back to article Apple's Messages beta will self-destruct on Mountain Lion launch

The beta build of Apple's new Messages app for Macs, released as a free download yesterday, will self-terminate unless you buy Mac OS X Mountain Lion when it comes out in the summer. So don't get too used to it if you're not going to upgrade your operating system. Of course if you rushed to download the beta Messages app …

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  1. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    "Also if you leave your iPhone on overnight, it will appear that you're always available on instant chat. "

    Erm, where? All iPhones on my list don't show up with any status at all, available or not.

    Was the author perhaps trying to hard to find faults with the concept of sending messages from computers to phones? It's not that new...

    1. jai

      more like just trying hard to find faults with Apple...

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        @Jai

        You speak as if there are none =P

  2. Annihilator
    WTF?

    What??

    A beta programme set to expire?? Next you'll be telling me there's a film at 11...

    1. Paw Bokenfohr

      Re: What??

      I think that the point he was making was more that it appears it's not going to be an app that you can either continue to use after the beta as a properly released piece of software for free, or as a purchase from the app store.

      It's not like Apple can claim that it's like Siri in that it "needs" specific hardware to run, so it'll be interesting to see how they justify a forced OS upgrade for what is in effect just an IM app. I suspect that they won't and you'll be able to buy iMessage in the app store for Snow Leopard and Lion for $5.

      Wonder if Trillian will include support for it somehow. They did for other plaforms way back when, before they were officially opened up to third party clients.

  3. Code Monkey

    iBuddy

    Good grief.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: iBuddy

      Scenario: Down at the pub with five mates after the match seeing Milwall lose, downing a few pints my iPhone rings.

      "whos that?" Mate 1

      "no one!" I reply

      "nah come on..." Laughs mate 2

      While Mate 1 grabs my phone off me.

      They all take a look.....

      " IBUDDY!"

      At this point my hard man street image has gone and deservedly I get done over.

      No no no and no again.

  4. Dan Paul
    Alert

    Oh Great....What a frigging annoyance from hell

    Who cares about the beta expiring!

    What mentally incompetent programmer would design a program that hounds you to acknowledge chat messages pinging across every device that you had ever connected your iPhone to?

    This is the kind of thing that just has to stop. What a miserable time wasting pack of internet addicted douchebags. This is a greater intrusion of real life/meat space than the god damned pager was.

    Folks.... WE JUST DON'T NEED TO BE THIS "CONNECTED". IT'S BAD FOR YOUR HEALTH (AND OURS). LOOK UP FROM YOUR PHONE AND REJOIN THE REAL WORLD!!!!!!!

    1. Annihilator
      WTF?

      Re: Oh Great....What a frigging annoyance from hell

      Erm, you think the programmer is "incompetent" for designing a program that a) clearly people are using/want and b) is in beta?

      If you don't like it, or are that annoyed by it, might I suggest not bloody using it??

      1. Dan Paul
        Devil

        Re: Re: Oh Great....What a frigging annoyance from hell

        I said "Mentally Incompetent".

        The reason why the programmer is mentally incompetent is because IMHO no program should ever do what this one does as it is an affront to humanity just as the pager was and cellphone is today. If you work for a company, are your "days off" still yours; or should your boss be able to contact you 24 hours a day? That is the true horror of this program.

        No programmer should ever make a program that does what this program does as humans do not need to be hounded down by twatter & facecrack feeds at all hours of the day and night.

        Obviously this person never "thought" what the outcome of such a program design might be, lending more creedence to the incompetent part.

        1. This post has been deleted by its author

        2. Old n Cynical

          Re: Re: Re: Oh Great....What a frigging annoyance from hell

          "it is an affront to humanity... humans do not need to be hounded down by twatter & facecrack feeds at all hours of the day and night."

          My thoughts too, but alas, it appears that many virtual society supplicants, for reasons unbeknown to me, do indeed crave such a constant fix of tripe, dross and drivel. My only hope is that sanity will return to roost some time soon.

        3. Snot Rot
          Pint

          Re: Re: Re: Oh Great....What a frigging annoyance from hell

          Hey, don't blame the programmers!

          Blame the designers.

          But I totally agree. I get annoyed with MSN (or whatever the fuck its called now) on the laptop & desktop & phone.

          1. Anonymous Coward
            Anonymous Coward

            Re: Re: Re: Re: Oh Great....What a frigging annoyance from hell

            Stupid programmers. They should have:

            a) Provided an option to terminate the program, maybe through a menu item, or even a hotkey (say Cmd Q)

            b) Had it change your status to offline when you're away from your Mac and the screensaver kicks in

            If only they had done these two simple thi...

            Oh. They have.

            1. This post has been deleted by its author

            2. Old n Cynical

              Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Oh Great....What a frigging annoyance from hell

              "An instant message sent by your iBuddy will ping on your iPhone, your Mac and your iPad, if you have left those devices on. What's more, it will keep pinging away until you have explicitly opened and received the notes on each device individually."

              Not an attack on your post Fats, but assuming the article is correct about the above then...

