I wasn’t at either of the Apple keynotes about iOS 4.0, but I did read as much as I possibly could about them, and one of the features I was most curious about was “in-app SMS”. After reading the feature’s title on one of Apple’s slides, my thoughts immediately jumped to jailbreak apps like BiteSMS […]
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In-App SMS on iOS 4: Not what I had expected

Jun 29th 2010 by

example of in-app SMS from Awesome Note

I wasn’t at either of the Apple keynotes about iOS 4.0, but I did read as much as I possibly could about them, and one of the features I was most curious about was “in-app SMS”. After reading the feature’s title on one of Apple’s slides, my thoughts immediately jumped to jailbreak apps like BiteSMS and iRealSMS (which allow in-app replying) and wondered if I’d ever need them again.

As it turns out, in-app SMS (described on Apple’s dev page) only means the ability to create and send auto-filled text messages from within apps. SoundHound and Awesome Note are two of the apps that now support this, and it is, admittedly, a great way of quickly sharing a bit of information (especially with non-smartphone users). But it was a little disappointing to realize that there would be no in-app replying. Sort of.

As it turns out, however, Apple’s other API, fast app switching, what really came to the rescue. The Messages app now loads within one second (as long as you had launched it at least once before), and with more and more games and apps supporting the Fast App Switching API, I don’t think I need in-app replies any more. It feels a lot less like leaving one app and moving to Messaging, and a lot more like pressing alt (or Cmd) tab on a desktop computer.

So while I do think that an opportunity was missed to provide quick-n-easy in-app replying, it turns out that iOS 4 has the Messages covered better than ever, and it no longer requires a jailbreak to enjoy non-disruptive texting on the iPhone.

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