How To Properly Use iMessage In iOS 5

[Akshay Masand]

One of the biggest reasons to still be using a BlackBerry is BBM and with the release of iOS 5, the iPhone will have its own version called iMessage. It's better than normal texting but comes with its own qualms, including an endless array of scary social dilemmas which may arise. By being properly informed, anyone can navigate through iMessage and avoid an endless array of frustration. Below are some tips to use iMessage stress free:

Inform Others You Have Read Their Messages

If you are or were at some point a BlackBerry user you will know how inconvenient the potential burden of people knowing when you have read their messages is. Much like BBM, iMessage displays when a message has been delivered through Apple’s servers (a good way to alleviate the uncertainty of unreliable cell networks) but iMessage also displays the exact time at which you IM’s have been read. This can be a tricky and sticky situation which may lead to tension. It also happens to be one of the most interesting parts of iMessage – a way of feeling better connected with friends, family, and others by linking up through your iPhone. Knowing that someone read your message in real-time is very gratifying but it’s only fun if everyone is in on it – so we suggest keeping the feature on, unless you are going to be busy for a while. This way your friends won’t get the idea that you’re interested in a conversation when you aren’t. To quickly turn on/off message read notifications, navigate to Settings > Messages > Send Read Receipts.

Don’t Get Angry If You Don’t Get An Immediate Response

This seems to be a problem for many old text messagers and new ones too and it will potentially get worse with iMessage. Generally, people tend to get pissed off if you don’t reply relatively quickly. None of us seem to have the patience and if we don’t get immediate or close to immediate responses to texts or IMs, we take it personally when we shouldn’t. There are multiple reasons why someone might not be able to respond within a few minutes (and in some cases a few hours) but sometimes we just don’t feel like texting right away which is perfectly fine! We don’t have to be slaves to our iPhones, even with iMessage.

Easily Avoid Those You Hate (or Just Don’t Want To Speak To Much)

There is a loophole in iMessage you can utilize if you want to dodge someone you can’t stand, are trying to avoid, or just plain don’t like talking to. If you want to screen iMessages without informing people you have read their messages, just read them from the iOS 5 Notification Center which you can swipe down from the notification bar at the top of the screen. Just make sure Messages are stuck into the Notification pane (navigate to Settings > Notifications > “In Notification Center”) and you can sneakily check your messages without others knowing. There is one caveat to this method though: long messages can’t be read entirely from the Notification Center.

Finish Your Thoughts After Starting To Type

When you start to write an iMessage, a symbol in the iMessage window will indicate that you are writing – much like the way Aim and Google Chat have always worked. Although this is a nifty way to make a conversation seem more interactive and lively, it can also cause a lot of frustration. Informing someone that you have started writing but are not sending anything leaves them high and dry. If you start something we’d recommend finishing it – even if you stall by telling them you are busy or tell them to hold on; it’s nicer than just leaving them hanging (which is quite rude).

Avoid Being Annoying

Another nifty feature with iMessage is the ability to talk with animated GIFs. It’s potentially awesome but can also be very obnoxious. Spamming your friends will slow down their iPhone when they try to message back. Just like everything else use the animations in moderation. Now that you know how to avoid being annoying to friends you may have just figured out how to annoy people who you may not particularly like…

Final Thoughts

iMessage is a great nifty tool which many will come to enjoy using but like anything else, it has its perks as well as its qualms. Knowing how to proceed from the get go will avoid a lot of frustration later on so soak up the information before iOS 5 is released on October 12.

For those of you who already have iOS 5 GM and have been testing the betas, what do you think of iMessage? Do you have any other suggestions to add to the list? Let us know in the comments below!

Source: Gizmodo

[J Sweeney]

iOS 5 Beta on my iPod Touch 4th Generation works we but it is still buggy, tested iMessage works great, you can turn off read receipts but not the "you typing" thing.

[d_animality]

sounds great but i prefer to stick with whatsapp at the time being due to its cross platform i save more!!

[frejes32]

This article is identical to "How to Use iMessage So Everyone Will Love You" over at Gizmodo. Hmm...

[Aumz]

sounds great but i prefer to stick with whatsapp at the time being due to its cross platform i save more!!

I agree also no one I know is on iOS 5 so I have no one to chat to....lol

[footballfanatic28]

This article is identical to "How to Use iMessage So Everyone Will Love You" over at Gizmodo. Hmm...

Yeah this guy does that with a lot of his articles. It wouldn't b a problem if he cited his source and reworded the article a bit. It's a much needed service for the people who don't check other news sites for iDevice info, but claiming another person's work as your own is just wrong.

[quidam_brujah]

Will I be able to iMessage after jailbreak? Or, like MMS after jailbreak, will it be broke?My outgoing MMS is still broken -- I can receive only. No idea what to do. Tried the fixes and they didn't.

[Cheesey123]

Source: Gizmodo[/QUOTE]

He did quote his source

[xykubaratinha]

[duromega]

Will I be able to iMessage after jailbreak? Or, like MMS after jailbreak, will it be broke?My outgoing MMS is still broken -- I can receive only. No idea what to do. Tried the fixes and they didn't.

What company do you have?

[brbortscheller]

Does anyone know it the iPod Touch 5th generation has an A5 processor? I can't actually find where it says it does...

[Simon]

Does anyone know it the iPod Touch 5th generation has an A5 processor? I can't actually find where it says it does...

It doesnt. They only added a white one. Other then that they are still iPod Touch 4G.

[dcgore]

There isn't the option to turn the vibrate off for iMessage since it is integrated into the messaging app. When i tried it for fun the phone just buzzes non-stop and the battery got killed. I am not sure i want to use iMessage to be honest.

[raghavmehra]

if i buy this in contract then will it be factory unlocked?

[fbiryujin]

The main issue is blocking people if they guess your e-mail or if you are semi-famous like a jailbreaker. A well known e-mail address will receive tons of crap. There is no way to block people.

[Simon]

The main issue is blocking people if they guess your e-mail or if you are semi-famous like a jailbreaker. A well known e-mail address will receive tons of crap. There is no way to block people.

You dont have to use your email address with it, at least on a iPhone. You can just use your number which should be a lot less public.

[fbiryujin]

You dont have to use your email address with it, at least on a iPhone. You can just use your number which should be a lot less public.

Yes but then if you have multiple devices, the messaging service/FaceTime are not across all devices. So we lose features for the off chance we might have privacy? Any instant messaging service, or video chat service should have a blocking mechanism. Skype can block people, AIM can block people. Why not iMessages/FaceTime? I opened a bug about it.

[g12007]

after using HeyTell i dont even text that much anymore

[Simon]

Yes but then if you have multiple devices, the messaging service/FaceTime are not across all devices. So we lose features for the off chance we might have privacy? Any instant messaging service, or video chat service should have a blocking mechanism. Skype can block people, AIM can block people. Why not iMessages/FaceTime? I opened a bug about it.

Yup, I agree. There should be some way to block people.

[daviebread]

Yeah this guy does that with a lot of his articles. It wouldn't b a problem if he cited his source and reworded the article a bit. It's a much needed service for the people who don't check other news sites for iDevice info, but claiming another person's work as your own is just wrong.

Dude...u guys really need to read the "source" at the bottom of the articles before writing with ignorance.