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Why would anybody turn off iMessage?

tivoboy said:
I find imessage much smarter than that, it doesn't even show me imessage or the blue text boxes if the person isn't on an ios device.
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Correct, but my buddy is on iOS5 and we use iMessage. The problem with Verizon is, if he's out and not on WiFi, and he's talking on the phone, he doesn't get data. So iMessage will fail and be delayed 5 minutes while it falls back to SMS.

If I can see that it wasn't delivered in 20 seconds or a minute, I can force it to send via SMS this way.

iMessage is also smart in that it will keep the conversation on SMS until it detects he can use iMessage again.

-Kevin
 
How does iMessage know that someone else with an iPhone/iPod/iPad should be sent as an iMessage and not a SMS??

Like for instance if I send a text to 555-555-5555...would I have to select iPhone for this person in my contact settings...or does the iPhone just magically know??

Please explain
 
fuzion11 said:
How does iMessage know that someone else with an iPhone/iPod/iPad should be sent as an iMessage and not a SMS??

Like for instance if I send a text to 555-555-5555...would I have to select iPhone for this person in my contact settings...or does the iPhone just magically know??

Please explain
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You don't need to do anything special. When you start a conversation with a contact, iMessage will seemingly query the iMessage server to see if that person is registered with iMessage. You'll notice right after you add a contact to a new message, there will be a little spinning circle while it checks. This check it seems is what determines if it will send via iMessage or not.

Subsequent texts to someone who has already been identified as an iMessage user will default to iMessage (you see a blue speech bubble next to their contact when starting a new text).

-Kevin
 
kbmb said:
You don't need to do anything special. When you start a conversation with a contact, iMessage will seemingly query the iMessage server to see if that person is registered with iMessage. You'll notice right after you add a contact to a new message, there will be a little spinning circle while it checks. This check it seems is what determines if it will send via iMessage or not.

Subsequent texts to someone who has already been identified as an iMessage user will default to iMessage (you see a blue speech bubble next to their contact when starting a new text).
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And, if that recipient decides one day to switch to a non-iOS phone without first unregistering his number from iMessage, interesting things can happen. Well, not too interesting; he simply might not get any texts from his iOS buddies.
 
f00f said:
And, if that recipient decides one day to switch to a non-iOS phone without first unregistering his number from iMessage, interesting things can happen. Well, not too interesting; he simply might not get any texts from his iOS buddies.
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I doubt it. From what I've seen.....once iMessage has a timeout, it starts sending as SMS. You keep sending as SMS until somehow your device notifies itself as being back online with iMessage. I'm guessing that if this notification never happens, then eventually iOS will just default to SMS.

I'm just guessing at this point.

-Kevin
 
kbmb said:
You don't need to do anything special. When you start a conversation with a contact, iMessage will seemingly query the iMessage server to see if that person is registered with iMessage. You'll notice right after you add a contact to a new message, there will be a little spinning circle while it checks. This check it seems is what determines if it will send via iMessage or not.

Subsequent texts to someone who has already been identified as an iMessage user will default to iMessage (you see a blue speech bubble next to their contact when starting a new text).

-Kevin
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Thanks Kevin...great answer!
 
The one problem I'm having with iMessage is sending images. Takes forever to do so, even though I'm on WiFi with a more than sufficient upload speed available.

I've only sent images via iMessage during group message scenarios, so perhaps that is why. Still, takes about 5 minutes half the time, and the other half of the time it just fails to send.
 
I've been considering turning it off because it only works intermittently for me. About 50% of the time it won't send properly as an iMessage and will send as a text several minutes later which delays conversations (though the odd thing is the other person will often then get an iMessage AND an sms message). It's incredibly annoying.
 
braindead5400 said:
I've been considering turning it off because it only works intermittently for me. About 50% of the time it won't send properly as an iMessage and will send as a text several minutes later which delays conversations (though the odd thing is the other person will often then get an iMessage AND an sms message). It's incredibly annoying.
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So here's my question, is the timeout because of the person you are sending the iMessage to? or is it on your phone that is sending the iMessage?


I'm having the same problems recently. On day 1, imessage worked GREAT!! i loved it, loved seeing delivered and that they read a message.

However now i'd say only about 35% of the time will an i message go through. And even then, thats only to a few contacts. some contacts i can get iMessage to work just fine and i see "Delivered" in about a second. However with certian users i get the 5 minute timeout.

I have noticed that they are mainly verizon users(i have AT&T). However as most people are saying that there's only the timeout when a user is on a call. With me i know the other user isn't on a call, we both have 4 or 5 bars on 3G, and i still get the timeout. I was even on wifi and got the timeout with them.

But they can send an iMessage to me just fine so i'm guessing its their phone?

