Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
The new iMessage
- Thread starter xero9
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
It's pretty straightforward, it's like saying washing your car is not 'fun' when you have to do it by hand instead of using an automated tunnel wash. Both approaches get your car clean, one is carefree, the other laborious.
BJ
Sending and receiving messages is just about the same for me now as it was before. Don't really see it as any more or less "fun" in that sense or really any sense of "fun".
I am pleased for you however there are a lot of us who are unhappy that all the Snapchat features my 12 year old daughter loves are being forced upon us and have made iMessage a rather negative experience.
The term "that's not fun" is not meant to be taken literally (ie "this amusement park is boring") but rather figuratively ( ie "sweeping the floor is harder now that they have taken my dustpan away").
BJ
It seems that based on a lot of the discussion here and various other threads where this comes up, it's mostly "a rather negative experience" in principle and not as much in action given that for the most part all the new things don't really change much of the typical usage experience for those that are using the Messages app just as they used it before.
Not true. I've updated the list of pain points:
These are the things we have to live with in iMessage now that are invasive:
1. Thick bar at top with name/photo of contact taking up needless space.
2. Progress bar showing message sending status removed.
3. Compose message field is 50% smaller making it harder to tap, especially one-handed or while walking.
4. Typing a message like "congrats" or "happy birthday" launches balloons by default, no way to opt out.
5. When trying to copy a message to paste into another message, the nonsense bar pops up and it is too easy to accidentally tap a thumbs down or a ha-ha when all you wanted to do was copy the message.
6. When driving and using Bluetooth to read back messages, Siri refers to all the childish effects as read text such as "Sent with balloons Tom says I will meet you at the bar at five with slam effect"
7. The new answer-back stickers encourage more texts where not necessary, where I used to be able to type "see you at the bar at five" and receive a simple "K", now I get a thumbs up notification followed by another message.
8. See above regarding driving and these new answer-back stickers, how Siri reads back effects as text-to-speech, and how annoying that is in a moving vehicle.
9. When someone sends you a message with an effect, your lock screen notification doesn't show you a few lines of the message text anymore, it instead says "Sent with balloons".
10. If turned into landscape mode inadvertently while composing a message, the composed message text vanishes and is replaced by a big white screen with cursive buttons that say "thinking of you" and "hello" and "I'm sorry".
BJ
They are certainly differences and certainly make a list "on paper" as they say. In practice, those are generally much less of an issue though.
That list is pretty major. We aren't talking about insignificant things in an insignificant app here either. These are major changes to the UI in the app we all use most frequently and they are extremely invasive to those who do not want these inane features.
BJ
I'm not sure how "pretty major" or "extremely invasive" all of that could be if in actual practice I'm still using the app unjust about the same way that I've used it before with essentially nothing that's really all that different (at least no more than maybe a few things on a minor level that don't really affect things much in those instances).
I believe what you are saying is that you like iMessage just the way it is, which is great for you, so I fail to understand why every post I make is followed by a post you make that breaks down into word choice and semantics.
iMessage has gone through a radical UI redesign and it's important conversation between those of us who are disappointed and confused by it, would appreciate it if you let us have our discussions in peace, thanks.
BJ
I'm saying that I've been fine with the Messages app being the way it has been before iOS 10, since, as a high-powered entrepreneur, it fits in with how I use it--essentially plain text messaging with some media being sent/received here and there. I don't really care for pretty much any of the new/changed items mentioned on the earlier included list, but despite their existence in the current version of the app, I'm still using it without really changing anything when it comes to what I do with it and how I go about it.
By the sound of it, various people who similarly don't care for those new things, and seemingly use the Messages app in a similar fashion as I have been before iOS 10, would still be able to use it pretty much in the same way as I have been (before or after iOS 10).
Last edited:
Hi,
After the macOS Sierra update, the left pane of iMessage (with the list of messages and the contacts' avatars) became too rude, with the font type more 'bold' and ugly and the generic avatars (without photos) not smooth at all!
Anyone with this problem? A font problem?
(MacBook Pro Retina, 15-inch, Late 2013)
After the macOS Sierra update, the left pane of iMessage (with the list of messages and the contacts' avatars) became too rude, with the font type more 'bold' and ugly and the generic avatars (without photos) not smooth at all!
Anyone with this problem? A font problem?
(MacBook Pro Retina, 15-inch, Late 2013)
I disliked the iMessage update but after playing with it today with my sister, my dad and a friend, I totally changed my mind—thing is very fun and engagingwho wouldn't enjoy sending a middle finger emoji with the loud effect?
I think most people, regardless of age, might indulge in silliness once in a while. Send dumb stuff for business communications? Sure, no? But anyone offended by the mere possibility, I have trouble taking that seriously.
My view. YMMV and all that.
I wasn't aware of that. If true, that really *is* invasive and really can't be defended.
I think you've responded to this issue a bit strongly, but I generally agree with you. Aside from sending my mother balloons and fireworks because I knew she'd love it, I'll never use it. It bothers me that on my iPhone SE the touch target is so small. "Get a larger phone" isn't the answer when a 4" iPhone was perfectly usable before and is now less so.
No, I don't like the new iMessage, especially the media browser. It was faster when the camera was always present and not hidden behind the arrow (which wouldn't' need to be there i fit wasn't for apps and such) and I'm not thrilled about it involving the camera instantly, but it is what it is. They've done a decent job making the app seemingly simple, though a simple toggle would help. When Apple said "emojification" I knew the company I once loved was long gone. Aw well.
