Messages - page 2

How to place and receive phone calls on iPad

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Remember these?
Remember these?
Photo: Charlie Sorrel/Cult of Mac

Ever looked at your iPad and thought, “I’d love to hold that huge thing up to my ear and make a phone call. I’d look to-ta-lee badass. Now, where’s my cellphone holster?”? Bonus points if you had this thought while looking at a huge 13-inch iPad Pro.

Of course, it might actually be handy to make calls on your iPad, especially as you probably would use AirPods or EarPods to do so. Your iPhone may be charging, or in another room, or maybe you’re there with a number ready to call on your Mac or iPad. Now, the iPad still can’t use its cellular connection to send or receive SMS messages, or make phone calls, but if you have an iPhone nearby you can use it as a bridge to do both. Bonus: This even works with the Wi-Fi-only iPad.

How to instantly track a flight from the Messages app

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This flight tracker is built into every iPhone and iPad track flights
This flight tracker is built into every iPhone and iPad.
Photo: Charlie Sorrel/Cult of Mac

It’s Christmas season, and you know what that means: Extra-long queues at airport check-in and “security;” once-a-year travelers who won’t just get out of the plane’s aisle and just sit the hell down; and of course parents/kids/friends who insist that you never emailed them the details of your flight.

We can’t fix the queues, the morons who mill in the aisles, or your lying friends and family, but I can show you how to quickly track a flight right from the Messages app, or anywhere else you see a flight number written down on your iPhone. Let’s take a look.

How to make Group FaceTime calls on iPhone, iPad or Mac

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Group FaceTime is super easy to use.
Group FaceTime is super easy to use.
Photo: Apple

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.

WhatsApp finally adds support for stickers

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WhatsApp stickers
It's time to upgrade if you haven't already.
Photo: WhatsApp

WhatsApp is one of the biggest messaging platforms on the planet, and it has somehow gone without support for stickers — until now!

Some users now have the ability to send and receive stickers, and the rest will be able to enjoy the same functionality on both Android and iOS in the coming weeks. A selection of sticker packs from WhatsApp own designers are available, and third-party packs are coming soon.

How to use the new iOS Comic Book photo filter

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Shoot your own comic-book remake of
Shoot your own comic-book remake of A Scanner Darkly.
Photo: Charlie Sorrel/Cult of Mac

iOS 12 has a great new camera filter: Comic Book. It turns your selfies and photos into pretty convincing pen-and-ink-style drawings, complete with flat blocks of color. It even works with Animoji selfies.

But hold on one second. You won’t find this filter in your iPhone’s Camera app, or even in the Photos app. Instead, you need to fire up the Messages app and use the camera there.

iOS 12 automatically saves iMessage photos to your Photos library

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The new iMessage photo filters are so good, you'll want them in the regular camera app.
iMessage photos are now saved to the camera roll, automatically.
Photo: Charlie Sorrel/Cult of Mac

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.

Beware the vulnerabilities in this popular macOS mail app

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Airmail 3 on macOS
Airmail 3 could leave you open to attack.
Photo: Airmail

Airmail 3, a popular email client for macOS, ships with big security vulnerabilities that could put users’ personal data at risk.

Researchers uncovered an exploit that allows attackers to steal users’ emails and attachments simply by convincing them to open a message. Here’s how it works.

iPhone X Plus will get iPad-like landscape mode

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iphone x
The iPhone X Plus is set to launch this fall.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

Apple’s new big-screen iPhone launching later this year will come with some UI perks other 2018 iPhones can’t match.

Based on info found in the latest iOS 12 beta, the extra screen real estate on the iPhone X Plus (or whatever Apple calls it) will allow users to operate it in landscape mode with extra information, like the one found on the iPad.

New Apple Pay ad miraculously makes payments funny

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New ad makes Apple Pay in Messages easy and funny.
Warning messages from your landlord aren't always a joke, but a new ad for Apple Pay in Messages is.
Screenshot: Apple

Apple Pay isn’t just for trips to Starbucks. It can also be used to send or receive money from friends. Or your landlord, as shown in a humerous new ad.

