messages
Latest
Apple shows off iCloud integration in Mountain Lion
Tim Cook is currently demoing iCloud's integration in Mountain Lion onstage at the WWDC Keynote in San Francisco. iCloud, Apple's cloud sync service, has been a big hit on iOS already, with 125 million iCloud users registered and using the service currently. On Mountain Lion, iCloud will come in the form of Document syncing, which Cook showed took only a few seconds to sync a document from his iPad to a MacBook Pro. Reminders, Messages, and Notes are all being synced across iCloud as well, and presumably will work just as smoothly as they work currently. Safari browsing history and bookmarks will also get synced, and even tab views can be synced between devices, so you can view tabs on your MacBook Pro, and then take those exact browser tabs over to your iPad or iPhone. It all looks great. We should hear an official date for Mountain Lion soon, perhaps even later on today.
Daily Update for May 15, 2012
It's the TUAW Daily Update, your source for Apple news in a convenient audio format. You'll get all the top Apple stories of the day in three to five minutes for a quick review of what's happening in the Apple world. You can listen to today's Apple stories by clicking the inline player (requires Flash) or the non-Flash link below. To subscribe to the podcast for daily listening through iTunes, click here. No Flash? Click here to listen. Subscribe via RSS
Misbehaving iMessage and a potential fix
If you repeatedly have a problem receiving iMessages on your iPhone, then you should try this fix from Brian X. Chen of the New York Times. In a recent Gadgetwise column, Chen explains how he missed appointments because his iMessages were often delayed. He complained on Twitter and was counseled to uninstall Messages Beta for the Mac. Apple hasn't said anything about a potential problem with iMessages for iOS and Messages beta for the Mac, but it's an easy thing to try if you're having trouble with iOS Messaging service.
Animated Color Messages pops your Messages text
For a buck, Animated Color Messages from SSA Mobile can add a certain flair to your iOS Messages conversation. It's a simple app to use. You choose a font, a text color or background pattern, or even a typing animation, and the app constructs a gif for you, pastes it into the system keyboard, and offers to hop you over to Messages. There, you create a new message, paste, and send it. The app couldn't be easier to use and a quick store search shows this app category is fairly popular on the store. As these things go, Animated Color Messages was easy enough to use, did what it promised on the package, and offered a range of choices to customize with. It was a tiny bit of a pain to keep jumping in and out of Messages to compose, send, read, and reply, but the app did the best it could to minimize that pain. I actually felt the app would be improved with fewer choices and more focus on recommended style combinations. As it is, there's a lot of fonts, tons of colors, and more textures than you could shake a stick at. Joining these into well-designed suggestions could add a way for the app to stand out more tangibly amidst the competition. The target audience for this app appears to be tween girls.
Dear Aunt TUAW: Can I turn off Messages logging?
Dear Aunt TUAW, Ever since I started using Messages, it appears to be logging everything it does. Can this be disabled, or can the log file be moved to somewhere out of the ~/Documents folder? Your darling nephew Tommy Dear Tommy, Auntie's tending to the spring turnover of the vegetable garden, so she asked Uncle Mike to chime in on this question. The beta of Messages, like its predecessor iChat, has a feature that automatically saves chat transcripts (including transferred files or images, which can get out of control pretty quickly if you're not minding it). Unlike iChat's setting, however, in Messages there's no way to turn the logging off. Be sure to let Apple know that you'd like to see this changed before Mountain Lion ships! With regard to the second half of your question, the answer is absolutely yes; you can go into Messages' preferences, click the Messages icon in the top bar, and then adjust the "Save chat transcripts to:" folder however you like. Since you can't disable the logs, the next best thing would be a way to clear them out periodically -- once an hour, once a day, once a week, whatever. There are scores of approaches to scheduling repeating tasks on your Mac, ranging from the UNIX-savvy one-liners (cron, launchd etc.) to capable and flexible commercial applications (Auntie's terribly fond of Noodlesoft's Hazel). For something like this, though, if you want to clear out the logs once a week, you might give OS X's built-in Automator utility a try. Automator lets you set up a workflow to run when triggered by an iCal event, so it's straightforward to set up a repeating "silent reminder" that simply goes into the logs folder, grabs what's there and tosses it into the Trash. Here's what the workflow would look like: Each step in the workflow passes its results along to the next step, letting us zero in on what we actually want to throw out. This workflow starts by identifying a specific folder (in this case, the iChats log folder), then getting the contents of that folder, and finally moving those items to the Trash. When you save an iCal alarm workflow, it gets dropped right into your calendar. You can then adjust the repeating schedule to make it run at whatever frequency you like. The log files will end up neatly in the Trash; no muss, no fuss... which is more than Uncle Mike can say for Auntie's rows of sugar snap peas. This same technique can be used for any folder that tends to accumulate things you don't actually need to keep. Toodles, UM
Google adds spam explanation to Gmail, steers clear of enlightenment
Why is this message in spam? It's a question we find ourselves asking our Gmail boxes almost daily, when messages that really should have made it through to the inbox end up in electronic purgatory instead. So why does Google's algorithm choose to filter certain legitimate messages, while letting the vast majority arrive unscathed? The answer can now be found atop each message filed as spam, presented with the simplest of explanations, that generally fails to provide any actual insight as to the email's assigned delivery. Such worthless gems as "It's similar to messages that were detected by our spam filters," "It contains content that's typically used in spam messages" or "Many people marked similar messages as spam" now await you above each note -- seemingly assigned just as casually as the emails themselves.
