Sending and receiving SMS (text) and MMS (multimedia) messages
Using the Notes app
If this is your first experience with an intelligent virtual keyboard, it will probably feel awkward in the beginning. Within a few days, however, many iPhone users report that they not only have become comfortable using the virtual keyboard but also have become proficient virtual typists as well.
By the time you finish this chapter, we think you'll feel comfortable and proficient, too. You discover all about using the virtual keyboard in Chapter 2. In this chapter, we focus on two iPhone apps that use text — namely, Messages and Notes.
The Messages app lets you exchange short text messages with any cell phone that supports the SMS protocol. You can also send and receive MMS messages, which lets you exchange pictures, contacts, videos, ringtones, other audio recordings, and locations with any cell phone that supports the MMS protocol.
Note
SMS is the acronym for the Short Message Service protocol; MMS is the acronym for the Multimedia Messaging Service protocol. Most phones sold today support one or both protocols.
MMS support is built into iPhone OS 3.0 and higher and works with iPhone 3G, 3GS, and 4 (but not the first-generation iPhone).
Typing text on a cell phone with a 12-key numeric keypad is an unnatural act, which is why many people have never sent a single SMS or MMS message. The iPhone will change that. The intelligent virtual keyboard makes it easy to compose short text messages, and the big, bright, high-resolution screen makes it a pleasure to read them.
But before we get to the part where you send or receive messages, let's go over some messaging basics:
Both sender and receiver need SMS- or MMS-enabled mobile phones. Your iPhone qualifies, as does almost any mobile phone made in the past few years. Keep in mind that if you send messages to folks with a phone that doesn't support SMS or MMS or who choose not to pay extra for messaging services, those folks will never get your message or even know you sent a message.
Some phones (not the iPhone, of course) limit SMS messages to 160 characters. If you try to send a longer message to one of these phones, your message may be truncated or split into multiple shorter messages. The point is that it's a good idea to keep SMS messages brief.
Tip
In iOS 4 and higher, the Messages app can count characters for you. To enable the option (it's off by default), tap the Settings icon on your Home screen, then tap the Messages icon and enable Character Count. You'll see the number of characters you've typed so far, then a slash, and then the number 160 (the character limit on some mobile phones, as just described) directly above the Send button.
AT&T iPhone data plans do not include SMS or MMS messages. Individual SMS text messages currently cost 20¢ each unless you subscribe to one of the optional SMS text message plans, which start at $5 per month for 200 messages. MMS is available from AT&T at no additional cost to customers with an SMS text-messaging bundle.
Warning
Each individual message in a conversation counts against this total, even if it's only a one-word reply such as "OK," or "CUL8R" (which is teenager-speak for "see you later").
You can usually increase the number of messages in your plan for a few more dollars a month. This is almost always less expensive than paying for them à la carte.
You can send or receive messages only over your wireless carrier's network (which is AT&T in the United States). In other words, SMS or MMS messages can't be sent or received over a Wi-Fi connection.
Okay, now that we have that out of the way, let's start with how to send messages.
At this point, the To field is active and awaiting your input. You can do three things at this point:
If the recipient isn't in your Contacts list, type his or her cell phone number.
If the recipient is in your Contacts list, type the first few letters of the name. A list of matching contacts appears. Scroll through it if necessary and tap the name of the contact.
Tap the blue + icon on the right side of the To field to select a name from your Contacts list.
There's a fourth option if you want to compose the message first and address it later. Tap inside the text-entry field (the oval-shaped area just above the keyboard and to the left of the Send button) to activate it, and then type your message. When you've finished typing, tap the To field and use one of the preceding techniques to address your message.
When you've finished addressing and composing, tap the Send button to send your message on its merry way. And that's all there is to it.
First things first. If you want to hear an alert sound when you receive a message, tap the Settings icon on your Home screen, tap Sounds, tap the New Text Message item, and then tap one of the available sounds. You can audition the sounds by tapping them.
Warning
You hear the sounds when you audition them in the Settings app, even if you have the ring/silent switch set to Silent. After you exit the Settings app, however, you won't hear a sound when a message arrives if the ring/silent switch is set to Silent.
If you don't want to hear an alert when a message arrives, instead of tapping one of the listed sounds, tap the first item in the list: None.
If you receive a message when your phone is asleep, all or part of the text message and the name of the sender appear on the Unlock screen when you wake your phone.
If your phone is awake and unlocked when a message arrives, all or part of the message and the name of the sender appear on the screen in front of whatever's already there, along with Close and Reply buttons. At the same time, the Messages icon on the Home screen displays the number of unread messages. You can see all of this in Figure 5-1.
To read or reply to the message, tap Reply.
To read or reply to a message after you've tapped the Close button, tap the Messages icon. If a message other than the one you're interested in appears on the screen when you launch the Messages app, tap Messages in the top-left corner of the screen, and then tap the recipient's name; that person's messages appear on the screen.
