The worldwide downfall of WhatsApp, Instagram, and Facebook has led users to seek alternative ways to communicate. Among Apple users, there is one included as standard on all their devices: iMessage . This messaging app is more than ready to welcome you in style.
Everything you need to know about iMessage
First of all, and obviously, iMessage is a service that only works between Apple devices. You can write to any user of iPhone , iPad, Mac or iPod touch. Sending and receiving messages from any of them.
So if your contacts belong to another platform, you will not be able to communicate with them in this way. Apple is said to have been looking at porting iMessage to Android , but it has never materialized.
Modify these iMessage settings
Before you start texting with your contacts, you should take a look at the iMessage settings . On your iPhone, go to Settings> Messages and check this:
- Send and receive: leave only your phone number dialed to centralize all your messages in the same “address”.
- Create a name and a photo to share only with your contacts or with everyone.
- Activate iMessage in iCloud so that your messages are saved in the iCloud backupso you can always recover them.
Blue for Apple users, Green for SMS
One of the most appreciated qualities of iMessage is that it also integrates the SMS you receive. For this, there is a difference in color that you should know in the messages you send:
- If they are green, your contact does not have an iMessage and the messages will be SMS (paid or not, it depends on your rate).
- If they are blue, your contact has iMessage and you can communicate as much as you want for free, even sending photos, videos and links.
Send confetti and hidden messages with invisible ink
There are a number of hidden effects and tricks that you can use to spice up your messages. Just follow these steps:
- Write the message to send.
- Press and hold the blue submit arrow.
- The bubble and background effects will be displayed.
The first allows you to send the message with force, scream, softness or invisible ink effects . And the second, it will modify the background of your conversation with confetti, echo, a spotlight and many more.
Use automatic emoji
When you are writing a message and you put any of the keywords equivalent to an emoji, when you switch to this keyboard they will be highlighted in orange . If you click on this word, it will become that emoji automatically.
Use reactions in your conversations
One of the funniest things about iMessage is being able to react to messages. Anyone in the conversation can press and hold a message and choose one of six options that come out: heart, thumbs up or down, laughs, exclamations, and question. Use them wisely.
Download apps compatible with iMessage
For several years, iMessage has allowed the use of small apps to integrate into conversations. Thus, you can download Giphy on your iPhone and use its message extension to send GIFs quickly. Other apps also include cool features, like Spotify for song sharing.
Pin conversations to the top
You can always keep the people you talk to the most close at hand by pinning the conversation to the top. To do this, slide your conversation to the right and click on the yellow pushpin button.
Reply to a previous message
Sometimes the conversations are so fast that the answers are buried in the torrent of words. To avoid losing the thread , you can reply to a specific message by holding it down and hitting it to reply. Your reply will appear linked to the original message.
Quickly share your location in iMessage
To quickly share your location with a contact, just type the phrase “I’m here.” A suggestion will appear on the keyboard with your current location. By pressing it, you will share that message along with your location.
Create iMessage groups
Not surprisingly, iMessage also supports groups. When creating a new message, add more than one person to have a group with your contacts. Later, you can modify the name and photo of the group when you click at the top of the conversation.
Mute conversations
Silencing conversations, both group and individual, is extremely easy. Swipe to the left the conversation you want to turn off and click on the red button with a crossed out bell.
Animoji and Memoji to animate your messages
If you have an iPhone with Face ID, you can create animated messages with Animoji. They are animals that will imitate your facial gestures while you record an audio message to your contacts. And by creating your own Memoji, you will be able to personalize your iPhone with your own avatar to which you can place glasses, hats, beards and colored hair.
Block unwanted contacts
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Blocking unwanted conversations is very easy in iMessage. Just open the conversation, click on the contact’s name and at the bottom you should see an option to block it. If you have it in your contact book, you must click on Info to access the blocking option.