I was surprised there was no option to block this stuff in restriction like there is for Apple Music Connect. At the end of the day, iMessages just feels bloated and cramp just like the Music app. It makes me sad because I used to love Apple's apps. Still, they've added functionality that some (many?) users will love, so I can deal with it.
[doublepost=1474430700][/doublepost]
Forgot to respond to this. I encountered this today when i had to copy a text into two other threads. This did annoy me after the second time.
[doublepost=1474431015][/doublepost]
There's no way you can't realize how condescending you sound. Are you doing that on purpose? Do you really think you'll win an argument with statements like this? You're either trolling (I hate using that word) or are really just rude.
Last edited:
If I try to long press on am message to get the copy option to come up I get things like thumbs up and down appear as a menu over the message (where copy/paste/etc) used to be, and an actual copy option appears below at the bottom of the screen as an actual button (above the share button that also appears there).
Given this new style it seems even easier to select the copy option as it's a larger button toward the bottom of the screen, and it seems like it would be harder to mix up with thumbs up or down or any of those options that appear in a different location above the message with a different menu.
Last edited:
I agree with this actually. I like the change, but I didn't know about it today when I was rushing to copy an urgent message and nearly sent thumbs up like 3 times.
Old habits die hard and I have years of muscle memory to I train.
Still, I'll adapt. It's really not *that* bad.
EDIT: I bolded part of your statement that's a great point. I often missed buttons in the old copy dialog because the touch targets were too small. This new is much better.
My daughter (12 year old girl) and my sister (stay-home mom) are constantly on Snapchat and Facebook, constantly posting these ridiculous cartoon images of themselves, that is what I am referring to as the target audience for the invasive silly features- and it's from first-hand experience.
That's not condescending. If anyone is being condescending it's Apple, forcing these childish features on all of us with no way to get away from it. Who are they to decide that iMessage is suddenly about entertainment, is suddenly a 'platform' to compete with Snapchat? By their own admission, iMessage is the single most used property on any iPhone, the messages their owners send completely dwarf the amount of emails and phone calls we send. For most of us, text is our primary communications mechanism and we gravitate to it because it's quick and easy and direct. Apple is going out of its way to turn it into a sideshow.
BJ
Do they make you send such messages? Can they? Is that the actual issue? I've singularly to send or receive messages "like a 12 year old girl" since the day after GM when I received a couple of these, as I described earlier in the thread. Perhaps the solution for you is to tell your family not to do that, rather than rage against a passive, near invisible feature.
I've read your posts in other threads, boltjames, and outside this one (while I may not always exactly agree with you) you seem entirely reasonable. I'm really wondering, at the risk of being moderated/banned, whether imessage is your actual problem. It's just that your posts in this thread seem weirdly out of proportion.
Is there anyway to make the camera full screen? Everytime you touch it just snaps a photo, what if I want to zoom or tap to focus or something, or you know see what I'm shooting.
No, the actual issue is that iMessage was this one vestige of old-school communication, just a few characters, no bells and whistles, clean and simple. Most of us gravitate to texts because they are the antithesis of the likes of Twitter, Facebook, Snapchat, and Instagram which is all about putting on a show, all about being flashy, all about trying to build an audience. Texting is simple and clean, it's only about the written word, it's to the point, it doesn't bring with it the bloated baggage of email or the protocols of phone and other mediums.
That is, until Apple shoved it in every blessed opening and crevice in the app. Copy/paste? Nope. Now you get to rate your messages with a thumbs up or a thumbs down. Turn the phone sideways in bed? Nope. Now your compose window disappears so you can write in cursive. Progress bar? Nope. Now you get a huge bar at the top of the screen so you can see a photo of the person you are texting. It's like Honda decided that Skittles can fit in a Accord so they stuffed them in every opening they could find, the seats, the sunshades, the door seals, if there's an empty space, we can fill it with Skittles.
That's my issue. The UI is for sending texts by mistake now, we have to navigate around it like a fungus. It's new purpose is to be a circus, compete with Snapchat, encourage in-text purchases of apps, find rude GIF's. New media has invaded the one last hope of simple, direct communication.
BJ
That's still stereotyping.
Technically, they are the creators of the software that you pay to use. They can turn it into whatever they choose I suppose.
You're right on point. Messages is the most used app and is the primary way I communicate for exactly the reasons you stated. This is why Apple has to be careful in how they approach this.
They added some good features like improved maps and Safari link previews which are very nice additions. They've also expanded its functionality with apps, some of which could be very useful. Where they messed up was not giving a simple toggle to hide this, but it's not nearly as in-your-face as it could be.
Though I don't love everything about it, Apple could have done a much worse job.
This just isn't relevant or true. One of the biggest criticisms of the first iphone was not being able to do MMS. You know, MMS? The protocol that allows you to send images, video and audio? Adding it was considered one of the biggest advances in early iphone history and most smartphones and many dumbphones could do it before that it. It's bizarre, absolutely bizarre, that you consider this kind of content offensive because it's always been there.
"Copy/paste? Nope". We've been over this more than once in this very thread. Your ability to copy and paste is unhindered by ios 10.
This is really odd stuff. Honestly, truly odd.