iMessage on Windows?

[criseloren]

Hi all,

 

Long time LTT follower here (Subbed before Luke did the face reveal). I'm looking for a way to text via iMessage on my work PC. I do property management and I try to keep all my convos via whatsapp so I can reply on my PC without having to pick up my phone. But sometimes I get iMessages and I'm forced to pick my phone up to reply. I'm wondering if there is ANY way to reply from my PC (Maybe also SMS too?). So far I have the following solutions:

 

1. http://www.remotemessages.com/ - Need to Jailbreak my iPhone. Wont be able to use once jailbreak is unavailable.
2. macOS VM - No idea how reliable this is or if you can even get iMessage to work.
3. Just buy a friggen separate mac and remote into it from my PC just to reply to messages. Expensive solution, would like to avoid if possible?

 

Any input is appreciated! Thanks all

[criseloren]

Any ideas?

[Guest]

On 7/27/2020 at 4:47 PM, criseloren said:

http://www.remotemessages.com/ - Need to Jailbreak my iPhone. Wont be able to use once jailbreak is unavailable.

This is because of limitations with IOS, the same reason things like KDE Connect don't support IPhones.

 

On 7/27/2020 at 4:47 PM, criseloren said:

macOS VM - No idea how reliable this is or if you can even get iMessage to work.

There is a good chance iMessage wont work, at least out of the box. I am not too familiar with iMessage but I believe it has something to do with hardware specific data, maybe serial number?. iMessage doesn't work on a lot of hackintosh builds.

A quick google search shows mixed results for VM's, and I did see some guides on spoofing hardware and serial numbers to get certain APPS to work. I wont share it here however, due to the grey area it falls into.

 

On 7/27/2020 at 4:47 PM, criseloren said:

Just buy a friggen separate mac and remote into it from my PC just to reply to messages. Expensive solution, would like to avoid if possible?

For something reliable, this would be the best solution. Maybe a used Mac Mini you can tuck away somewhere.

 

There are no alternatives for using iMessage outside of Apples Products.

The only thing Apple offers for windows users is iTunes which is hanging on by a thread at this point, as it was discontinued outside Windows.

 

Otherwise if you want better desktop integration you would want a Android Device. In the realm of Windows, Samsung offers the best Windows integration for its newer devices. All recent Android devices should support Google Messaging via web as well.

[Roswell]

If it makes you feel any better, messages on MacOS is pretty awful. It's really unreliable and often loses connection to iCloud/sync. I can't tell you how many times I pick up my phone and notice a bunch of messages that never popped up on my Mac or how many times I sent messages from my Mac only for them to never send or never sync with my phone.

 

TLDR: Definitely don't rely on iMessages on a Mac for work purposes.

[Zach the Dev]

Currently, sine Apple doesn't expose the iMessage API, the only solution is to use an App like AirMessage with a MacOS VM or device. In the past, I personally bought a Mac Mini from 2009 for $50. Pretty cheap the older you go. I've also used it with a VM. It's tricky, but it's free. I would not spend more than $100 on a Mac Mini to use as a server. 

 

Also check out my iMessage from Android/Windows project. It just might be partially what you're looking for: https://linustechtips.com/main/topic/1228697-imessage-on-androidlinuxwindows-looking-for-alpha-testers-open-source/