AT&T iPhone MMS Arrives Today -- Here's a Walkthrough!
Today's the day everyone on AT&T has been waiting for -- MMS lands now. Well, now-ish, because AT&T is doing a rolling roll-out, and we'll see how the network holds up.
AT&T MMS Update: We know you’ve been eager for this service so we wanted to offer a quick update on the launch plans for MMS on Friday, Sept. 25. Late morning, Pacific Time, on Friday, the new carrier settings update enabling MMS should be live and ready to download through iTunes. We’ll provide the steps and all of the details you need right here at that time.
If you're waiting for MMS to come your way -- whether to use or just to check off your AT&T bucket list -- check out our MMS for iPhone walkthrough after the break so you're ready when yours lights up. And when it does light up, let us know when and where in the comments so we can cheer (and those nearby can lose their minds with anticipointment!)
iPhone 3.0/3.1 MMS Walkthrough
Messages is the new SMS, and is renamed to signify the addition of MMS (multi-media messaging service). It allows, in the case of the new iPhone OS 3.0 software, for you to receive, vCards (contacts), audio, location, and -- for iPhone 3GS only -- video to be sent using the Messages interface to any other smartphone or feature-phone that supports MMS and those file types.
Once you receive an MMS, you can tap the icon in the message bubble to get a better look at it. In the case of a contact, you'll see a page similar to what you get when you call up a contact in Phone, except at the very bottom you'll have extra, saving and sharing related options that we'll cover later in the Phone app section.
Location opens in Google Maps as you'd expect, audio and video in iPod, and images pop up full screen where you can tap the share icon to Save Image -- but strangely not re-share it...
When it comes to sending MMS, only picture sending can be initiated from within the Messages app itself. Everything else starts a "share" function from another app (i.e. Share Contact is in Contacts, Share Location is in Google Maps, Share Audio is in Voice Recorder, etc.)
There are two ways to insert a picture into MMS. The first is to tap the camera icon, bottom right. A requester will ask if you want to Take Photo or Choose Existing. Take Photo will call up an embedded version of the Camera app. Frame your picture, tap the camera icon, look at the preview and either hit Retake to try again or Use to insert the picture into your MMS window. (If you want to erase it later, just backspace over it like you would a text character you want to delete)
Choose Existing will call up an image picker (like the Photo App). Pick an Album, pick a picture, and tap Choose to confirm.
The second way to insert a picture into MMS is to paste it...
The new, system-wide Cut, Copy, and Paste service has also been introduced into Messages. It works in a similar way to the implementation in the Notes app, and we'll cover it more fully there. One difference is that double tapping a previous SMS will give you the Copy popup allowing you to duplicate the entire contents of the SMS to the clipboard. Tapping on an empty entry box will launch the Paste popup, so you can stick the contents back down in an message of your own. If the entry box already contains text, double tapping will select the closest word, and double tapping an holding will select the closet word and popup the loupe.
Again, we'll cover this more fully in the section for the Notes app.
Messages also now includes line-item deletion and forwarding. Tap the Edit button at the top right, select the messages you want -- as many of them as you want -- and then hit the red Delete button at the bottom, or the blue Forward button beside it. Edit still isn't the most elegant name for the combination of deletion and forwarding, mind you, but the functionality is consistent with the Mass Edit feature introduced for Mail in iPhone 2.0.
Lastly, Apple has also answered the call for pervasive landscape-style keyboards, and Messages is one of the text-entry apps that received it. For those who want a Cadillac-wide typing experience, enjoy!
(Note to Apple: a way to "lock" the iPhone in portrait or landscape mode would be appreciated, especially when typing while reclining and every little angle change sends the UI spinning.)
Still no MMS for AT&T users. That's being released on September 25 (though whether it will require an iPhone 3.1.1 update, or just a new carrier file is unknown).
With iPhone 3.1 you can tap the action button at bottom, left to save them to the camera roll, just like you could previously do with pictures under iPhone 3.0.
Editor-in-Chief of iMore, Executive Producer at Mobile Nations, co-host of Iterate and ZEN and TECH, cook, grappler, photon wrangler.
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nothing in atlanta,ga
Nothing yet in Los Angeles. (8:05 am)
It's 11:08am and there's still nothing here in Metro Detroit.
Noting yet in Atlanta, but still waiting!
Just rolled out in Chicago. Just downloaded the update on Itunes. Sending friend pic msg of my nutts as we speak.
springvalley ny still nothing!!!!! im getting pissed off!!!!
TSB3- how do you have carrier 5.1 and not have mms working I have the same one and I have mms working with no problems at all .
GET BACK TO WORK EVERYONE...........just check tonight when you get home!
