For quite some time, both the major SMS clients from Cydia, biteSMS and iRealSMS, have had open betas for extensive testing on iOS 5. Although many of us may not realize this, Apple really did a number on these clients with the numerous changes in the background; especially when it comes to the Notification Center. Thankfully, on the side of iRealSMS, testing has proved beneficial enough for the SpiritOfLogic (@iRealSMS) to release a public iOS 5 build for iRealSMS.
Users that have iRealSMS and use it frequently already (at least on 4.x. or when you used to use it now that you're on iOS 5) will be glad to know that most of the staple features from 4.x have been brought to iOS 5. This public release in regards to iOS 4 and below users is not applicable. I spoke with Christian Heusinger, the developer behind iRealSMS, to see how he could best describe what this build of iRealSMS has to offer:
Originally Posted by Christian Heusinger;
iRealSMS for 4.x has not changed at all. However, the iOS 5 version is a complete rewrite. Not only was the Notification Center incorporated but a ton of stability fixes to make the application even better. It is designed to use as much of Apple's functions as possible to ensure best stability. That's also why it now replaces the Messages application entirely unless you deactivate the MS plugin.
The integration with the Notification Center is pretty complete although I will add some new options/settings with the next update so you can configure exactly when you want QuickReply to come up and when you want the main Messages application, etc.
Currently a few features like the blacklist and the delivery receipts for SMS are not yet working on iOS 5 - we cut out their settings from iRealSM's settings to reflect that. They will be added with the next updates. What I consider quite cool is that the voice stuff, such as read-aloud SMS and being asked whether to mark as read etc., works even without Siri!
The integration with the Notification Center is pretty complete although I will add some new options/settings with the next update so you can configure exactly when you want QuickReply to come up and when you want the main Messages application, etc.
Currently a few features like the blacklist and the delivery receipts for SMS are not yet working on iOS 5 - we cut out their settings from iRealSM's settings to reflect that. They will be added with the next updates. What I consider quite cool is that the voice stuff, such as read-aloud SMS and being asked whether to mark as read etc., works even without Siri!
- iRealSMS fully supports iOS 5 (full integration with Notification Center)
- Tons of stability fixes and performance enhancements
- More updates are coming soon to add new features or fix existing ones from prior versions
If you wish to have your default Messages application back, here are the steps to disable the MS plugin:
- Have SBSettings installed on your device
- From SBSettings, go More --> Mobile Substrate Addons and switch iRealSMS OFF.
- Go iRealSMS --> Settings --> Basic and UI Settings --> UI Tabbar Toggle
- Set UI Tabbar Toggle to ON
- Now, when you're in a Conversation view, simply hit the top bar to hide the tab bar. This will make it look like the natives Messages application
- Tap again on the top bar to unhide the tab bar and bring back full functionality
UPDATE: Christian said that another update to further improve iRealSMS on iOS 5 is expected tonight.
The winners of the giveaway have been picked. If you did not get a mention from me on Twitter or Google+, sorry! But don't worry - there's much more to come!
Source(s): Christian Heusinger
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