Why would you bother to back up your iMessages? After all, they’re all stored in iCloud these days, right? Well, yes your messages are all stored in iCloud, but they’re not backed up up there. They’re synced, which means that if you delete a message thread, it’s gone forever. The answer is to make a local backup, which requires a Mac. Which is ridiculous in 2019, but there you go.
Here’s how to back up your iMessages in case the worst happens.
I got sick of having to tap a zillion buttons just to iMessage a photo to somebody, so I made a shortcut that lets me tap an icon on my Home screen, and sends my latest photo automatically to a preselected friend.
That’s it. You tap it, and the shortcut grabs the last photo you shot, and sends it. If that sounds like something you want, check it out.
Yes, this sounds like a joke about the olde worlde CEO who has his secretary print his emails, then transcribe his dictated replies. But printing message threads can be pretty useful. Lawyers, for example, may want a printed record, or a PDF, of a message thread. And even regular humans might appreciate a well-formatted archive of their messages that can be easily searched and marked up.
You still can’t do this on your iDevice. However, thanks to the amazing iMazing Mac app, you can quickly create PDFs of your messages, and even print them. Onto paper.
It’s not easy to give up your iPhone. Even if you’ve already decided you want to switch to another handset, it’s going to be incredibly difficult to let go. Apple has you locked in. And for some iPhone owners, there is no way out.
That’s because it’s not just your iPhone that you’d be saying goodbye to. Many other apps and services you use every day — some without even thinking about it — make switching to another platform nearly impossible.
Here are all the ways Apple makes it hard to jump ship and switch to Android.
Android lovers can finally bust out of the green bubble life without owning an iPhone.
Thanks to a new app that brings iMessage to Android, you can now enjoy one of Apple’s best features even if you don’t have an iOS device. It’s not a perfect solution and you’ll need a Mac but it’s better than any of the other workarounds we’ve seen.
Best of all, it’s totally free!
Quick question: How do you send a GIF selfie from your iPhone? One answer is just don’t bother. It’s too much hassle. Another way is to use this handy shortcut to make one. But there’s a third way, which is also the best way: Don’t send a GIF at all.
If you and your intended GIF recipient both use iOS devices, there’s a much better option.
You already know how to take a selfie. It’s probably the first thing you did when you got your iPhone up and running. But did you know you can take a selfie and add stickers? Right there in the Messages app?
Your friends are already hungry for another one of your awesome selfies. Imagine how fired up they’re going to be when they see those stickers.
The first iOS update of the year is finally ready for the masses.
Apple is releasing iOS 12.1.3 today, bringing a number of bug fixes and performance improvements to the iPhone and iPad. iOS 12.1.3 is a minor update and doesn’t contain any big UI changes or new features, but it resolves some important issues with CarPlay, iMessage, Photos and the iPad Pro.
Apple is said to be “in discussions” over adding Rich Communications Services (RCS) to iOS.
The upgrade to traditional text messaging would allow for some iMessage features — like read receipts and typing indicators — when talking to friends who use Android and other platforms.
With the new Group FaceTime feature in iOS 12.1 and macOS Mojave 10.14.1, you can call up to 32 people and chat with them all at the same time.
Apple took some extra time getting this feature working perfectly. Now that’s it’s here, let’s see how to use Group FaceTime on iOS devices and Mac to get in on those massive group chats.
Apple will never bring iMessage to third-party platforms like Android, but there was a time when it tried to convince carriers to adopt a standardized version for everyone.
Former iOS chief Scott Forstall has revealed that the company approached operators in an effort to convince them to take a number of features that make iMessage so great and bring them to traditional texting. But due to a number of reasons, the “explorations didn’t pan out.”
Giving Donald Trump the power to send a text to every person in the U.S. is a horrible idea, but as Jimmy Kimmel has shown, it could make for a great movie.
Everyone was talking about the first-ever nationwide Presidential alert. Thankfully, it wasn’t nearly as bad as Trump’s tweets. However, during Jimmy Kimmel’s show last night, the late night comedian showed what type of mayhem could ensue if Trump could text whatever he wanted. From cops shooting their iPhones to a man chopping his arm off to get away from Apple Watch alerts, the entire movie concept is truly phenomenal.