              Stupid programmers. They should have:

              a) Been bound, or provided with a means self-bind, even through a hot key (say Cmd B)

              b) Been gagged and had their status changed to 'Unconcious'

              c) Been horsewhiped to within an inch of a kernel panic.

              d) Had their status updated to 'Unemployed', or be provided with the means to self-terminate, maybe a key labelled 'DEL' on their forehead?

              If only reason and sanity prevailed.

              Oh. They don't. :)

              (Of course, if the article is incorrect on the quoted points, just file my response for when some idiot does do this).

        4. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: Re: Re: Oh Great....What a frigging annoyance from hell

          Stop saying program

    2. N2

      Re: Oh Great....What a frigging annoyance from hell

      How very well said, I thought I was the only one.

    3. Giles Jones Gold badge

      Re: Oh Great....What a frigging annoyance from hell

      So you've never felt that you want to stop tapping away at your phone and type the message on a real computer keyboard?

      It's optional, you can switch it off.

  5. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Charging ?

    I may not have been paying attention. I thought Apple charged for major releases, not point releases ?

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Charging ?

      Ignoring the obvious troll, I do think Apple have a strange view to iMessage.

      Surely one of the most important things in a messaging app is that the people you want to connect with have the same messaging app. OK so if you're keeping it on your own ecosystem (like BBM say) you then make sure that it's available across the range so *any* user can use/be annoyed by the app.

      But with iMessage Apple restrict it to later hardware and OS versions for none technical reasons. I can see why they do that for many feature (not that I necessarily agree with those reasons - I don't) but surely it's in their interests to make iMessage available even to refusniks on early iPhones and iPods (say ones that parents have passed down to their kids) and any version of the Desktop OS.

      Just seems odd to limit it like that...

  6. This post has been deleted by its author

  7. Stephen 11
    Stop

    "An instant message sent by your iBuddy will ping on your iPhone, your Mac and your iPad, if you have left those devices on. What's more, it will keep pinging away until you have explicitly opened and received the notes on each device individually."

    Erm, No. At least that's not been my experience. When I read the iMessage on the mac, it (almost) immediately shows as read on the iphone and clears itself from the notification screen.

    1. JayKay
      Stop

      iMessages for me are synced - read, unread

      I agree with Stephen 11, if someone sends me an iMessage and my iPhone, iPad and MacBook all receive it, as soon as I read it on any device, the other two know I've read it and remove it from Notification Center and mark it as read.

      I thought that was the point of iMessage - "Begin a conversation on one iOS device and pick it up on another."

  8. Matt Piechota

    "No programmer should ever make a program that does what this program does as humans do not need to be hounded down by twatter & facecrack feeds at all hours of the day and night."

    What if that's exactly what the user wants?

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      then

      You are sad.

  9. Hawkeyes
    Thumb Up

    iBuddy.com ?

    Are Apple anything to do with iBuddy.com ? I just done a quick search on google for "iBuddy" and was directed to a platform that says the following.

    " iBuddy is a geo location based platform that enables users to communicate in real-time with friends, family and other people who share similar interests in and around their current location. People also have the ability to connect and communicate directly with local businesses, restaurants, bars, clubs, cinemas, theatres, message boards and other things situated nearby. Businesses can also communicate back with special offers and money off deals. "

    Have Apple acquired this platform / company or is it just a coincidence? I remember when they launched facetime which they actually acquired from the guys who used to live at the web address "facetime.com" , now called Actiance Inc, hmmmm.

  10. ravenviz Silver badge
    Holmes

    What I do at night

    iMac off. iPhone on aeroplane mode. Have sex with my wife. Sleep.

    1. Ted Treen
      Paris Hilton

      Re: What I do at night

      Every night? Same order? Same routine? Same time?

      1. Dan 55 Silver badge
        Joke

        Re: Re: What I do at night

        What, you mean you want him to do something like...

        Put iMac to sleep. Switch to aeroplane mode. Have sex with iPhone. Turn off my wife.

  11. Stephen 2

    Ryan from the Office already did this

    Anyone watch the episode of "The Office" where Ryan 'the temp' created something called 'WOOF' which would alert you to an incoming message by phone,sms,fax,computer etc. Sounds quite similar to this offering from Apple!

  12. David Ward 1

    Is this different to google talk?

    Is this any different to using google chat which seems to sync messages from pidgin on my desktop, and the Google talk app on my phone and tablet quite successfully ?

    If my phone or tablet is asleep then the messages get updated when I wake it up, and if it is awake it beeps and shows a new message until I have read it on any of the devices I am using.

    Am I missing something here? Isn't this also just a feature of the messenger program and completely unrelated to the operating system unless it is being used as a cheap marketing plot to sell the latest version which has no other major selling points?

  13. Real Name
    Stop

    Correction...

    "An instant message sent by your iBuddy will ping on your iPhone, your Mac and your iPad, if you have left those devices on. What's more, it will keep pinging away until you have explicitly opened and received the notes on each device individually."

    No, If you read it on one device, it marks as read on all of them at the same time. Yes, my iPhone pings the same time I see it on Mac. But it then marks as read when I've clicked it on my Mac.

    1. Ted Treen
      Big Brother

      Re: Correction...

      You know, if you keep correcting these anti-Apple moans disguised as journalism, you'll probably be banned.

      Last thing they want (or care about, seemingly) is accurate factuality.

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