How iMessage works

You have just bought your first iPhone and you have discovered that through iMessage you can send free messages to your contacts who have an “iPhone by”. Consequently, you immediately set to work to activate and configure the service but, not being very familiar with Apple services yet, you are experiencing some difficulties. Did I guess? Well, then let me explain in detail the detailed procedure to succeed in your intent.

If you give me a few minutes of your attention, I can explain  how iMessage works and how to configure the service in the best way on iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch and Mac. How do you say? Didn’t you know that you can also use iMessage from your computer? Well yes! You can send text messages, voice messages and multimedia files even directly from there, with the possibility of synchronizing everything with your mobile devices. Interesting, right?

So come on, let’s not waste any more time chatting and let’s get straight to the point! Position yourself comfortably, read the next paragraphs and put into practice the instructions I am about to give you. I assure you that enabling and using iMessage is really a breeze and that, in no time at all, you will be able to send all the messages you want from your Apple devices. I just have to wish you a lot of fun!

Index

• Preliminary information
• How iMessage works on iPhone
• How iMessage works on iPad
• How iMessage works on Apple Watch
• How iMessage works on Mac
• How iMessage works on Android
• Why iMessage doesn’t work

Preliminary information

Before getting to the heart of the guide, going to explain how iMessage works , there are some preliminary information  that I want to provide you, to allow you to have a perfectly clear idea on the matter.

First of all, know that iMessage works with the Internet and that it is a service that allows you to send text messages, voice messages, photos and videos to and from the devices of the “bitten apple”, such as iPhone , iPad , Apple Watch ( reflecting the iPhone to which it is associated) iPod Touch and Mac , using the Messages application .

It can be used totally (or almost) free of charge , with the exception of connection costs, which however are related to the reference mobile phone provider (in the case of the data connection) or the provider used for optical fiber or ADSL (in the case of the connection. Wifi).

Always considering that iMessage needs the Internet to work, to be able to use it you must first take care of enabling the connection on your device, as I explained to you in my  guide on the subject . Another thing you need to do to get everything running smoothly is to log into your Apple ID , as explained in my specific tutorial on what to do.

A little while ago I wrote that iMessage is almost totally free because in reality the only cost actually related to it is the activation cost , equal to 0.30 euros (or the cost of an international SMS according to the tariffs of your operator. ). Subsequently, the service has no recurring cost and allows you to send messages for free.

If you have second thoughts about the use of iMessage, you can proceed with the deactivation at any time, as I explained to you in my post on the matter, but know that any future reactivation of the service involves an additional charge of 0.30 euros, for which the charge occurs for each activation and not for the activation of the single account.

How iMessage works on iPhone

At this point, we can finally move on to actual action. First, therefore, let’s find out how iMessage works on the iPhone . To be able to use the service on your “iPhone by”, you have to worry about activating and configuring it.

So, grab the device, unlock it (if necessary), access the home screen and / or the iOS app Library and tap the Settings icon (the one in the shape of a gear wheel ), on the Messages item , then bring the switch next to iMessage to ON and wait a few seconds for the activation process to complete.

Once iMessage activation is complete, you need to proceed with the service configuration. Then tap on the Send and receive item and indicate how you want to send and receive messages: under the item You can receive and send iMessage messages from  you can select your phone number and the email addresses associated with your Apple ID to receive and send messages through these last, while under the heading Start new conversations from you can select the number or email address to use as the default sender for iMessage messages.

If you deem it necessary, you can further configure the operation of iMessage by intervening on the other items attached to the iOS settings section you are viewing. In fact, you can choose whether or not to send read receipts, to send your messages as SMS when it is not possible to use iMessage, etc.

After completing the above steps, you can use the service by opening the Messages app (the one with the icon with the green background and the white balloon ) and start composing a new message by tapping on the  pencil icon inside a square  located at the top right.

In the screen that is now shown to you, fill in the A field with the name or phone number of the person you want to write to, otherwise tap the (+) button and choose the contact from your address book. If the chosen contact has an Apple device and has activated iMessage, the New Message window will change to New iMessage and the contact will appear in blue instead of green.

Next, in the iMessage field type the message you want to send and press the blue arrow icon to send it. Instead, press and hold the track icon to record a voice message, then touch the ▶ ︎ button if you want to listen to the recording again, otherwise tap the up arrow icon to send it or the (x) button to delete it.

In addition, you can press the camera icon to take photos and videos or take content from the iOS gallery and on the one with the “A” of the App Store and on the indicators at the bottom to take advantage of the stickers other extra features offered by other installed apps on the device.

In the chat started, you can tap on the number or name of the contact at the top to view the related details, images and attachments received, as well as to hide the alerts, decide whether to send and receive read receipts and send and share the position.

During the conversation, you can press on a received message and apply an appreciation by pressing on a heart icon , in addition to the thumb up , the thumb down , the double exclamation point , the question mark and the option Ah Ah to express a sense of fun.

Furthermore, if you want to delete one or more messages sent and received, you can choose the Other item , select the messages you want to delete, tap on the trash can icon at the bottom left and then on the Delete message button.