To reply to the message on the screen, tap the text-entry field to the left of the Send button, and the keyboard appears. Type your reply and then tap Send.
Your conversation is saved as a series of text bubbles. Your messages appear on the right side of the screen in green bubbles; the other person's messages appear on the left in gray bubbles, as shown in Figure 5-2.
You can delete a conversation in two ways:
If you're viewing the conversation: Tap the Edit button at the top-right of the conversation screen and a circle appears to the left of each text bubble. Tap a text bubble and a red check mark appears in the circle. When you've added a red check mark to all the text bubbles you want to delete, tap the red Delete button at the bottom-left of the screen. Or, to delete the entire conversation in one fell swoop, tap the Clear All button in the top-left corner of the screen.
Tip
If you want to forward all or part of a conversation to another mobile phone user (as an SMS or MMS message), follow the same procedure (that is, tap the Edit button, then tap the text bubbles you want to forward so the red check mark appears in a circle to their left). Now, instead of tapping the red Delete button at the bottom-left of the screen, tap the blue Forward button at the bottom-right of the screen. The contents of the text bubbles with check marks will be copied to a new text message; specify a recipient and then tap Send.
If you're viewing the list of text messages: Tap the Edit button at the top-left of the Messages list, tap the red – icon that appears to the left of the person's name, and then tap the Delete button that appears to the right of the name.
To send a picture or video (iPhone 3GS or 4 only) in a message, follow the instructions for sending a text message and then tap the camera icon to the left of the text-entry field at the bottom of the screen. You'll then have the option of using an existing picture or video or taking a new one. You can also add text to photos or videos. When you're finished, tap the Send button.
If you receive a picture or video in a message, it appears in a bubble just like text. Tap it to see it full-screen.
Here are some more things you can do with messages:
To search your messages for a word or phrase, type the word or phrase in the Search field at the top of the Messages screen.
To use a Bluetooth keyboard for typing (iPhone 3GS and 4 only) instead of the on-screen keyboard, follow the instructions in Chapter 13 to pair your Bluetooth keyboard with your iPhone.
Tip
The Apple Wireless Keyboard ($69) works great with the iPhone 3GS or 4 and all iPads.
To send a message to someone in your Favorites or Recents list, tap the Phone icon on the Home screen, and then tap Favorites or Recents, respectively. Tap the blue > icon to the right of a name or number, and then scroll down and tap Text Message at the bottom of the Info screen.
To call or e-mail someone to whom you've sent an SMS or MMS message, tap the Messages icon on the Home screen, and then tap the person's name in the Messages list. Tap the Call button at the top of the conversation to call the person, or tap the Contact Info button and then tap an e-mail address to send an e-mail.
Warning
You can use the preceding technique only if the contact has an e-mail address.
Did you send someone an SMS or MMS text message? Receive one from someone? You can add the person to your Contacts list by tapping the person's name or phone number in the Text Messages list and then tapping the Add to Contacts button. If the person is already in your Contacts list, the Add to Contacts button doesn't appear, so don't bother looking for it.
If an SMS or MMS message includes a URL, tap it to open that Web page in Safari.
If an SMS or MMS message includes a phone number, tap it to call that number.
If an SMS or MMS message includes an e-mail address, tap it to open a pre-addressed e-mail message in Mail.
If an SMS or MMS message includes a street address, tap it to see a map in Maps.
And that's all there is to it. You are now an official SMS or MMS text message maven.
Notes is an app that creates text notes that you can save or send through e-mail. To create a note, first tap the Notes icon on the Home screen, and then tap the + button in the top-right corner to start a new note. The virtual keyboard appears. Type the note. When you're finished, tap the Done button in the top-right corner to save the note. (The Done button appears only when the virtual keyboard is on-screen, however, so you can't see it in Figure 5-3.)
After a note is saved, you can do the following:
Tap the left or right arrow button at the bottom of the screen to read the previous or next note, respectively.
Tap the letter icon at the bottom of the screen to e-mail the note using the Mail app (see Chapter 11 for more about Mail).
Tap the trash can icon at the bottom of the screen to delete the note.
Tap the Notes button at the top-left corner of the screen, and you see a list of all your notes, as shown in Figure 5-4. Then just tap a note to open it for viewing or editing.
Note
We'd be remiss if we didn't remind you that as long as you're running iPhone OS 3.0 or later, you can sync notes with your computer (see Chapter 3). And if you're running iOS 4 and have enabled note syncing for more than one account (tap Settings and then tap Mail, Contacts, Calendars), you'll see an Accounts button at the top of the Notes list screen (refer to Figure 5-4). Tap Accounts and you can choose to display all your notes or only notes associated with a particular account.
Note
An account, as mentioned to in the preceding paragraph, refers to a Microsoft Exchange, MobileMe, Gmail, Yahoo!, AOL, or other account that offers a notes feature.
And that's all she, er we, wrote. You now know everything there is to know about creating and managing notes with Notes