How does iMessage work ?

Just curious here.

How does iMessage work ? When I want to send an SMS, does it first send
it to Apple to find out if that telephone number is a destination known
to Apple and if not, it then sends it via the mobile network's SMS ?

So this would mean that Apple keeps tracks of every iPhone user in the
world who is currently "on-line" ?


Is there a way to know while typing the SMS whether it will be sent via
iMessage or via SMS ?

On 2012-01-11 12:56 , JF Mezei wrote:
> Just curious here.
>
> How does iMessage work ? When I want to send an SMS, does it first send
> it to Apple to find out if that telephone number is a destination known
> to Apple and if not, it then sends it via the mobile network's SMS ?
>
> So this would mean that Apple keeps tracks of every iPhone user in the
> world who is currently "on-line" ?

Partial answer here.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IMessage

> Is there a way to know while typing the SMS whether it will be sent via
> iMessage or via SMS ?

If the To bubble is green, it is going out SMS. Blue: iMessage.

--
"We demand rigidly defined areas of doubt and uncertainty."
Douglas Adams - (Could have been a GPS engineer).

JF Mezei <> writes:
>
> How does iMessage work ? When I want to send an SMS, does it first send
> it to Apple to find out if that telephone number is a destination known
> to Apple and if not, it then sends it via the mobile network's SMS ?

If you have iMessage enabled, as soon as you enter an address
or phone number to which you want to route a message, Messages
contacts Apple and sees if that address is recognized. If so,
Messages turns from green to blue to let you know that the
message will go out over iMessage.

> So this would mean that Apple keeps tracks of every iPhone user in the
> world who is currently "on-line" ?

Nope. If you don't have iMessage in front, then any message
that comes to you over it comes by push.

> Is there a way to know while typing the SMS whether it will be sent via
> iMessage or via SMS ?

The color. And the light gray text in the box in which you type
the message will say "iMessage".

--
Plain Bread alone for e-mail, thanks. The rest gets trashed.