Still no mass texting? Still no picture texting? hahahaha

[raydouble]

Want to send one text to 6 of your friends to come over and watch the game? Tough luck. Want to send a funny picture to your best friends phone? No dice.

Not updating the iPhone with mass texting or MMS texting is flat-out idiotic and ridiculous. I paid all this money for this thing, and i can't do basic things that the free phones do. Major disappointment in an otherwise amazing device.

[toolrox]

go cry about it somewhere else

[CAlvarez]

Then why did you buy it, knowing those limitations?

Everyone has different priorities. I would find those features totally useless, but really need a task list. However I'm not whining about it because I knew it was missing when I bought the phone.

And I share photos all the time, using e-mail. No need for MMS, which is rather limited anyway.

[Mikey-San]

purposeless rants totally make bugfix updates magically add new features

[Lutin]

Everyone has different priorities. I would find those features totally useless, but really need a task list.

What work around have you adopted to get your tasks handy?

[raydouble]

i was just hoping for a comment like, "i hear yas, bro, but i heard it's coming with the next update."

instead, i get a bunch of people who apparently took offense to my post. you must have invented the iphone, so i'm sorry for putting you down.

[DeltaMac]

... i hear yas, bro, but i heard it's coming with the next update...


That's it, you just want someone to commiserate? Anyone can come up with a rumor to satisfy any wish, so here you go!

i hear yas, bro, but i heard it's coming with the next update.

Personally, I'm waiting for the little windup crank on the back, so I don't have the plug the thing in for recharging. I don't think I'l see that, either...

[CAlvarez]

instead, i get a bunch of people who apparently took offense to my post.
I took no offense, just pointed at that some of your desired features are useless in my opinion. In fact, I think they would be:

flat-out idiotic and ridiculous.

[tlarkin]

My previous phone allowed me to mass SMS text message, which was nice on occasion. I don't do it often, but my new phone makes me do it manually one at a time which is annoying. Not everyone has email on their phone, which is what I would prefer to do, but when you are out and bout with several groups of people it is the easiest way to communicate. half the time I am at some bar watching live music, which is loud enough to make a phone conversation impossible, so text messaging does really have a valid use IMO.

My new phone doesn't allow mass messaging, it allows me to send the same message to multiple numbers, but I have do send it one at a time and scroll through my contacts. Most phones allow you to mass send it out, which is a very nice feature when you need it.

I only ever do that once in a blue moon (like once every two months maybe, so like 6 times a year) so it is not a deal breaker really for me, but if I had that feature I would probably use it more often.

[Mikey-San]

i was just hoping for a comment like, "i hear yas, bro, but i heard it's coming with the next update."

instead, i get a bunch of people who apparently took offense to my post. you must have invented the iphone, so i'm sorry for putting you down.

For the record, I think MMS would be a good addition to the iPhone, but you need to lurk more.

[Jay Carr]

I agree with the original poster, especially with the fact that the iPhone uses OSX and Cocoa, which every developer at Apple is familiar with. Adding that functionality should be simple. Besides, Apple wants to have a great product, they should add this function, and I would assume that with time they will.

Baring that, a development kit for the iPhone is coming out in Feb. So even if Apple never adds this functionality itself, someone will when the dev kit comes out.

Edit: PS- This topic might have been a bit better for the coat room.

[Mikey-San]

Adding functionality is simple; designing functionality well is not always simple.

[Lutin]

Adding functionality is simple; designing functionality well is not always simple.

I totally agree. Here is a conversation I had 2 days ago:

The other: - I like to have a lot of features.
Me: - Really?
- Yes, it's nice to be able to do a lot of things
- So in Word, when you spend 10 minutes to find where a feature is hidden, because there it too much stuff around, do you like it?
- No. I like when it's simple too
- Do you think it's easy to present a lot of stuff very simply?
- [...]

My conclusion: users (me first) will tell you they want a lot of features. What they really mean is a lot of features that they can access easily.
Maybe except while shopping (sic!), the second condition will always be the more important.
Apple get that very well, and that's for that kind of design that I'm a big fan of their products.

Simplicity can be complex to reach. It often means doing choice about what is shipped and what is not.


One other thing: just because I'm computer savy doesn't mean I want to have to think when I'm using a device, software, phone, etc. I want to be able to focus on what is really important, and for that, the form has to be transparent and not getting in the way.

[GuillaumeB]

MMS ARE available stop telling the world it does not exist

[CAlvarez]

You have MMS on your iPhone?

[Lutin]

I guess what he wanted to say is that MMS are used by people, so Apple should stop pretending the opposite and include it in the iPhone.
I'm don't think I really agree, though.

[jinieJ]

MMS does exist on the (jailbroken) iPhone, in my opinion it does not work very well but some say they've got it working.

[funnynoise]

Want to send one text to 6 of your friends to come over and watch the game? Tough luck. Want to send a funny picture to your best friends phone? No dice.

Not updating the iPhone with mass texting or MMS texting is flat-out idiotic and ridiculous. I paid all this money for this thing, and i can't do basic things that the free phones do. Major disappointment in an otherwise amazing device.
I send photos to my friends' regular cel phones from my iphone all the time. On my end, it's via email. On their end, it appears as MMS (similar to SMS). Most of your friends' cel phone providers offer an email address you can deduce from their phone number + who their carrier is. For example People with regular ATT wireless or cingular phones are AreaCode+CelNumber@sms.att.net. Similarly, people with regular T Mobile phones are AreaCode+CelNumber@tmomail.com. It's acutally simpler to do this from Iphone than it is to do it from a regular phone, once you've entered your best friends' address into your iphone contact list.

Their phone service provider's website will tell you the gateway to sms via email.

