iMessages: Send as SMS

[MastahRiz]

I like the fact that I can use iMessages to send texts to other iDevice users but I'm concerned with this setting for "Send as SMS." What worries me specifically is if I text someone using iMessages and it doesn't go through, it'll get resent as a normal carrier text. Normally this would be great- but not everyone I know in my contacts who has iDevices with iOS 5 is in the US. So let's say I iMessage someone in the UK and it doesn't go through. Then it'll send a regular text and I'll get charged for an international text?

And if I turn this setting OFF, then if iMessages doesn't work for someone I know within the US, then the message just won't get sent at all?

Does anyone else feel like there should be just a little more control here? I would like to be able to set "Send as SMS" for only US numbers.

 

[slsanity]

I like the fact that I can use iMessages to send texts to other iDevice users but I'm concerned with this setting for "Send as SMS." What worries me specifically is if I text someone using iMessages and it doesn't go through, it'll get resent as a normal carrier text. Normally this would be great- but not everyone I know in my contacts who has iDevices with iOS 5 is in the US. So let's say I iMessage someone in the UK and it doesn't go through. Then it'll send a regular text and I'll get charged for an international text?

And if I turn this setting OFF, then if iMessages doesn't work for someone I know within the US, then the message just won't get sent at all?

Does anyone else feel like there should be just a little more control here? I would like to be able to set "Send as SMS" for only US numbers.

Hmm, as you can set an email in iMessage as a contact point I would ask your non-US friends for theirs, and leave the option on. When you start a iMessage thread with them use the email instead of the phone number. If it fails, no SMS will be sent.

 

[MastahRiz]

You're right- that is a good workaround. I'll have to use that for now but how do we know that if the Send as SMS option is on that it won't just go ahead and use the phone number associated with the contact anyway when sending to the e-mail fails?

In any case, if this does work though, I would feel much better if the option to pick "send as SMS" was selectable for individual country codes... Maybe this is asking a lot, but it'd be nice.

Thanks for your help!

 

[acfusion29]

i know how you feel... so i just disabled 'Send as text' because i didn't wanna incur any extra charges for sending iMessages to friends/family in the US.

since i disabled 'Send as Text', what happens if i can't get through to someone in my own country? well, i can do this if the iMessages doesn't go through right away.

(hold the message down, and you'll have these options. just remember that these options only appear if the message hasn't been delivered)

 

[Rayfire]

I have the settings off and what it does if it fails to send, there will be an exclamation point (kinda like a failed regular SMS send) and it asks you if you want to send it as a regular message (like the one above)