One of the first companies that took advantage of the pull of smartpthones at the end of the first decade of the 2000s, was WhatsApp through a simple application that allowed you to send text messages, as if they were SMS, but completely free of charge, since they were sent through the internet without going through the operators.
However, in other countries, such as the United States, SMS has always been free, hence they are used as the main means of communication instead of messaging applications. If you have an iPhone and an iPad, Apple lets us receive SMS on the iPad as if it were the iPhone.
SMS was an important source of income for operators, operators who did not see this messaging platform favorably, but had no choice but to put your head down and start offering mobile rates that include internet connection.
With the release of iOS 11.4, Apple introduced a new feature that allowed users to sync text messages with other devices associated with the same iCloud account, be it an iPad, iPod, or Mac.
But in addition, they not only allow you to synchronize all the text messages that are received, but they also allow you to send text messages. That is, if we have an iPad or a Mac with the same Apple ID as the iPhone, we can send SMS from these devices as if it were an iPhone.
If you want to know how to receive SMS on iPad In addition to sending them, I invite you to follow the steps that we show you below.
How to receive SMS on iPad or Mac
SMS synchronization is associated with Apple's iMessage messaging platform. Apple's iMessage is Apple's messaging platform that allows us to share any type of content, text, videos, images ... just like we can do with any other application. In summary, we could say that It is one more alternative to WhatsApp such as Telegram, Viber, Line ...
All messages sent through iMessage, sync in the cloud with all Apple devices, the same function that Telegram offers us but which for now remains one of the most negative points of WhatsApp, since it does not allow us to continue conversations from other devices (at least at the time of publishing this article).
Once we are clear about what iMessage is and its association with SMS, the first thing we have to do is activate the iMessage messaging platform. iMessage, unlike WhatsApp, works through our phone number or through the email that we use in our Apple ID.
How to activate iMessage
The process to activate the iMessage messaging platform is as simple as accessing the iPhone settings, and accessing the Messages menu.
Within this menu, at the top, we must activate the iMessage switch. That's it, we already have Apple's messaging platform activated.
Now we must activate the synchronization of messages between all devices through iCloud, but first, we are going to show you how we can recognize which messages are SMS and which with iMeesage.
When mixing text messages (SMS) and messages via the Internet in the same application, Apple uses color codes. While the SMS are displayed in green speech bubbles (both sent and received), the messages we send and receive through iMessage, they are displayed in blue speech bubbles.
Enable message syncing between devices
When we create an Apple account (any email can be used), Apple offers us 5GB of storage space totally free, a space that does not provide for practically anything, however it is more than enough to synchronize messages, contacts, calendar appointments, notes, reminders ...
If we also want to store all the images and videos that we make with the iPhone, we can forget about it with only 5GB of storage. To activate the synchronization of SMS and iMessage on all devices associated with the same ID, we must carry out the steps that I show you below:
- First, we must access the settings of our device.
- Next, click on our Apple account, located at the top of the settings menu.
- Next, click on iCloud. This section shows all the data synchronization options that it offers us. What matters to us is to activate the switch shown to the right of Messages.
Once we have activated the synchronization of messages between all devices, from now on, we will be able to send and receive messages from any device associated with the same ID. All messages we send and receive will be displayed on all devices.
Can I receive SMS from an Android on an iPad?
iMessage is only officially available for iOS and macOS. Apple has no plans to expand this messaging platform to other operating systems, be it Windows, Linux or Android, however it is possible to use this platform on Android as long as we have a Mac.
With the application AirMessage for macOS, you can use iMessage on Android using your Mac as an intermediary. All the messages that we send through our Android smartphone will reach the iMessage application on our Mac and from there they will go directly to the destination iPhone.
This application, also works in reverseIn other words, if we receive an iMessage through the AirMessage application on our Mac, it will automatically forward the message to our Android smartphone. Once we have configured the AirMessage application for macOS, we have to download the corresponding version for Android.
The configuration process can be somewhat complicated, but with a little patience, we can use iMessage on Android. In order for the messages we send and receive through iMessage to be synchronized with our iPad, we must activate the Message sync.
The AirMessage application only synchronizes with the Messages application on the Mac the iMessages, that is, the messages that are sent through the Apple messaging platform, does not sync SMSas these are stored natively on the device.