Thoughts on Messages, FaceTime and an open standard
So here is an interesting read for this weekend: It's about Messages, how they've just made it across to the desktop (in beta form, sure, but coming soon in final version form), and how they sort of "compete" against FaceTime in Apple's messaging domain. Writer Trevor Gilbert's suggestion is that Apple should combine those two protocols into one messaging service, and then here's the real kicker: Open them up, so that any platform, and essentially any app, could tag in and use those protocols. In that sense, they'd be very similar to ICQ or AIM, or any of the other chat services currently out there, except of course they'd be running on and licensed through Apple's technology. Gilbert makes a good case for consumers (and certainly, I'd appreciate using Messages and FaceTime with my friends and family who don't happen to have Macs or iPhones). But I don't think Apple's that keen to open up the standard like this: as it is now, Messages and FaceTime are both selling points for Apple devices, and big ones at that. Yes, it would be easier for consumers to use Messages across platforms, but Apple would be opening up the door for other platforms to take advantage of its services, rather than doing what Tim Cook and everyone else in Cupertino has said they want to do all along: sell more and more devices. Not to mention that Gilbert says the open message service would be "real-time, and free of charge." Real time is right -- Messages certainly works very well. But "free of charge" it is not for Apple at all, and opening up the service for almost anyone to use would definitely make it even more expensive than it already is. It's certainly an interesting idea, and it would have some big ramifications for the messaging market, no question. But right now, I think Messages and FaceTime both are where Apple wants them: extra, selling point services for Apple devices only.
Daily Update for February 20, 2012
It's the TUAW Daily Update, your source for Apple news in a convenient audio format. You'll get all the top Apple stories of the day in three to five minutes for a quick review of what's happening in the Apple world. You can listen to today's Apple stories by clicking the inline player (requires Flash) or the non-Flash link below. To subscribe to the podcast for daily listening through iTunes, click here. No Flash? Click here to listen.
Use Messages to send files from Mac to iPhone
Now that the Messages app is available as a beta for OS X Lion and OS X Mountain Lion, there's a way that you can quickly send files from any Mac to an iPhone. Lifehacker tested the capability, and sure enough it works splendidly for zapping files to iPhones in the field. Here's how to do it: open Messages on your Mac (you did download the beta, didn't you?), and address a message to an iMessages account on an iPhone. Instead of typing into the message field, just drag any file from your Mac and drop it onto the message field. Press the return key on your keyboard to send the file, and within a few seconds you'll usually get notification that it has been delivered. On the iPhone, just open Messages and you'll see the file or files that you sent. Images usually come across as a small thumbnail -- tap on the thumbnail to view the image and save it to your photo library. Documents such as PDFs or Word docs can also be viewed within the limitations of the iPhone screen with a tap -- tapping on the Share button that appears gives you the option of printing the document or opening it in any compatible app. This method worked well for a number of files of varying size and format. For example, everything from a 149 KB PDF to a 101.4 MB MOV were quickly dispatched to my iPhone with a drag and drop. I tried to throw a 194 MB MOV file to the iPhone, but was informed that the file was too large. The limit is somewhere between 101.4 MB and 194 MB -- I leave determining the exact maximum size as an exercise to the reader.
Daily Update for February 17, 2012
It's the TUAW Daily Update, your source for Apple news in a convenient audio format. You'll get all the top Apple stories of the day in three to five minutes for a quick review of what's happening in the Apple world. You can listen to today's Apple stories by clicking the inline player (requires Flash) or the non-Flash link below. To subscribe to the podcast for daily listening through iTunes, click here. No Flash? Click here to listen.
Apple's Messages beta includes high-resolution artwork
The new Messages beta gives us a peek at one iOS-like feature that'll land in OS X Mountain Lion when it arrives later this year. It also hints that Apple may be planning to refresh its Mac line with high-resolution, retina-like displays. MacRumors dug through the Messages app resources and discovered that some graphics within the app are available in both regular and double resolutions. These images are found in multi-part TIFF files and the double resolution files have a "@2x" designator in their name. MacRumors uses this as evidence that Apple is "already building in support for Retina displays on the Mac." This isn't the first time we've heard about a retina-like Mac display. The first mention of such a monitor came from Digitimes, which misses on its rumors more than it hits. We also had a rumor last week from AppleInsider that suggests Apple may overhaul its MacBook lineup. Though AppleInsider didn't specifically mention screen hardware, you have to admit that a high-resolution display would make for an excellent update. I'm not saying Apple will definitely bump up the specs on its Mac displays, but the evidence is beginning to point in that direction.
