iMessage

Apple executive explains why iMessage isn’t on other platforms

In a broad reflective piece on Apple's WWDC keynote, noted tech journalist Walt Mossberg made some interesting comments regarding a recent rumor that Apple was considering bringing its iMessage service to Android. Turns out that isn't happening, and won't be in the near future.

Speaking to a "senior Apple executive," Mossberg says Apple is happy with the 1 billion+ active devices it currently caters to, so it doesn't feel an immediate need to grow its user base by expanding to other platforms. It also still considers its iMessage service a major iOS-exclusive feature.

Watch cool new iOS 10 Messages features in a video Apple ran during WWDC keynote

A supercharged Messages is definitely my killer app in iOS 10. Not only does it catch up to other messaging apps with perks like downloadable stickers, it actually leapfrogs them with cool new stuff such as full screen animations, chat bubbles that animate in specific ways to better convey your emotions, support for sketching and the Apple Watch's Digital Touch feature and what not.

In fact, Messages in iOS 10 is so jam-packed with improvements that Apple ran a cool video during the keynote showing them off.

Rumor: Apple will introduce iMessage for Android at WWDC

Apple is planning to bring its encrypted messaging service iMessage to Android, reports MacDailyNews. Citing sources familiar with the matter, the site says that the company plans to announce the move at its WWDC keynote next week.

If true—and that's a big if—the move would push Apple further into the messaging space as it tries to grow its 'Services' category on the back of dwindling iPhone sales. Note that the Cupertino firm already offers Apple Music on Android.

Mark Gurman shares more details about upcoming WWDC announcements, new iPhones, and more

While in between two jobs, reporter Mark Gurman appeared on the latest episode of The Jay & Farhad Show podcast, where he shared more details about what we might see at WWDC this year, including new iOS features and design tweaks. Gurman also revealed more information about this year and next year's iPhone models.

While most of Gurman details were already known or rumored for a while, he did also offer information about features we hadn't heard of until now.

New jailbreak tweak enables sending text messages via Pebble

Those who are using a Pebble smartwatch rather than Apple's own Apple Watch as an accessory for their iPhone are limited in features, but with a new jailbreak tweak dubbed TextSender for Pebble, there is at least some hope for extended functionality.

TextSender for Pebble will, as the name implies, allow those with a Pebble smartwatch to send text messages from their watch via their iPhone.

Kairos lets you schedule text messages to be sent later [jailbreak]

Text message scheduling is a useful feature that I'm surprised Apple hasn't already built into iOS' Messages app as a stock feature. After all, sometimes you want to wish someone a Happy Birthday or wish them a great holiday and you may remember before the fact, but you forget when the time actually comes.

Kairos is a new jailbreak tweak that streamlines scheduling out text messages in iOS, and we'll show you how it works in this review.

How and why to report spammy iMessages to Apple

Sometimes your contact information ends up where you don't want it, and you end up with annoying spam iMessages from people, companies, or bots that try to scam you or steal personal information.

Fortunately, Apple's iMessage service comes with an abuse report feature that you can use to report senders who are misusing the iMessage platform and making it a less enjoyable thing to use.

In this piece, we'll talk about how and why you should be reporting iMessages that seem spammy.

Bring organization to your SMS & iMessage conversations with Message Groups [jailbreak]

Message Groups is a new jailbreak tweak that aims to give you more organization in your Messages app, especially if you're like the developer and have many conversations going on at once, as shown above.

With this tweak, you can add and manage your own custom groups in the Messages app, making it easy to filter through certain contacts or conversations, and as a result, making it quicker and easier to text in general.

In this review, we'll talk about Message Groups and how it can help you.

How to convert text into a spoken iTunes track on Mac

Whenever you want to save a block of important text to your Mac, you probably copy and paste it into the Notes app or into a text editor to save it as a text document. But, did you know you could save any body of text on your Mac as a spoken iTunes track instead?

In this tutorial, you will learn how to convert any highlighted body of text into a spoken iTunes audio track.