Money can be transferred in a simple text using the Messages app. This works for sending and receiving the cash, after Apple Wallet has been properly set up.

Watch the new advertisement for Apple Pay in Messages now:

Snapchat adds ability to delete messages after they’re sent

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Snapchat delete
Get rid of risky messages before they're seen.
Photo: Snapchat

Snapchat is making it easier to deal with messaging regret by giving us the ability to delete chats after they’ve been sent.

The new “Delete Chat” feature is available for both group and one-to-one conversations. It can be used to recall text as well as voice notes, stickers, photos, and videos.

Microsoft wants to bring iMessage to Windows

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Microsoft Your Phone
Microsoft’s new Your Phone service can sync messages with Android, but not with iOS.
Photo: Microsoft

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.

Twitter tests ‘Secret’ encrypted messaging feature

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Twitter has changed its mind on deleting inactive user accounts (for now)
Twitter is crushing dreams in 2020.
Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac

Twitter is testing a “Secret” messaging feature that will protect users’ private messages with end-to-end encryption. The feature has already been baked into the Twitter app for Android, but it hasn’t yet been activated inside a public release.

Big features make a comeback in iOS 11.4 beta 1

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iOS 11.4 beta 1 brings back big features we saw in previous betas, including AirPlay 2, multiroom support in Home app, and Messages on iCloud.
iOS 11.4 brings back some cool new features Apple teased us with before.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

The first beta of iOS 11.4 brings back some big features Apple tested in previous betas, but then subsequently removed.

Check out our video below to see iOS 11.4 in action. We run through what’s new and what you can expect if you give the beta a whirl.

Facebook spies on your messages to make sure you’re being good

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And you thought all those Facebook messages were secret. Sucker!
And you thought all those messages were private. Sucker!
Photo: kropekk_pl/Pixabay CC

Just when you thought Facebook couldn’t be more intrusive, the company has confirmed that it keeps an eye on our Messenger conversations to make sure we’re being good.

Messages you send are scanned to ensure they abide by Facebook’s rules — and if they don’t, they won’t be delivered.

iOS 11.4 public beta arrives with AirPlay 2

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Don't take a chance on a bricked HomePod.
AirPlay 2.0 makes HomePod even better.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

HomePod owners no longer need to be a developer to test AirPlay 2.

Apple seeded the first public beta of iOS 11.4 to testers today, allowing anyone who signs up for the beta testing program to play with some of the new features coming out later this spring.

iOS 11.3 inches closer to launch with sixth beta

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iMessages in iCloud is coming in iOS 11.3.
iOS 11.3 finally brings Messages to iCloud.
Photo: Apple

The public launch of Apple’s biggest iOS update in 2018 so far might be just a few weeks away, now that developers just received another beta build for iOS 11.3.

Apple seeded iOS 11.3 beta six to developers this morning, bring a bunch of bug fixes and under-the-hood improvements to the iPhone and iPad.

Apple teases iOS 11.3 with new Animoji, big improvements

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iOS 11.3 ARKit
Augmented reality will be even better with glasses.
Photo: Apple

Apple today offered fans a preview of a big iOS 11.3 update coming this spring.

Alongside 16 new Animoji characters for iPhone X owners, the update will bring big improvements to ARKit and Messages, the ability to view battery health on all iOS devices, music videos for Apple Music, and lots more.

How to delete WhatsApp messages you already sent

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WhatsApp unsend delete
WhatsApp now lets you unsend messages.
Photo: Cult of Mac

WhatsApp, one of the world’s most popular messaging apps, now lets you unsend messages — albeit with a time limit. And not just on your phone, either. If you delete a message, it will be removed from the conversation for anyone who is participating.

That’s great news for folks who are prone to sending messages to groups instead of individuals, or who decide that a late-night photo drunk-texted to the boss was less of a bonding moment and more of a potential-firing moment. Here’s how to undelete your messages in WhatsApp.