You have 15 minutes to edit your WhatsApp message. Image: WhatsApp
Meta’s popular messaging service, WhatsApp, is bringing an iMessage-like editing feature. You can now edit your WhatsApp messages for up to 15 minutes after sending them.
Apple introduced similar message-editing capabilities to iMessage with iOS 16. However, WhatsApp’s message editing implementation differs from iMessage in many ways.
No, Apple's headset likely won't look like this AI-generated image. Image: Cult of Mac
This week on Cult of Mac’s podcast: Well-placed sources say Apple’s AR/VR headset blew them away. Even the guy who dreamed up the Oculus Rift says it’s great.
The more we hear about the device nobody seems to need, the more intrigued we become. And with WWDC23 just weeks away, we don’t have long to wait for answers to our questions. In the meantime, we can imagine the possibilities …
Also on The CultCast:
How Apple’s M3 chip will stack up against its predecessors.
Five hidden features in iMessage that you should try ASAP.
Erfon finally gives us an update on his beloved, but beleaguered, original HomePod.
Listen to this week’s episode of The CultCast in the Podcasts app or your favorite podcast app. (Be sure to subscribe and leave us a review if you like it!) Or watch the video live stream, embedded below.
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You probably won’t find these features on your own. Image: Jonatan Svensson Glad/Wikimedia Commons/D. Griffin Jones/Cult of Mac
In the United States, iMessage is one of the first features iPhone users mention as a benefit over Android. In the rest of the world, nobody cares, because everyone uses WhatsApp and other cross-platform services.
But there are a lot of cool features inside the Messages app these days — we’ve previously covered how to edit and unsend messages and share your screen. Here are five more hidden features inside Apple’s messaging app. Keep reading or watch the video below.
New sharing features for Reddit content include rich URL previews. Photo: Reddit
Reddit updated its iOS app to allow rich-link previews for shared content, the social media chat site said Tuesday. That makes it easier to see what someone texted your way before you click through.
Before now, you’d just see the URL and have nothing else to go on in terms of what was shared, short of words in the URL or an explanation in the sender’s text.
The PDF Editor PDF Book Reader app makes document scanning and sharing easy. Photo: PDF Editor PDF Book Reader
Big-time PDF applications like Adobe Acrobat are great, but for many folks, splurging on them seems like hauling a pricey, seven-course banquet to a picnic at the beach. Many people are better off spending less to get only what they need. (You wouldn’t want to get sand in the caviar.)
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And if a free app comes with a few great free features plus in-app purchases to get more, all the better. That’s PDF Editor PDF Book Reader in a nutshell. And one of its free features — PDF Scanner for iMessage — is especially cool.
iMessage has its advantages, but WhatsApp is a better communication tool. Graphics: Rajesh/WhatsApp/Apple
Apple heavily pushes iMessage as the best messaging app on iPhone. However, WhatsApp reigns as the world’s most popular messaging service, with more than 2 billion daily users.
What makes WhatsApp so popular? Should you ditch iMessage and switch to WhatsApp for a superior chatting experience? Find out in this comparison.
Join us for a rundown of what you can expect in iOS 16.4. Image: Cult of Mac
This week on Cult of Mac’s podcast: iOS 16.4 doesn’t look earth-shattering or anything, but there are some cool new features coming.
Also on The CultCast:
You need to toggle this switch on your iPhone ASAP so thieves don’t ruin your life.
Working for Apple’s secret Exploratory Design Group sounds like a dream job.
We’re giving away a very fancy backpack from Harber London.
Erfon put his new HomePod stereo pair to the test in a head-to-head audio smackdown with the originals. The results are … disappointing.
Windows users get a little taste of iMessage goodness. But just a taste!
Listen to this week’s episode of The CultCast in the Podcasts app or your favorite podcast app. (Be sure to subscribe and leave us a review if you like it!) Or watch the video live stream, embedded below.
No blue or green bubbles… iMessage on Windows brings with it gray bubbles. Screenshot: Windows Insider Blog
People never thought it would happen. People didn’t think it was possible. But in an update to Windows 11, you will be able to send and receive iMessages and manage your notifications through a PC.
This update comes through the Windows Insider program, which offers users prerelease versions of the desktop operating system for beta testing and software development. Microsoft ships updates to Windows annually in the fall, so this feature may arrive for everyone later this year.
Google wants iPhone to adopt RCS and end the differences between blue bubbles and green bubbles. Image: Killian Bell/Cult of Mac
Google’s campaign to talk Apple into supporting Rich Communication Services in iMessage continues. The Android-maker introduced a new website Tuesday that claims that because iPhone does not support RCS it lacks “modern texting standards” and causes unnecessary problems.
Apple has long resisted RCS, choosing instead to reserve the best benefits of its messaging software to iPhone users.
In iOS 16, you'll be able to edit your iMessages to ensure you don't accidentally call your boss Babe... again. Photo: Apple
Apple’s Messages app is getting great new features in iOS 16 that will give users greater control over the way they communicate with friends, family and co-workers.
iMessage is already arguably one of the biggest chat services, thanks to its deep integration with iPhone and the rest of the Apple ecosystem. The new features, including the ability to tweak or delete messages that have already been sent, should make it even more competitive — and potentially less embarrassing.
Just how big will the iPhone 14 Pro camera bump be? Image: 91 Mobiles and Killian Bell/Cult of Mac
This week on Cult of Mac’s podcast: So, what’ll it be first? Good news or bad news about iPhone 14? We’re talking about Touch ID, a possible Apple hardware subscription service and an even bigger camera bump on the Pro model. Hoo boy!
Also on The CultCast:
A peek inside Apple’s new Studio Display proves surprising.
Would a 15-inch MacBook Air by any other name smell as sweet?
The EU might wreck iMessage.