More Gateways:
Verizon: AreaCode+CelNumber@vtext.com
Nextel or Sprint: AreaCode+CelNumber@messaging.nextel.com

[jackm1]

raydouble:

It depends on how long you want to wait. This thread:

http://www.macrumors.com/2007/12/28/iphone-1-1-3-features-and-screenshots/

says that what you want is coming in firmware version 1.1.3.

As with most new-technology devices, the list of what is available now is often less than what the device is actually capable of doing. Economically, it makes sense for Apple to add these capabilities to firmware updates so that it can sell more iPhones with each update.

There is also speculation on the web that GPS is already built-in to the iPhone and only needs to be turned on. The "Locate Me" feature of 1.1.3 may be a hint of what is to come.

Be patient. Good things come to those who wait.

[trevor]

There is also speculation on the web that GPS is already built-in to the iPhone and only needs to be turned on. The "Locate Me" feature of 1.1.3 may be a hint of what is to come.

This speculation has been disproven by taking apart an iPhone and checking for any chip related to GPS. There are none. The iPhone does not have GPS waiting to be turned on.

The rumored "Locate Me" feature of 1.1.3 is done by triangulating cell phone tower signals, and is not GPS.

Trevor

[GavinBKK]

I tried a 3rd party app to do that and it plain did not work here in Thailand.:(

[Deniro]

so disappointing, you cant send or recieve picture text directly to your iphone and u cant send multiple pic texts to all your friends. also you cant foward text messages or pictures on mms...mms sucks man they need to upgrade the texting for the iphone.. also no video no voice recorder no zoom in or out for the camera no flash.. all the basic things that should be on the iphone isnt what a let down...

[kel101]

thats one thing i hate about the iphone, it does so many things well, and excels at other things...but it lacks basic phone features

[Anti]

I hate to toot my own horn here (http://anti.necrolounge.org/blog/?p=242)...but it's true.

It's not about the features. It's the execution.

[Mikey-San]

http://twitter.com/mikeysan/status/1016153686

not even gonna copypasta

[Craig R. Arko]

Personally, I'd like Apple to build in something to help people write coherently. Substantial portions of this thread indicate the art is fading fast. :rolleyes:

[Anti]

Personally, I'd like Apple to build in something to help people write coherently. Substantial portions of this thread indicate the art is fading fast. :rolleyes:

Touché, Craig.

The iPhone helps my girlfriend write better, at least. Or most of the people I know. But now that you can shut off auto-correction in 2.2, I'm scared. Very scared.

[EatsWithFingers]

... no voice recorder ...
There are free apps (for non-jailbroken iPhones) which provide this functionality. Personally I use iTalk, but there are at least two others.


Just out of interest (and to play Devil's advocate a bit), what exactly does MMS provide that cannot be accomplished via e-mail? Please don't say that it can be used to send pictures to old mobile phones which do not have an e-mail client. You might as well complain that it doesn't have a Morse code feature. :D

[Mikey-San]

Personally, I'd like Apple to build in something to help people write coherently. Substantial portions of this thread indicate the art is fading fast. :rolleyes:

punctuation and capitalization is fo' scrubs

[Sparky9292]

There are free apps (for non-jailbroken iPhones) which provide this functionality. Personally I use iTalk, but there are at least two others.


Just out of interest (and to play Devil's advocate a bit), what exactly does MMS provide that cannot be accomplished via e-mail? Please don't say that it can be used to send pictures to old mobile phones which do not have an e-mail client. You might as well complain that it doesn't have a Morse code feature. :D

If you Jailbreak your iPhone (which is completely harmless and easy to reverse), you can use SwirlyMMS or BiteMMS -- both GREAT apps for this. I currently use Beejive which has free SMS support.:p

[tlarkin]

Is there a SMS or MMS app that will do it over data? Like can I send MMS to my phone book over the internet and not do it through the SMS function? So, I can avoid using actual text messages?

Like for example, on T-Mobile's website you can SMS someone through their web page. Just type the number and the message and hit send.

[Sparky9292]

Is there a SMS or MMS app that will do it over data? Like can I send MMS to my phone book over the internet and not do it through the SMS function? So, I can avoid using actual text messages?

Like for example, on T-Mobile's website you can SMS someone through their web page. Just type the number and the message and hit send.

The app Beejive allows AIM accounts which can send SMS messages for free.

[Mr. Wizard]

I send and receive MMS texts to/from my daughter/grandkids all the time from my iPhone.

Depending on who the cell-service provider is on the receiving end ... you can use the following list to help you get the message where you want to go.

Alltel = xxxxxxxxxx@message.alltel.com
AT&T = xxxxxxxxxx@mms.att.net
Boost Mobile = xxxxxxxxxx@myboostmobile.com
Cingular (AT&T) = xxxxxxxxxx@mms.mycingular.com
Einstein PCS = xxxxxxxxxx@einsteinmms.com
Sprint = xxxxxxxxxx@messaging.sprintpcs.com
T-Mobile = xxxxxxxxxx@tmomail.net
US Cellular = xxxxxxxxxx@mms.uscc.net
Verizon Wireless = xxxxxxxxxx@vzwpix.com
Virgin Mobile = xxxxxxxxxx@vmobl.com

When I want to send a picture to my daughter's cell phone (her phone has text ability but not email), on my iPhone, I pick the picture I want to send, select "Email Photo", and since she gets her cell service from AT&T, the email address is xxxxxxxxxx@mms.att.net (where xxxxxxxxxx is replaced with her full cell-phone number - including area code) ... so if her cell phone number was 123-456-7890 I would email the photo to 1234567890@mms.att.net and a few seconds later she receives the photo in a text message on her phone