Also i was reading people on here saying that once you hit the bubble to "send as sms" it stays that way until iMessage rears its ugly head again by the incoming recipent. Mine just seems to do whatever it wants to. Sometimes it sticks, sometimes i have to hit that EVERY message.
 
I have unlimited data and txt on ATT

Group iMessage is a great feature!! Me and 4 of my buddies use it as a chat room feature

But for those who dont have unlimited data and send a lot of messages along with pics and videos, would you rather use your unlimited txting plan or limited data to send messages
 
JRoDDz said:
Advantage: AT&T.

You receive iMessages while on a phone call.
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All other things being equal, yes.

I hesitated to leave AT&T for Verizon because of talk and surf, but i'm glad I made the switch. I get consistent coverage now.

Tango on Verizon sounds better than AT&T on VOICE. Incredible.

I realize this may be only true for my area but that's the case here.
 
drober30 said:
I don't understand what the benefit of turning off iMessage would be?
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Because iPad assumes you want to receive messages sent to contacts bearing your iTunes account email by default.

So assume you buy an iPad for the kids/partner/parents etc., and use your own iTunes account to buy Angry Birds and then gleefully hand it over. Then, for example, your filthy-minded work colleague sends you a text from his/her iPhone (which would otherwise have arrived on your phone). Hey presto! Those helpful Apple people have created the potential for all sorts of awkward situations.

If you share your iPad - Save yourself. Turn off iMessage.
 
Because it likes to fail to the one person I message most... Messages don't send and eventually send by SMS. I don't like a message to spend like 5 minutes trying to send..
 
Don't use it because we have one iPhone with no texting plan. If the iMessage fails it goes as SMS and we get charged...happens a lot! So, I set that phone up (JB'd) with a Google Voice number and the GV Extension.
 
JRoDDz said:
Advantage: AT&T.

You receive iMessages while on a phone call.
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If you're on the half of their network that is 3G.

And Apple should have implemented SVDO on the VeriPhone.

Tinmania said:
And it seems to illustrate an issue with the iPhone that has always bothered me: it is utterly unaware it does not have a valid Internet connection.

...

Conversely it seems to hang onto WiFi when clearly out of range--and once again anything needing a data connection must wait.
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Absolutely true. I am constantly in and out of range of the campus wifi network, and if I want to use data while I'm not near a building, I have to know to turn wifi off. Otherwise it just sits there a chews on the wifi.
 
I don't have unlimited data and only use about 150-170 mb per month as I am in wifi so much. All I do is Facebook and google maps. I send any where up to 8,000-10,000 text, picture texts per month and don't want to pay to bump up my data plan because I have unlimited texting so that's why I don't use iMessage. Don't get me wrong I love my iPhone 4 and all.
 
I turned it off because sometimes iMessage gets confused as to who has an iPhone and who doesn't. That has resulted in some messages being shown as "Delivered" on my phone and never ever being received by a non-iPhone phone. Frustrated the crud out of me so I turned it off:mad:
 
class77 said:
I turned it off because sometimes iMessage gets confused as to who has an iPhone and who doesn't. That has resulted in some messages being shown as "Delivered" on my phone and never ever being received by a non-iPhone phone. Frustrated the crud out of me so I turned it off:mad:
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They must have had an iPod or iPad registered to the email in their contact where it went...

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Also, say you're using it on an iPad or iPod, does iMessage have the 48 hour hold that the carriers do with SMS in case that person isn't online when you send them the message?
 
BiggAW said:
They must have had an iPod or iPad registered to the email in their contact where it went...

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Also, say you're using it on an iPad or iPod, does iMessage have the 48 hour hold that the carriers do with SMS in case that person isn't online when you send them the message?
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Nope, all they own is an Android phone. Don't have either an iPad or iPod or any other Apple product. Once iMessage gets confused, it continues to try and send it via iMessage
 
kbmb said:
I doubt it. From what I've seen.....once iMessage has a timeout, it starts sending as SMS. You keep sending as SMS until somehow your device notifies itself as being back online with iMessage. I'm guessing that if this notification never happens, then eventually iOS will just default to SMS.

I'm just guessing at this point.

-Kevin
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But this timeout will happen with every message forever more, until somebody with your friend's old handset puts a different sim in it and the device updates the UUID/phone number association.

Which is... far from ideal. And indeed impossible if the device is no longer functional but the replacement is a non-Apple device. I know people this has happened to. They were very, very angry.

In my experience iMessage has been every bit as unreliable as I expected it to be, and even theoretically it *can't* be as robust in low signal areas as SMS is. Given SMS's cost me nothing (unless international) I really don't see the cost/reliability trade off as being worth it, especially outside of the US with it's crazy billing plans. iMessage has been disabled by well over 80% of the iPhone users I know.

Phazer
 
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