We’re giving away five leather crossbody iPhone cases from Noémie.
What “The Slap” heard ’round the world says about Apple events.
Listen to this week’s episode of The CultCast in the Podcasts app or your favorite podcast app. (Be sure to subscribe and leave us a review if you like it!) Or watch the video livestream, embedded below.
This week’s episode is brought to you by CultCloth. Forget about that overpriced Apple Polishing Cloth. This is the cleaning cloth your Apple devices deserve.
iMessage may not be an Apple exclusive for much longer. Photo: Cee Ayes/Unsplash
The European Union plans to break down the barriers between mobile messaging services. With its Digital Markets Act, it plans to force services like iMessage, WhatsApp, and smaller messaging platforms to play nicely together.
The move would be a major blow to Apple, which has long used iMessage — which it refuses to bring to Android — as a big selling point of iPhone.
It looks like users will have six emoji to choose from. Image: Killian Bell/Cult of Mac
WhatsApp is readying message reactions on iOS and Android that will roll out in a future app update. Screenshots of the feature have appeared ahead of its release, showing the ability to react to messages with select emoji.
It’s much like the message reactions feature already available to iPhone users inside iMessage. WhatsApp seems to be following Apple’s lead by only making certain emoji available, rather than allowing all of them, like Instagram.
The U.K. will spend taxpayer money on a dramatic “publicity attack” against end-to-end encryption, according to a new report. The country apparently hopes to sway public opinion before taking further steps to crack down on the security feature.
A major focus of the campaign will be child safety. M&C Saatchi, the agency hired to run the marketing blitz, reportedly will use child actors to carry out emotive stunts that suggest encryption is being used by predators to conceal their activities.
Apple could fix the iMessage problem. It just won't. Image: Killian Bell/Cult of Mac
Google is once again calling on Apple to adopt a more open text messaging standard after accusing Cupertino of benefitting from bullying.
It comes after a report highlighted the struggle some teens face when using an Android device, which results in broken group chats and green bubbles — as opposed to blue ones — when texting peers who own an iPhone.
A former iMessage manager explained the reasoning behind the differences in Apple’s defense. But some might (rightly) say the arguments hold no value today, with text messaging in a better place than it was when iMessage landed.
"Why are you ignoring me?" Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac
Some iPhone and iPad users are being plagued by a Messages bug that causes read receipts to be sent even when they are disabled. The problem seems to affect devices running iOS 15 or later.
There is no permanent fix for the issue yet, but there is one thing you can do that may eliminate the problem for a short time.
But only inside the Google Messages app. Image: Killian Bell/Cult of Mac
iMessage reactions now appear as emoji inside the latest version of the Google Messages app on Android.
Prior to this release, Android users saw somewhat lengthy template messages when they received an iMessage reaction from a contact using an iPhone. This change offers a cleaner, much more streamlined experience.
The largest campaign so far against Apple's new child safety features. Photo: Benjamin Balázs
An international coalition of more than 90 policy and rights groups is urging Apple to drop plans to scan user photos for child abuse material (CSAM).
In an open letter addressed to Apple CEO Tim Cook, published on Thursday, the coalition said it is concerned the feature “will be used to censor protected speech, threaten the privacy and security of people around the world, and have disastrous consequences for children.”
Blue bubbles good. Green bubbles bad. Or something. Photo: Killian Bell's Peartree Productions/Cult of Mac
Considering that blue and green aren’t too far apart on the color spectrum, the difference between sending blue bubble messages and green bubble messages is pretty stark. The former, of course, means that the user is sending an iMessage, while the latter is a generic SMS, probably from an Android device.
For years, a certain segment of the population have mocked the green bubble crowd — with the gist being that a green bubble sender must have something wrong with them if they don’t own an iPhone. In a recent tweet, the CEO of a popular startup noted something else: That green bubble startup founders may have a tougher time landing investment.
“Unfortunate reality: if you don’t have iMessage, you are less likely to succeed at work,” Joshua Browder, the CEO of legal tech firm DoNotPay, tweeted this week. “The blue bubbles build trust!”
It’s not a good day for iMessage Photo: Cult of Mac/Mabel Amber/Pexels CC
Update: Apple fixed the problem it was having with iMessage on Thursday.
Previous article:
If you aren’t getting texts from your friends, don’t blame your iPhone. It’s a larger problem. Apple reports that its iMessage service has been having difficulties for several hours.
Now we know why Apple never brought iMessage to Android, despite the fact that doing so could have made it a ubiquitous messaging app like WhatsApp.
In a court filing for the company’s ongoing legal battle with Fortnite-maker Epic Games, internal emails showcase exactly why Apple execs made the decision they did. And, yes, it’s probably for the reason you guessed!
Facebook continues to attack Apple, with the social-networking giant accusing Apple of unfair business practices. Photo: PxHere
The war of words between Facebook and Apple heated up further on Wednesday, with the Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg stating, “we increasingly see Apple as one of our biggest competitors.” And the rivalry between the might be headed to court, with the social-networking giant accusing Apple of using the App Store to disadvantage rivals.
Beeper is a new all-in-one chat app that merges 15 different platforms into one. That sounds pretty interesting already, but what makes Beeper really exciting is its promise to put iMessage on Android and Windows.
The app, from Pebble founder Eric Migicovsky and his team, is “using some trickery” to make the impossible possible. But you’ll have to cough up a monthly subscription fee if you want to take advantage of it.
Apple looks to be gearing up to port iPad’s built-in Messages app over to Mac. The move could immediately fix Messages’ biggest problems on Mac, including its glaring lack of features.
The desktop version of the app still does not support iMessage apps, Apple Pay, message effects and other key features. Evidence of the move has been uncovered in leaked iOS 14 code, indicating it could be executed this fall when Apple drops its next major macOS update.