Daily Update for February 16, 2012
It's the TUAW Daily Update, your source for Apple news in a convenient audio format. You'll get all the top Apple stories of the day in three to five minutes for a quick review of what's happening in the Apple world. You can listen to today's Apple stories by clicking the inline player (requires Flash) or the non-Flash link below. To subscribe to the podcast for daily listening through iTunes, click here. No Flash? Click here to listen.
6 cool Messages tips and tricks
It's just arrived in beta, but Apple's next chat app is intriguing. Are you looking to spice up your Messages skills? Here are a half dozen tips and tricks for you to start with. Choose the contact method: Messages can contact you via your AIM/iChat ID, your phone number, your Apple ID, and so forth. It's up to you to choose exactly how you want your message delivered. Locate the pop-up in the To: field and use it to select the contact method you want to use for your conversation. Switch to FaceTime: To the right of the "To:" option is a second pop-up, which allows you start a FaceTime session. You can select which address you wish to connect to (typically phone number of Apple ID). Click this, choose the contact method, and wait as OS X launches the native FaceTime application. Edit Contacts: Right-click any contact and choose "Show Contact Card" to open a contact in Address Book (soon to be the Contacts app). Once there, you can add phone numbers, Apple IDs, etc. After saving, these items are instantly made available in the two pop-ups you've just read about. Use "read receipts": You can let people automatically know you've seen their messages by enabling read receipts. Open Messages > Preferences (Command-,), choose Accounts > your iMessage identity and check Send Read Receipts. When you read the message, the sender is instantly updated with a status change that looks like this. They can tell at a glance that you've received and seen the text that was sent. Change the Presentation Style: Right-click in the message area and choose from three styles: Show as Balloons (the default), Boxes (a semi-compact style that I quite like), and Compact (which seems overly compressed to me). In Boxes style, successive messages are merged together rather than appearing as a sequence of bubbles. Here, three messages are grouped to one box. Convert Smileys back to text: If smileys get on your nerves, you can convert the Messages presentation from their stock art to standard text. Right click and choose View > Hide Smileys Got more tips or suggestions? Add them to the comments!
Messages is a good idea, but is not ready for prime time
It's rare that I can honestly say that Apple software has given me a headache. The new beta for Messages has left me and other members of TUAW staff reaching for aspirin and lamenting that this is nowhere near ready for prime time. That's understandable, given the beta status, but it's still frustrating. "Setup was easy, and I like the idea of being reachable on my Mac, but controlling where the messages end up is confusing at this point," Kelly Hodgkins, the first staff member to try out Messages, said. The very last point she makes is one that is going to be the sticking point for a lot of people. Check out the gallery below for shots of the program in action -- and make sure you do a reboot before using Messages, or it will not work. %Gallery-147811% Messages has a hard time directing a message to its proper destination when people have multiple devices in play. A conversation between myself and Steve Sande went to all the places Messages should go, while test messages from Kelly went only to my iPad and iPhone. A message from Erica Sadun just went to the iPad. Erica and Kelly couldn't message each other at all until Kelly used Erica's phone number, and that only went to her iPhone. In other words, a big headachy mess. When Steve sent me a test image on the Mac, it took several minutes for it to go through -- showing as successful on his end when it wasn't appearing on mine. Then he got an error message and the picture began flashing between an empty green bubble and the iPad shot he sent. There is a FaceTime button in the chats, but instead of launching a video chat inside Messages, it kicks you out to the separate FaceTime app. "It should have FaceTime integrated in so there's only one messaging app to rule them all," Steve said. (This may well be a feature that has to wait for the full release of Mountain Lion.) Steve liked that he's able to message his wife without having to switch between his Mac and iPhone. But, he added, going into full screeen is ridiculous on a large monitor. It looked rather silly on my 11-inch MacBook Air as well. And Erica Sadun's thoughts? "Betalicious," she proclaimed, "with lots of iChat crap still tucked in." She thought the client was ugly, and I have to agree. I also thought the program was bloated and unwieldy. Instead of combining all the messaging programs into one window, it still has separate windows for Messages, AIM, etc. Messages, like the rest of Mountain Lion, is the logical next step in Apple developing its instant message programs and making them available across a lot of its devices. But like last year's FaceTime beta, there are a lot of bugs to be worked out, and I wish Apple had taken a cue from Adium in designing Messages. If you do plan to stick with the program, Erica will be offering some tips and tricks on making it useful.