How iMessage works on iPad

Are you wondering how iMessage works on iPad ? The answer is soon given: in the same way as how it works on the “iPhone by”, there is no difference regarding the activation, configuration and use of the service on iPadOS compared to iOS. Consequently, you can follow the directions I already gave you in the previous iPhone step to do everything.

How iMessage works on Apple Watch

If you want to understand how iMessage works on Apple Watch , because you have configured iMessage on iPhone as I explained to you in the step at the beginning of the guide and you have also associated the Apple-branded smartwatch with it, I inform you that on the latter you do not have to perform any particular procedure , as everything is automatically “translated” on watchOS.

So, to be able to send your iMessage messages from Apple Watch, just wear and / or unlock the watch (if necessary), press on the Digital Crown to access the application list, touch the Messages app icon ( the one with the green background and the white balloon ) and tap on the wording New message at the top.

In the message composing screen that you now see, touch the word Add contact and use the buttons on the screen to dictate the number or name of the reference contact, to select it from the phone book or to type the number on the numeric keypad. You can also choose the contact from the list possibly proposed automatically below.

Then, tap on the Create message field and enter your message in the iMessage field or use one of the predefined replies below. You can also insert extra content, such as memoji and voice messages, by first tapping on the icon with the “A” of the App Store and then selecting the reference function . To proceed with sending, click on the Send button.

How iMessage works on Mac

Now let’s find out how iMessage works on Mac . First you need to enable and configure the service. How you do it? I’ll explain it to you immediately.

Position yourself in front of your Mac, unlock it (if necessary) and click on the Messages application icon (the one with the green background and the white balloon ) that you find on the Dock bar . Once the application window is displayed, click on the Messages menu at the top left and select the Preferences item from it.

In the further window that opens, select the iMessage item located at the top, then select your phone number or your Apple ID from the Start new conversations from menu at the bottom and decide from the list You can receive messages on which your contacts receive messages.

From the same screen you can also decide whether or not to receive reading receipts, while by going to the General section you can adjust the other available settings, those relating to message archiving, notices for mentions, etc.

If you then want to concretely understand how iMessage works on your Mac, or rather how to use it, go back to the main screen of the Messages application and start composing a new message by clicking on the  pencil icon inside a square  located at the top of left.

Now, fill in the To field with the name or phone number of the person you want to write to, otherwise click the (+) button and select the contact from the address book. If the chosen contact has an Apple device and has iMessage enabled, it will appear in blue instead of green.

At this point, in the iMessage field  located at the bottom, type the message you want to send and press the Enter key on the keyboard to proceed with sending. Instead, click on the track icon to record a voice message, then press the ▶ ︎ button if you want to listen to the recording again, otherwise tap the up arrow icon to send it or the (x) button to delete it.

Furthermore, you can press the emoji icon to insert emoticons in your texts and on the one with the “A” of the App Store and on the indicators at the bottom to take advantage of the stickers other extra features offered by other apps installed on the device.

In the conversation screen, you can click on the “i” icon at the top right to view related details, images and attachments received, as well as to hide alerts, decide whether to send and receive read receipts and send and share the position.

During the conversation, you can make a long click on a received message and put an appreciation by selecting a heart icon , the  thumb up icon, the  thumb down icon , the double exclamation point , the question mark  or the option  Ah Ah .

If what you are interested in doing is to delete a message, you can do it by right-clicking on it, selecting the Delete item from the menu that appears and then pressing the Delete button in response to the warning visible on the screen.

How iMessage works on Android

Did you end up on this guide of mine because you are eager to understand how iMessage works on Android ? I’m sorry to give you a big disappointment, but unfortunately the service is in no way usable on devices based on the mobile platform of the “green robot”.

More precisely, trying to send a message via the Messages application from an Apple device to an Android device, it is sent as a simple SMS and marked by the green balloon instead of the blue one. Conversely, Android users have no option at their disposal to send messages using iMessage from their devices.

Why iMessage doesn’t work

If you’re wondering “why doesn’t iMessage work?” , because you have encountered difficulties in configuring or using the service (eg iMessage does not work with a contact or iMessage only works with email ), I inform you that I can probably help you in this as well.

If your problem is that when you send messages you see a warning or you just can’t send them , first try to solve it by restarting the device, as I explained to you in my guides on what to do for iPhone, iPad and Mac.

Also make sure that the Internet connection is up and running and that there is enough space on the device to send and receive content and if not, free it, proceeding as I indicated in my tutorials for iOS, iPadOS and macOS. Also make sure you have entered the correct telephone number or email address of the contact. You can also try to fix it by disabling and re-enabling iMessage.

If none of the practices described above proves to be decisive and you continue to have problems in making iMessage work, I suggest you visit the section of the Apple website dedicated to support and try to see if among the information available there are those that can do for you.

Instead, if you think it is appropriate to get in direct contact with Apple ‘ s assistance, know you can do it in various ways: by phone, by chat, by going to the Apple Store in person, etc. For more details on this, I refer you to reading my specific guide on what to do.