Watch the craziness unfold:
If you take a photo inside the Messages app in iOS 11 and earlier, that photo stays trapped in the message thread forever, unless you explicitly long-press and save it to your camera roll. In iOS 12, that’s changed. Now, when you take a photo using the messages app, any pictures you snap are saved to your Photos library. But that’s not quite the whole story.
You’ve long been able to take photos inside the Messages app on your iPhone, sending pictures directly into a conversations without saving them to your camera roll first. And you’ve also been able to grab photos from your library. But in iOS 12, both of these features are way better. Especially the camera. Not only does it ditch the stupid thumbnail-sized camera view, but you get access to some awesome new filters, and even AR stickers. Let’s take a look.
One of iOS 12’s big changes is Notifications Center. It gets the seriously great Do Not Disturb at Bedtime feature, and it also now groups notifications, stacking them per-app in order to reduce clutter and increase clarity on the lock screen and elsewhere.
Notification grouping is totally automatic, but there are new settings that let you customize it if the auto options don’t suit you. Let’s take a look.
Apple Pay Cash is the easiest way to send money between iPhone users. And it gives us a whole new way to argue over who pays for dinner — as Apple demonstrates in its latest ad from the “Just text them the money” campaign.
Apple is working with Chinese telecoms firms to find a way to cut down the amount of iMessage spam customers in the country receive.
Apple has recently been under fire by state-controlled Chinese media for supposedly allowing users to be bombarded with illicit content through its iMessages. These are said to include gambling ads (illegal in China, aside from state lotteries), pornography, and counterfeit goods.
As if the threat of the burgeoning trade war between the U.S. and China wasn’t enough, Apple has another problem in the world’s most populous country.
State-controlled media in China is accusing Apple of failing to act to block content that is pornographic, gambling-focused, or intended to promote the selling of counterfeit products. At least five news agencies in the country have jumped on the accusations.
iPhone users in China are reportedly being bombarded with iMessage spam, many of them promoting illegal gambling.
Much of the iMessage spam in question links to WeChat account or gambling websites. Gambling is illegal in China, with the exception of two state-sanctioned lotteries.
You can now create more useful secure notes in 1Password for iOS, thanks to a new update that adds rich text support.
The latest release also introduces a sticker pack for Messages and a whole host of bug fixes.
Apple fans that have been complaining for years that Siri is dumb might be a little creeped out by how much better the digital assistant is in iOS 12.
With the new Siri suggestions Apple introduced this week, your iPhone will now be able to prompt you about events you haven’t even told it about. One developer posted his experience of Siri learning about a lunch just through iMessage.
Prepare to be impressed:
The iOS 11.4 update finally brings Messages in iCloud, which means you can treat your iMessages like you treat your photos.
Your messages will sync across all iOS devices and should work soon on Mac. (Update: It works on Mac now, once you update to macOS 10.13.5). You can even delete them from an iPhone or iPad that’s short on space. But they will remain accessible from the cloud. Here’s how to switch on iCloud support for Messages.
iOS 11.4 looks like it’s on track for a public release sometime around WWDC 2018.
Apple just released a big batch of betas for developers this morning, including the fifth build of iOS 11.4 which brings a number of new features and improvements to the iPhone and iPad.
Microsoft wants to work with Apple to bring iMessage to Windows machines.
The company’s upcoming Your Phone app will seamlessly sync content between your iPhone and your Windows 10 PC, but unlike those with an Android device, you won’t be able to sync messages. Microsoft is hoping it can team up with Apple to change that.
Developers received a new batch of beta updates this morning, including the second beta build of iOS 11.4.
The new build brings a number of new features to the iPhone and iPad, including some that were pulled from iOS 11.3, like AirPlay 2 and Messages on iCloud. Apple has added a number of bug fixes and performance improvements in the new builds as it preps it for a public release.