder, or auto-delete the messages.)
Thanks for the suggestions, everyone.
Yes, about the only thing I can do is ask for them to create a separate group without me.
To clarify what I meant by "exiting" or "deleting" a group. Messaging apps I use on my phone (such as whatsapp) allow you to create groups and delete/exit them. The same thing with AIM, voxer, and other services.
Once you have "exited" a group, you will never receive messages from that group again.
After doing some more fishing around (including on this site), it appears that there isn't a clear way of exiting a group (see post #12 below).
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1265480/
Thanks for the help.
Yes, about the only thing I can do is ask for them to create a separate group without me.
To clarify what I meant by "exiting" or "deleting" a group. Messaging apps I use on my phone (such as whatsapp) allow you to create groups and delete/exit them. The same thing with AIM, voxer, and other services.
Once you have "exited" a group, you will never receive messages from that group again.
After doing some more fishing around (including on this site), it appears that there isn't a clear way of exiting a group (see post #12 below).
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1265480/
Thanks for the help.
This isn't about not receiving messages from a person, but rather exit a group chat. But on the subject, is there a way of blocking someone i iMessages?
I'm not angry with Apple, but I feel you're being a bit of a fanboy. What's the point in defending the lack of a basic function? Especially with the argument that iMessage is "emulating SMS"? It reminds me of those defending the inability to send MMS with the original iPhone with "oh, you e-mail pictures, of course".
iMessage is an IM service, to include limitations of SMS when it's not needed is nothing short of retarded.
So, just to clarify, many of you here are asking for a system where I can send a message to multiple people and yet I have no idea if they're actually getting the message or not? That sounds pretty bad.
Or is the plan to have some sort of red flag pop up?
So what do you think, Sandra?
Sandra Sims is not receiving messages from you.
That could work but it's a bit rude sounding. Would make me not want to exit the conversation, honestly.
Or is the plan to have some sort of red flag pop up?
So what do you think, Sandra?
Sandra Sims is not receiving messages from you.
That could work but it's a bit rude sounding. Would make me not want to exit the conversation, honestly.
Wikipedia defines IM like this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Instant_messaging
Instant messaging (IM) is a form of communication over the Internet, that offers an instantaneous transmission of text-based messages from sender to receiver. In push mode between two or more people using personal computers or other devices, along with shared clients, instant messaging basically offers real-time direct written language-based online chat. The user's text is conveyed over a network, such as the Internet. It may address point-to-point communications as well as multicast communications from one sender to many receivers. More advanced instant messaging allows enhanced modes of communication, such as live voice or video calling, video chat and inclusion of hyperlinks to media.
Apple calls iMessage a "messaging service" (http://www.apple.com/ios/features.html#imessage), and the author of the wikipedia page for iMessage reckons it's an IM service. Apparently no one with your insight has yet "corrected" the page: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IMessage
Looking at what SMS is, we can definitely exclude the possibility of iMessage being SMS: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Short_Message_Service
But you apparently disagree, so would you care to elaborate on why iMessage is not an IM service, and explain what it is, in your opinion?
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Mike: ...
John: ...
Sandra: ...
*Mike left the conversation
Sandra: ...
John: ...
That way, Sandra and John are notified that Mike left the conversation and is no longer a part of the recipient list. Or, they can double check the list to see if someone left earlier in the discussion.
It's a far better solution that Mike having to tell Sandra and John to stop sending messages in that specific chat, and instead open a completely new chat. I mean, imagine if you're ten-fifteen people in a group message. Not allowing people to leave is just crazy.
I guess, but then it would have to keep repeating that "Sandra left the conversation" message every time the conversation is revived. I have group texts going back months and months. I won't remember who left it a month ago.
How would that work? I send a new text a month later and it starts by telling me the names of the people who left last month? Well, this new text is information that those people need to have...they left in July, remember...they didn't mean to miss out on this new news in August.
So what do I do? Go back and re-do my text all over again? Now I have 2 group chats for this group of people. One complete and one without Sandra. With a large enough group it's conceivable that I may end up with a dozen different chats for my group, each one missing a single person.
This just feels like it could get very messy very quickly.
EDIT: Actually, the best solution I can think of is to allow me to re-add Sandra back in later. That solves all these problems, but would probably piss off everyone who actually wants this feature, I'd think.
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Then just check the recipient list
I mean, if you can't remember who left the conversation, then how would you be able to remember exactly who was added?Well, it wouldn't be too difficult to add a function where you can invite or add people to a group message even though they've already quit the conversation. And I would assume "leave group" and "delete message thread" would be two separate options to decrease the risk of accidentally leaving a chat.
i use whatsapp most of the time and its the most basic thing to be able to leave and rejoin a group.
lets say Marcel invites 30 people and me to his birthday and i'll tell him that i got time. i'm glad to have the option to leave the group afterwards because i dont need to get notified when all those other 30 people text in the group which i already responded to. my phone wouldnt shut up for hours.
even facebook which has the worst app in the world lets u leave a group