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hakr100

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Mar 1, 2011
967
113
East Coast
I've read several threads on the new iMessage beta and I am still confused.

I installed iMessage on my iMac. Now if I receive a message, it shows up on my iMac but not on my iPhone.

Would someone please post simple, step by step instructions to enable posting of incoming iMessages on both devices?

Thanks much! :D
 

HazyCloud

macrumors 68030
Jun 30, 2010
2,779
37
I read yesterday that changing your phone's iMessage caller ID to your iCloud address allows them to be synced across all devices. I'd assume that this won't be necessary when Messages comes out of beta. I cannot confirm if this actually works as I have not tried it.

To do so:

Go to Settings>Messages>Receive At>Caller ID and change it to your Apple ID.
 

Eric8199

macrumors 6502a
Feb 27, 2009
801
188
I have a question about this. Several people (myself included) have iPhones and iMessage at work, and we communicate regularly though text. Now, if I set my caller ID to an email address, what happens to the person who I then iMessage who may have my phone number programmed in their phone, but not my email address? Will it pop up as a message from my email address, or will it pop up with my name so they know who is messaging them? I ask because my coworkers don't have my personal email address, nor do they need it. So I don't want them to be confused if they get a message sent from my iPad or my MacBook.

Hope someone can clear this up for me.
 

Jare

macrumors 65816
Jun 17, 2010
1,190
1
Canada
I have a question about this. Several people (myself included) have iPhones and iMessage at work, and we communicate regularly though text. Now, if I set my caller ID to an email address, what happens to the person who I then iMessage who may have my phone number programmed in their phone, but not my email address? Will it pop up as a message from my email address, or will it pop up with my name so they know who is messaging them? I ask because my coworkers don't have my personal email address, nor do they need it. So I don't want them to be confused if they get a message sent from my iPad or my MacBook.

Hope someone can clear this up for me.

If they text you via the phone number it will still come as an iMessage, but it WONT show up on your Mac. If they send it to your email, it will show up on BOTH.
 

Eric8199

macrumors 6502a
Feb 27, 2009
801
188
Thanks, but that's not what I'm asking. If I send them a message with my email address as the caller ID, and they don't have that programmed into their phone, what will they see? I assume they will see my email address and have no idea who is contacting them, like when someone texts me and I don't have their number programmed. If that is the case, it kind of makes this useless to me. I really wish that Apple would allow us to verify a phone number on our iPads/Macs so that messages will sync by phone number as well. Of course, this won't help with actual text messages, but most people I text have iPhones.
 

JPM42

macrumors 6502
Oct 21, 2007
275
7
Thanks, but that's not what I'm asking. If I send them a message with my email address as the caller ID, and they don't have that programmed into their phone, what will they see? I assume they will see my email address and have no idea who is contacting them, like when someone texts me and I don't have their number programmed. If that is the case, it kind of makes this useless to me. I really wish that Apple would allow us to verify a phone number on our iPads/Macs so that messages will sync by phone number as well. Of course, this won't help with actual text messages, but most people I text have iPhones.

I just tested this between two iPhones. They'll see the e-mail address, instead.
 

Tmelon

macrumors 65816
Feb 26, 2011
1,150
619
Thanks, but that's not what I'm asking. If I send them a message with my email address as the caller ID, and they don't have that programmed into their phone, what will they see? I assume they will see my email address and have no idea who is contacting them, like when someone texts me and I don't have their number programmed. If that is the case, it kind of makes this useless to me. I really wish that Apple would allow us to verify a phone number on our iPads/Macs so that messages will sync by phone number as well. Of course, this won't help with actual text messages, but most people I text have iPhones.

They see you're email address. That aspect of it really needs work. I hate having FaceTime and iMessage associated with my email.
 

brucewayne

macrumors 6502
Nov 8, 2005
363
630
easy fix. go into your phone Settings>Messages>Receive At and in addition to your phone number put in your Apple ID and any emails you have associated with iMessage on your other devices. Now reboot your phone or iPad (it doesn't work until you do)

This only works reliably with other contacts that have done the same thing.

Also, it doesn't work if your phone 'sends as an sms' when iMessage is unavailable.
 

Eric8199

macrumors 6502a
Feb 27, 2009
801
188
Thanks. My biggest issue is initiating a message from my iPad or Mac, and having the person on the other end not knowing who I am. Again, I don't really need/want coworkers having my personal email address, so this doesn't work for me. Ah well. Guess its better than nothing, and I can use it with family/friends. Thanks for your help.
 
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