Drbling:"Just got the phone with AT&T rep. I was told that mms will available at 2:30pm eastern time. WTF"
W T F ????? F U AT&T
i just tried to sync my iphone and itunes froze up... A SIGN OF THINGS TO COME. Boston, MA no mms yet
Nothing in Denver yet
About that locking in landscape or portrait orientation - at least it's available in the Kindle app. Shouldn't be too hard to do for Apple....ya thunk?
Nothing in Arkansas
Update doesnt come out until 9 0' clock Pacific Time.
san jose, ca. still no update.
still nothing in Buffalo, ny
They said 10am Pacific Time folks, not Eastern Time. It's been in the news stories for the last couple days. You can hit refresh all you want, but you won't see anything until after 2pm EST.
Sorry...
nothing in central calif i have been waiting
Nothing in Boston, MA 11:17 AM.
I have a jailbroken 3g 3.0... When I download the update for mms wil I have to update to firmware 3.1???? I hope not!!!
Late morning will probably be 5pm eastern 2pm pacific (Los Angeles time) 11am Hawaii. Keep in mind Hawaii is in the pacific.
just got off the phone with iphone tech support and they were told the update wont be out till 12 pacific time today
its too bad the world isnt flat, then 10am pacific time would be 10am eastern time. when are they going to come out with an app for THAT
This is fairly amusing. The release says "Late morning, Pacific Time, on Friday" which is still hours away and people are already getting upset because it's not available yet. Patience is a virtue that we, as a society in general, are lacking. It's been this long, relax for a little while longer. AT&T needs more time to provide us with the best possible experience on their network.
Late morning on the West Coast = mid-afternoon on the East Coast
It's here in Chicago as of 10:07 am. Sending pics of my dump I just took in the toliet to all my friends. Its' green.
Brockplague yes you will loose your jail broke
Chicago... How did you know when it was "time"? Did you get a text notification or did you just check for the latest update on iTunes?
Nothing in Boston, MA 11:19 AM.
Nothing in Charlotte, NC
Too bad I'm not on Chicago's friends distribution list, I feel like I'm missing out on some serious art photos.
10am PST is 1pm EST... learn to timezone
AT&T has said "Late morning Pacific time"
which could mean all the way up till 11:59 AM pacific time, which is 2:59pm eastern.
Denver- well I knew it was time when my stomache starting turning a little. Then I passed some gas... The final straw was the cigarette I smoked and coffee I drank. I was running for the bathroom after that.
I'm from Brooklyn, NY. I download the carrier update yesterday and my mms started working right away. I have a 32gb 3GS iphone.
LMAO @ Chicago
im sitting in traffic on the freeway with my laptop/3g data card on the passenger seat. i hook the iphone up every so often to see if the update has been released, nothing yet. this probably isnt the safest thing to be doing, but god i love technology
OMG!
Pictures of kaka!?! I want!!!
And don't forget the expectation that they set to get this out during "late summer" which turned into early autumn. This could turn into early or late afternoon Pacific Time.
Boo!!!!
Sorry cubanb. I'm aware of how timezones work. Just accidentally hit the 2 instead of 1 on the keyboard.
this is sad.....
@j in Sophia - Why can AT&T charge extra on an unlimited data plan for SMS/mms data? Simple...because people will pay it!
I use beejive for SMS and picfree for MMS. It's a bit clunky sometimes, but (for me anyway) the mild inconvenience is more than worth the $120/yr savings.
You can bet that if/when AT&T loses exclusivity that they won't be trying these pricing shenanigans.
They also said "Late Summer" and that ended a few days ago.
Nothing in Nashville yet. We're still waiting here too.
What's the deal with billing, are MMS messages going to be considered "2 SMS" messages, or will there be separate allowances for MMS messages and SMS messages? Haven't seen any info on that, unless someone knows of a link they could share. Thanks...
...btw San Francisco 830am PST, nothing.
just got it...Charlotte, NC via Itunes
11:34AM ET
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!! Im paying $30 a month for DATA !!!!!!!!!!!!!! When available I will send 1 000 000 MMS's today!!!!!!!!!
No update yet in Hibbing mn. I'll keep trying until I have to go to work at one.
There is a built in way to lock the rotation in one lean direction and that is landscape with the home key opposite the direction you will be leaning in. The iPhone does not rotate upside down (ie home button in the upward direction) so if I have the iPhone in landscape with the Home Button on the right, then I could lean to the left (i.e. laying on a recliner or the bed) and it would not auto rotate. Then if I decided to lean to the other side I would have to flip the landscape rotation which is the only disadvantage. However, I like to read my iPhone in a tilted manner while I'm laying down and this is a useful way to do it without it flipping all over the place or jailbreaking to get the auto-rotate inhibitor sbs program.
damn, i'm in the detroit area, still nothing. how does chicago have it, and we don't. so close, yet so far
Nutman: what kind of notification did u receive from iTunes ?
so if they got it in charlotte we can figure another hour in the midwest then
@Nutman thanks for the time update, my brain broke and i am unable to make sense of the strange digits displayed on my clock.
