Those of you looking to be able to send your text messages from the computer, rather than your iPhone, should check out a jailbreak tweak in Cydia called Remote Messages by iOS developer Beast Soft.
On Mac OS X Mountain Lion, users can take advantage of the native Messages application to send their iOS-using and Mac OS X Mountain Lion-using friends iMessages, however it doesn’t go as far as to support SMS. This is where Remote Messages comes in. Remote Messages also works on Windows, and other platforms where Messages for Mac is not applicable.
As shown above, Remote Messages will keep your text messages in sync between your iPhone and your computer right through your Web browser. After you download Remote Messages, you’ll have to go into the Settings application under the Remote Messages preferences pane, enable the tweak, and then set a username and password.
You will enter the IP address that you see in the Settings application, then a colon, then and the port you see in the Settings application into the URL bar of the browser that you use, and then press the enter key to connect to your iPhone via Remote Messages – a prompt will ask you to sign in the username and password that you set in the Remote Messages preferences pane from the iPhone's settings. Both devices must be on the same Wi-Fi network for this to work. The settings are shown below:
When you bring up the Remote Messages interface in your Web browser, it is important to note the interface’s individual elements. As shown below, there is a Send New Message button that you will press to begin a new conversation, an Attach Files button that you can use to send files from your computer to the recipient, and an Options button that you can press to reveal the Remote Messages settings:
You will also see from the image above that there is a field for showing you who the recipients are, a text field for entering your message, and a Send button that you will press to send the message to the recipient.
In addition, from the top right of the window, you’ll notice that Remote Messages includes stats about your iPhone. You’ll see information such as the name of your iPhone carrier, signal strength, Wi-Fi strength, and whether or not the device is connected to Remote Messages:
If you click on the Options button that we showed you earlier, you will be able to view all of the following options:
From the Options, you can:
- Enable or disable pressing the Enter key to send messages
- Enable or disable sound alerts for when you receive notifications
- Enable or disable the showing of contact pictures in the conversation lists
- Enable or disable the showing of contact pictures next to messages in the conversation
- Enable or disable the ability to search through conversations
- Enable or disable desktop notifications
- Set the font you want to use for test messages
- Set the theme of the Remote Messages interface
Remote Messages also has another trick up its sleeve. Not only does it support SMS messages, but it also supports iMessage. Green messages indicate SMS messages, while blue messages indicate iMessages, just like on your iPhone:
In addition to support for iMessage, Remote Messages includes support for all of the below features too:
- File and media attachments
- iOS 6 emojis
- Typing notifications
- Real-time status notifications
- Automatically uses the contacts on your iPhone
- Works on iPhone 3GS and newer
- Works on Google Chrome, Firefox, Safari, and Internet Explorer
- Includes a toggle for SBSettings
If working with Remote Messages over Wi-Fi isn’t your cup of tea, Remote Messages works over a wired (USB) connection too, however you will need to install software on your Mac or Windows computer to do this. Remote Messages' Web site has information on how to do this, as well as links for the software. You can also use the Web site for more detailed instructions for connecting wirelessly, and for troubleshooting or support.
Remote Messages is normally $4.99 in the BigBoss repository, but as a present for our readers, the developer has made Remote Messages only $2.50 for the next week so you can grab it from Cydia for the discounted price if you’d really love this functionality.
From our testing with Remote Messages, the text messages sync back and forth between devices quickly and the interface is easy to use and get used to. The appearance of the interface from the Web browser looks great, and the whole sha-bang is really easy to set up. I would totally recommend this for anyone looking for a way to text message their friends via their computer. The multi-platform support and support for SMS blows Apple’s Messages application out of the water.
Remote Messages only works with iOS 5 at the moment, however iOS 6 support is coming soon. Those of you waiting on the iOS 6.1 jailbreak for your iPhone 5 are going to love this when it receives iOS 6 support.
After installing Remote Messages from Cydia, please reboot your iPhone after you respring. If apps do not open, reboot a second time.
Name: Remote Messages
Price: Usually $4.99 ($2.50 for the next week)
Version: 1.1.2
Requirements: iOS 5
Repo: BigBoss
Developer: Beast Soft
Editor's Rating: 5/5
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