iPhoneMMS Is Almost The Real Thing

Giles Turnbull ()

mms-20081105.jpgI don’t know about you, but I get funny looks from folk when I show off my iPhone, then have to sheepishly confess that it doesn’t do MMS messages.

“Phhhfft,” people say, pulling out their 2-year-old Nokias that they got for free. “Even this crappy old thing can do MMS.”

Apple’s workaround is to send iPhone owners a plain text message with a link to a webapp, where they can view their MMS. In the UK, the O2 webapp is horrible. No-one at O2 has bothered to make it iPhone-friendly. The whole setup is clunky, to put it mildly.

Ross McKillop thinks so too, and that’s why he decided to build a better webapp, one that is designed for iPhone. The result is the newly renamed iPhoneMMS, which lets you view incoming and send outgoing MMS messages, via a complex arrangement of protocols and emails.

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It’s still clunky compared to proper MMS support, but it’s a good deal better than the shoddy mess supplied by O2. Until they and Apple get their collective act together to make a decent built-in MMS application, it’s the best option.

9 comments »

About the author

gilest

Giles Turnbull is a freelance writer in England. He writes for the Press Association and The Morning News. He has a website you can ignore and a Twitter account you needn't follow.

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Posted in iPhone, News, Software, Web |

  • http://jonnydesigner.com Jon

    It’s even worse in the US. MMS messages don’t come through as a text message with a link to a web app. Instead, they come through as a text message that gives you instructions to view the MMS on your computer. The only reason you can’t view it on iPhone is because the online MMS display mechanism AT&T developed uses flash to display the media. Very very lame indeed.

  • Jeff

    Just use email. Every phone that can receive MMS has an email address. Using the iPhone’s Mail app, you can send a photo to a phone. I have done this – it works. Just add the appropriate email address to the contacts info on your iPhone and it’s easy. The person can send you a picture by addressing the MMS to your email – like Gmail or whatever you use on your iPhone.

    Alltel = (sorry, you need Javascript to see this e-mail address)
    AT&T = (sorry, you need Javascript to see this e-mail address)
    Boost Mobile = (sorry, you need Javascript to see this e-mail address)
    Cingular (AT&T) = (sorry, you need Javascript to see this e-mail address)
    Einstein PCS = (sorry, you need Javascript to see this e-mail address)
    Sprint = (sorry, you need Javascript to see this e-mail address)
    T-Mobile = (sorry, you need Javascript to see this e-mail address)
    US Cellular = (sorry, you need Javascript to see this e-mail address)
    Verizon Wireless = (sorry, you need Javascript to see this e-mail address)
    Virgin Mobile = (sorry, you need Javascript to see this e-mail address)

  • Jeff

    Besides, as an iPhone user, email is included – MMS, if it comes to the iPhone, will cost extra money.

  • Bobby Jay Freeman

    What is MMS messaging?

  • Bobby

    Nevermind…I looked it up. But what’s the point when you can just send an email? That type of messaging is more expensive than regular messaging anyway. Just my opinion.

  • Chris, Manchester UK

    For people without an iPhone, even if they can send an email (at an unspecified cost – have they got a data plan or is it on some higher-cost pay as you use it basis) it won’t be anywhere near as easy for them to do as sending an MMS. Plus they have to know who has got an iPhone and who hasn’t. It just complicates matters so any attempt to simplify things can only be welcomed.

  • Jeff

    “For people without an iPhone, even if they can send an email (at an unspecified cost – have they got a data plan or is it on some higher-cost pay as you use it basis) it won’t be anywhere near as easy for them to do as sending an MMS. Plus they have to know who has got an iPhone and who hasn’t. It just complicates matters so any attempt to simplify things can only be welcomed.”

    No, they can send a picture to an iPhone user via MMS. You can send MMS to email addresses, not just phone numbers – I used to do this with pictures of my kids. I know who of my friends/family has an iPhone and who doesn’t. Besides, if I send them a picture to an MMS address and they have an iPhone, they can let me know. Not a big deal.

  • http://www.nerdlike.com Jazzy

    No MMS! Are you sure? Are you positive? My GOD…how primative LOL.

  • http://www.iphonemms.net/ Ross

    Nice to see my little web-app mentioned… good news is there’s a native app in the works, along with some forthcoming reductions in the cost of outbound MMS and, hopefully, expanding the service to our friends in the EU across the pond :)