iMessage

How to send iMessages from any web browser on any operating system

Joe Rossignol ∙ January 29, 2014

Following in the footsteps of successful cross-platform messaging services like BlackBerry Messenger and WhatsApp, iMessage was released in late 2011 as a way for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch users to send unlimited messages between each other. Apple then went on to release Messages for OS X Mountain Lion the following year, allowing Mac users to join the conversation.

But what if you're a Windows or Linux user, or you're away on travel without access to the Mac you normally use? Worry not, as Remote Messages has been updated with support for iOS 7 and 64-bit devices. The popular jailbreak tweak developed by Beast Soft is a browser-based front end for the Messages app on iOS devices. Find out what that means ahead…

SMS Stats 2: monitor SMS statistics on a global and individual contact basis

Jeff Benjamin ∙ Updated April 16, 2018

I've never thought of myself as a big text messenger, but I was quite surprised to see how many text messages that I've sent and received over the life of my iPhone. As it turns out, I've sent and received a combined 17,000+ text messages—way more than I expected.

Chances are you'll too be surprised when you see your text message statistics, and there's a brand new jailbreak tweak called SMS Stats 2 that makes it super easy to view them.

See who you’re talking to with Messages Conversation Photos

Cody Lee ∙ May 15, 2013

If you’re looking for a jailbreak tweak that embeds your contact photos into your native Messages app, there’s several options to choose from. Just off the top of my head, I can think of Copic, ChatPic, and xMessages.

Today, we’re adding another one to the pile with Messages Conversation Photos. And like the others, it takes the images from your contact list and applies them to your messaging threads in the default Messages app…

How to bypass the outgoing video size limit in Messages

Cody Lee ∙ May 13, 2013

Have you ever noticed that, by default, you can't send videos from the Messages app longer than three and a half minutes? It's a precautionary thing, so users don't unknowingly eat up their monthly data allotments by sending large clips.

But some folks out there still have unlimited data plans, and would like to be able to send longer videos via a text or iMessage. And for those of you who fall into that category, we've come across a few easy workarounds to that size limit...

Message Send Percent is a status indicator for your outgoing messages

Cody Lee ∙ May 13, 2013

We try to cover as many new jailbreak tweaks as we can here at iDB, from game-changers like Velox to the smallest of UI changes. And this next one we're going to be talking about definitely falls in the latter category.

Message Send Percent, by developer greensnow, is a simple little UI tweak that adds a percentage indicator to your Messages app. This enables you to get a more precise readout on the progress of your outgoing messages...

biteSMS’ new Quick Compose widget is here

Jeff Benjamin ∙ Updated April 8, 2017

Well, it's not exactly what we were expecting, but it's still pretty intriguing. biteSMS version 7.6.1 is here, and it brings with it a new Quick Compose widget, that, for a time, was referred to as Text Heads.

It's a far cry from the Facebook Home inspired Chat Heads tweak brought to us recently by Adam Bell, but it'll no doubt still be a welcomed feature for hardcore bite fans.

TypeStatus 1.1 supercharges the ‘now typing’ indicator in your status bar

Jeff Benjamin ∙ April 29, 2013

TypeStatus will always have a special spot in my heart, because it's one of the few tweaks that I can say I envisioned. Brought to fruition by Hashbang productions' @thekirbylover, it's a tweak that allows you to see when a person is replying to an iMessage by means of an ellipses icon in the status bar.

The first iteration of TypeStatus was a very basic implementation of the idea, but it worked well. This latest version, TypeStatus 1.1, adds a ton of new features to the already excellent package. Not only can it show when someone's typing, but it can also show you the iMessage address of the person typing right on the status bar. As if all of that wasn't enough, TypeStatus 1.1 includes another new feature that let's you see when an individual has read one of your iMessages.

The tweak was already awesome before this update, but with this update it's quite possible that TypeStatus will make it on the "top jailbreak tweaks of year" lists. Want to know something even better? You can try it out right now via Hashbang Production's beta repo. Take a look inside for a few more in depth tidbits regarding the update.

Swipe between conversations with MessageSwiper

Jeff Benjamin ∙ April 14, 2013

MessageSwiper is a jailbreak tweak that allows you to quickly switch between ongoing conversations in the Messages app using swipe gestures. You can cycle through conversations via left and right swipes to instantly go forward or backwards through your various message threads.

This is an extremely simple tweak that focuses on one particular area and does a commendable job of doing so. I do wish there was a swipe animation implemented when switching between message threads, but according to the developer, that's due in an upcoming update.

‘Messages’ lets you compose and reply to messages from anywhere in iOS

Cody Lee ∙ April 7, 2013

Sometimes I feel like I'm one of the only people in the world that doesn't use biteSMS. Don't get me wrong, I really like some of the tweak's features, like quick reply and compose. But in my experience, it's not very stable and tends to clash with the stock Messages app.

That being said, you can understand my excitement when I saw 'Messages' pop up in my Cydia stream today. The new jailbreak tweak, by Ma Jun (the creator of Bulletin), offers up biteSMS-like quick compose and reply features, without all of the extra biteSMS fluff...

Doodle Message: compose doodle drawings within the Messages app

Jeff Benjamin ∙ March 21, 2013

A while back, we covered a jailbreak tweak called Grafiti [sic]. It allowed you to instantly create and share drawings via the messages app, by acting as a keyboard replacement. WIth that in mind, it supported a lot more apps than just the stock Messages app; it worked with Whatsapp, Mail, Tweetbot, and more.

Doodle Message is similar to Grafiti, in that it allows you to create drawings from within the Messages app, and send those drawings to your friends via Messages. The big difference here is that Doodle Message only works with the Messages app. There are, of course, other smaller differences, as we'll touch on inside.

‘Compose’ adds new Mail and Message shortcuts to Notification Center

Jeff Benjamin ∙ March 13, 2013

Looking for a quick and easy way to compose new messages and emails via Notification Center? Then perhaps Compose — a new jailbreak tweak that places shortcuts to each respective app in Notification Center — will suit your fancy.

Compose follows the same visual template that Apple created with its Facebook and Twitter Notification Center shortcuts, but it doesn't work exactly the same. Instead of opening up a small pop-up box to type in any content you wish to share, Compose works more like a shortcut to each respective app. More details inside...

‘SelectiveReading’ allows you to select who receives iMessage read receipts

Jeff Benjamin ∙ Updated April 11, 2018

There have been some really great jailbreak tweaks released for iMessage lately. A few weeks ago, we talked about TypeStatus, which allows you to see incoming "now typing" notifications for ongoing iMessage conversations. Now, there's SelectiveReading — a jailbreak tweak that lets you selectively send read receipts to specific contacts.

I've always enjoyed the ability to send and receive read receipts between my iMessage friends. It gives both parties a peace of mind knowing that their message has been received and consumed. But I've always had a lingering beef with the feature as well. I never appreciated the fact that it was all or nothing with read receipts. That is to say, it was either enabled for everyone, or disabled for everyone, there was no middle ground.

Again, the jailbreak community has stepped in to save the day. SelectiveReading makes a feature that I've always wanted to use, but didn't because of its limitations, actually usable. Take a look inside as I divulge more details about this long awaited jailbreak tweak...