One of the most frequent questions since iOS 5 was released has been Why can’t my friends see me in iMessage? For many the issue comes down to their iTunes account email address being associated with an account they don’t frequently use. This post will help you to check your iMessage settings and verify you have the correct receive at address set.
Many of us set up our iTunes account five or more years ago so it was originally associated with an account we used at that time. What if you happened to switch? No worries there. iOS 5 makes switching accounts a breeze. To change the account(s) linked to your iMessage account, all you need to do is change the receive at address setting. By default iMessage uses the same address as your iCloud account which for many is their iTunes email address.
Setting | Messages | Receive at will allow you to add any address you desire to be associated with your iMessage accounts. For both the iPod Touch and iPhone you can assign one or more “receive at” email addresses for iMessage. Having this setup properly is critical when iPad or iPod Touch users want to locate you. This option ensures friends with various email addresses for you can quickly locate you on iMessage. For iPhone to iPhone this is not much of an issue however from iPhone to iPod Touch the emails address is important.
The biggest difference between iMessage on the iPod Touch and iPhone is on the iPhone iMessage allows you to use your mobile number to send SMS messages when iMessage is not available. Once you properly configure iMessage it is transparent so you will quickly understand the value of iMessage. Give it a try and let us know what you think.
