How will iMessenger work with 2 iphones (and an iPad)?

im sure that they will be able to read your messages. because you will be able to pick up any of your devices and pick up your conversation on a different device. but imessage is kind of late technology. now everyone has a cell phone so if you want to message someone you normally just text them.

No-one who knows this can discuss it as it's currently in beta and under a non-disclosure agreement.

iMessage will probably delivery iMessages to all devices with that Apple ID, as thats how it works. Texts will be delivered in the same way as they are now.

The trick is to set-up different Apple IDs for different people. It's never really advisable to share your Apple ID, but I can understand why you are doing it.

bmay04 wrote:

im sure that they will be able to read your messages. because you will be able to pick up any of your devices and pick up your conversation on a different device. but imessage is kind of late technology. now everyone has a cell phone so if you want to message someone you normally just text them.

Thats not really the point - it works the same way as BBM and that is a huge success. It allows people with iDevices to message each other.

It is possible to use one Apple ID to share Apps and music, but use unique Apple IDs for other features. Today, the only thing I'm aware of that this applies to is Find My iPhone. Everyone in your family could activate that feature with a unique Apple ID so that you can't all track each other's movements but could still locate/wipe your iPhones in an emergency (each with your own unique ID).

With iOS5, you'll able to do this with more features, such as iMessage. Check out the screen shot on this page:

http://www.iphonewzealand.co.nz/2011/all/hands-on-with-ios-5-beta-1%E2%80%A6-par t-2-imessage-and-custom-tones/

It looks to me like you will have an opportunity to activate iMessage using a different Apple ID than the one that is used to authorize Apps and music.

The question gets more complicated for shared devices like iPads and maybe even iPods, but should be pretty straightforward for single-user iPhones.

And actually, it might even be simpler than that, judging from the comment stream on that page I linked. When you sign in to iMessage with an Apple ID, you also specify an email address. So you can have two people activate iMessage on two separate devices with the same Apple ID but different email addresses, and they would have separate iMessage identities as far as the iMessage system is concerned. No one else would be able to tell they even have the same Apple ID...I think.

You should probably have separate Apple Store accounts and share your apps and music with each other. That way you can keep things separate when you want them to be, and share things with each other when you choose.

-> Home Sharing.

I don't know about the OP, but Home Sharing isn't useful in my situation. My wife and I have one PC and we use one login. If we were to use separate Apple IDs (Apple Store Accounts), I think we would have to keep switching the authorization in iTunes any time we wanted to sync our iPhones after the other person had synced theirs. And we would have to buy/download duplicate copies of Apps that we both wanted to use, since they would need to be authorized under separate Apple IDs. Even if the OP is using separate computers and/or separate logins, they would still have the multiple App issue.

I think we've recently sorted the music issue out...we don't buy a ton of music online, but we've recently started buying mp3s from Amazon, so we would be able to just be one copy of any songs. Also, I'm not sure if iTunes will let you sync Home Shared songs to your iDevice. Seems like a gray area. Have you tried that?

imessenger will work by your email and your phone number. so if you have an ipad and are on wifi or 3g you can imessage to an iphone by using their phone number.

"Also, I'm not sure if iTunes will let you sync Home Shared songs to your iDevice. Seems like a gray area. Have you tried that?"

Yes, this worked for me. I imported a track from the other user's home-shared library to mine (by clicking on the Import button), then dragged it to my iPhone's listing in the Devices section and sync'ed. I now have a copy of that track on my iPhone and it plays. Also works if you add it to a playlist before sync'ing.

All this is moot, of course, since you're using the same computer and the same login... 🙂

I think Apple are trying hard to accommodate all these widely divergent styles of iUse, but it's going to get a lot more interesting - and more complex - when the cloud is introduced into the equation.

Hi, I like many others have had this problem. I just found this solution here:

http://www.tuaw.com/2011/10/12/dear-aunt-tuaw-help-me-imessage-my-wife/

"Fear not. Your store account is distinct from your iMessages account. You can create separate Apple IDs for iMessage so you and your wife can pseudo-text back and forth.

You will, however, require two email addresses. Select Settings > Messages > Receive At and create a new Apple ID specific to those addresses.

Hugs, Auntie T."

Thanks tuaw 🙂

To all families who read this post:

1. If you only want to buy an app once, across multiple addresses, set up one Apple ID for all devices. (I call this the "App ID") Click on Settings -> Store, and put your "App ID" in there.

2. If you want to use iMessage separately on devices, set up *separate* Apple IDs for each person--one for Mom, one for sister, etc. (I call this the "iCloud ID")

3. You can also use this "iCloud ID" so that each family member has their own 5GB of backup space for contacts, calendars, etc. Use it at Settings -> iCloud -> Account.

Follow these instructions for setting up each family member's personal "iCloud ID" on each device:

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/3385360?answerId=16376181022#16376181022

Cheers! 🙂

Susan