10:34 Central - Tulsa, OK and nothing at all here yet.. I'm not for sure it will work with OS 3.0 though, because I don't have the little camera icon in the SMS app or any kind of "Send as MMS" option in the picture viewer. Maybe it will just require a carrier file and power cycle the phone - not require OS 3.1 or an iTunes update.. wishful thinking?
You people are pathetic! How have you been able to survive this long without MMS?? LMAO!
@nutman ...i retract my previous statement... didnt see your earlier post! my b
tells u a update is available when u sync with ITunes
Almost 9 AM here in Vancouver , WA still no MMS update
Nothing yet in New York as of 11.41am
still no update for me . 11:44 am est charlotte,nc
im already ashamed of myself. this is one of those things that gets me so excited in anticipation, then when it goes live it'll be awesome for an hour. after which it'll be one of those things i use every once in a while and totally take for granted because as previous posters have said, mms is pretty much standard on every phone except iphone.
OMG, 11:34 AM FL, I cant send txt !!!!!!! red exclamation sign!!!!
OMG THIS B S I HAVE TO LEAVE SOON. WHATS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN RELEASING IT AT 2 a.m. or 2 p.m. JUST RELEASE IT!
read somewhere that it would happen "late morning, pacific time." Whatever that means. Hooked up to itunes now. All lastest software installed. no news yet. 8:44 pst
DubbDee - your response sounds scripted! Hmmmmm....
Brian-
Late morning it will be available guys!!!
SMS down in Miami, FL 11:46 AM
in Denver no mms yet, all I want is to send one pic than I'll find something else to cry about
I'm downtown Chicago and nothing yet. I went on iTunes and no updates were available -- is that where I update the file?
i have a jailbroken 3.0.1 3GS will i be able to get the carrier file update that comes out today for MMS on will I have to update to the new 3.1 firmware ??
Sending MMS with iPhone 3.1, Carrier 5.1 file on a non-jailbroken phone in Milwaukee, WI. I was able to send and receive pics and video around 5:30 CST time last night. I did notice that messages would only go through on 3g and not on WiFi.
8:48am....still waiting here in San Francisco....
thought I had the latest itunes, 9.0.1, but didn't. Whenever I click to install, nothing happens is 9.0.1. the patch? 9.0.1. installation over load?
is it considered "late morning, pacific time" yet?
(8:50, norcal, pst)
If you already have the 5.1 carrier update on your phone will iTunes still recognize that there is an update available?
MMS, Tethering, Teleportation All Works Fine Down Here In DALLASS
People need to be patient and relax, MMS is a great feature but I think we have taken it too far. It's like getting a new toy, we would play with it for a few hours/days and be hyped all over it. Then you get bored and want the next big thing.... It's a sad and vicious cycle lol
@Sargeant_002 - not scripted, fairly sarcastic though.....dripping with it.
@ Troll, not everyone in Dallas!
How do I know if I have the carrier update????
And Now Works Fine In NYC
DrzPrince973 -"People need to be patient and relax, MMS is a great feature but I think we have taken it too far. It’s like getting a new toy, we would play with it for a few hours/days and be hyped all over it. Then you get bored and want the next big thing…. It’s a sad and vicious cycle lol"
Says the man who JUST broke his F5 key in hopes to see the update's release!!! HA HA HA...
Brian-
Troll thanks for the update i was afraid the teleportation ap wouldnt work properly. Man those guys at apple are smart. lol
i have a jailbroken 3.0.1 3GS will i be able to get the carrier file update that comes out today for MMS on will I have to update to the new 3.1 firmware ?? I need to know??
Lot's of questions, no answers here.
my ny number was ported from another carrier to a different state and state. can that be a reason why i do not have the update?
@Troll Your full of it.
11:00 am in kansas and nothing yet
Where do I get the carrier update?
Does anyone know if I'm going to be able to get it from iTunes on my phone without having to hook it up to my comp?
9:06 in Los Angeles and nothing
where do i get the carrier 5.1 update?
nothing in Md...................yet.
I implemented the 5.1 carrier file and I got my MMS working, however it broke myself and my friend who implemented the 5.1's application Push Notifications. Anyone else have this issue?
nothing here in anaheim
@LSKS No SHxT. Teleportation Won't Be Available Until The iPhone 4G Comes Out Next Year.. DUH!!!!
@ericg
I have the same question. I already have the 5.1 carrier file, but would like the official AT&T carrier file. Not sure if it will recognize and update.
how do i check if the update is available in my area
As a proud NC kid, I can't stand being affiliated with SC...with lopped off that weak appendage years ago...and look how crazy they've gotten.
w00t comment 200