Apple unleashes OS X Mountain Lion Preview to Mac Developer Program
You may still be purring your way through our in-depth preview, but Mountain Lion is now officially out of the bag, with Apple releasing a preview version of its latest OS X to the members-only Developer Program. If you're up to date on those $99/year dues, you can head on over to the Member Center to get your OS 10.8 fix, and start checking out those shiny new Messages, Reminders, Notes and Notification Center apps. Or kick up your feet and bring your desktop to the big screen with AirPlay Mirroring. If you have the Apple-approved credentials to proceed, you can find all that and more by making your way over to our source link just below.
Messages to replace iChat in OS X Mountain Lion, public beta available today (Updated)
Apple on Thursday released a public beta of Messages, its next-generation messaging app for the Mac that will be a part of Mac OS X Mountain Lion. It lets you send and receive iMessages, just like iOS devices running iOS 5. Now you can "text" chat via iMessage with the iPhones, iPads and iPod touches in your life. Note that when installed, Messages replaces iChat, but not its functionality. You'll still have chat support for your AIM, Yahoo!, Google Talk, and Jabber accounts. As with iOS, Messages lets you see when your partner is typing via an ellipsis animation. Messages also supports drag-and-drop support for sharing photos and videos. This is a beta build, so expect changes before the final version is released. Lion users can try it out. Note that it requires Mac OS 10.7.3. Have fun! Update: The beta release seems to be temporarily unavailable. Apple notes: "Our apologies but there was an unexpected error with the application. This problem has been noted, and an email has been sent to the administrators. Please check back in a few hours to try the download again." Update 2: It's back. You will have to reboot after installing.
Messages Beta now available for Mac OS X Lion
If you've read our OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion preview you know that the new Messages app is one of the spiciest new additions to the OS. And, good news for you, you can try it out right now -- if you've made the jump to 10.7 Lion, that is. It's available now for download, so get to clicking.
OS X Mountain Lion 10.8 in-depth preview
Apple OS X Lion (10.7) review Apple's OS X Lion USB sticks now available online for $69 Apple updates EFI firmware on 2010 Macs: offers Lion internet recovery, not much else You can bid farewell to the days of Apple's theatrical OS reveals -- at least until OS 11 rears its head, anyway. In the meantime, the outfit has seemingly been content to strip away more and more pomp and circumstance with every subsequent big cat release. Lately, the company has settled into an evolutionary release schedule, eschewing full-fledged makeovers in favor of packing in lots of smaller changes, many of them quite granular indeed. It's a trend that can be traced as far back as 2009's OS X Snow Leopard (10.6), a name designed to drive home the point that the upgrade wasn't so much a reinvention of the wheel as a fine tuning of its predecessor, Leopard. The arrival of Lion (10.7), though, marked a full upgrade. With features like Launchpad and Mission Control, it seemed like it might be the last version Cupertino dropped before finally pulling the trigger on operating system number 11, and perhaps transitioning to something with an even stronger iOS influence. Right now, at least, the company's not ready to close the book on chapter X, but it is giving the world a first peek at 10.8. Ladies and gentlemen, meet Mountain Lion.
WWDC Alerts will help make sure you get into Moscone
Two Mac developers have created an alerts service, which you can sign up for free right now, that will let you know the very moment that tickets go on sale for this year's WWDC in San Francisco. Just put in your cell phone number, send back one code for verification, and then you'll get a text the instant tickets show up, which should give you a nice head start on making sure you get in the door for the conference. There's also a Twitter account to follow if you want something that might get you a little less spam, but the makers of the alert system say they won't forward your details to anyone or misuse the list at all, so if you trust them, it shouldn't be an issue. Obviously this service is being seen by a ton of people, so I'm not sure how much help it will actually be, but any heads up is better than nothing. If you're planning to try going to WWDC this year, good luck! [via TNW]
Windows Phone 7.5 SMS bug breaks messaging hub, hard reset is the only remedy
An SMS message on your Windows 7.5 handset could knock messaging out cold, a one shot kill you can't prepare for. Apparently, WP devices that receive a text containing a certain string of characters will reboot and return with a non-functional messaging client which can only be restored via a hard reset. The flaw is not device-specific and has been found to affect other parts of the OS, locking up your handset if you've pinned a friend as a live tile and that buddy posts the magic bug words on Facebook or Windows Live Messenger. Fixing the problem requires quick tapping fingers, as you've got to remove the pinned tile after rebooting before it flips and freezes the phone again. Before you go abandoning WP7's ship, just know that SMS issues are a known phenomenon and have affected all the major mobile players, iOS and Android included. Until Microsoft releases a fix, cross your fingers and hang tight, but in the meantime, all you mobile masochists can see the bug in action after the break.
