Friday, January 20, 2012

Tweak #22 - biteSMS

Well now, it's been a very long break from writing but I am kind of low on tweaks so I will be releasing an article or two per week (to hopefully see a new interesting tweak to come out in the meantime so I can write about it). I already have a nice one that I will write about either tomorrow or Sunday. Actually two other ones that are quite nice :) To kick this weekend off, biteSMS is one of the most popular tweaks out there. It overwrites the stock Messages app and adds quite a nice load of features that the stock Messages app is missing. There are no options in the Settings app so go ahead and launch your biteSMS app (the big ol pink icon, which is very hard to not notice ha).


Once inside, first thing you'll notice is the contact pics feature. Very nice addition (yes I removed my contact names and the content of the messages). Go ahead and tap on that little gear up top next to the "Messages" heading, that will lead you into biteSMS settings.


Now here is where all the fun starts. I have 38 pics in this article to go through and there's still more settings that I did not take a snapshot of. First things first, the about tab. Tap on it to learn everything you need to know about biteSMS. There is 2 different send methods to pick from, one (obviously) is your regular carrier messages or biteSMS (just like Skype, you can purchase credits to send text messages so technically you don't even need a text plan from your provider if you feel they're ripping you off).


I'm not quite sure what the override send method is but I assume that you can select which contacts to use biteSMS credits or mobile carrier plan.


Looks like I'm missing a pic but below the credits/license/ads info tabs there is one place to restore. I assume it let's you restore your license in case you receive errors from biteSMS (as in, you're still on trial period when you paid for this tweak and should be fully available).


Let's get to all the nifty features biteSMS has to offer. We'll start off with quick compose.


What quickcompose is just that, let's you quickly compose a message anywhere on your iDevice. There are two options to toggle it, one is the volume and tap (when you set your volume, you will see a popup saying something like "touch here to quick compose" and it will launch the quick compose window) or the Notification Center icon, which I have set it to. You can also use Activator to setup your own quick compose launch. I don't use shortcuts so I don't really know what they do.


Here you can configure your buttons (will explain in a little bit) as well as set a few other options. I just realized as I'm typing this what "Backspace to 'To'" is. In a clear text when you tap backspace it will take you back to the "To:" as in to whom you would like to send a text to (derp). Mark all Read will be explained a little later and I don't really know what Dim When Done does.


Here is the Configure Buttons tab. These will be shows a little later, as in when you get a popup for your quick compose or quick reply.


You can set the Home Button to close the quick reply/quick compose and set how many of the above buttons will be shown "per page", that will also be explained a little further down.


Let's go back and setup your quick reply. As I'm typing this I'm realizing more and more what these settings do lol Alert style will be either the new Apple notifications or custom quick reply which you will see in a little bit. Here I have open quick reply in NC checked as well, instead of opening the biteSMS app (it is kind of slow and laggy though). Clearing messages will mark them as read so you won't see those silly badges over the icons.


I'll tell you right now that I just changed my alert style to Apple settings and honestly it's less obtrusive :) I don't use dim when done and auto show quick reply is off. What it does is instead of showing up the quick reply window when in lockscreen, I actually have to swipe to quickly reply. Keeps it very nice and tidy, well organized. The same button configuration is present here just like in quick compose settings. A few other settings include showing during a call, showing an SMS and mark all read (which will be explained a little further).


Similar buttons like above.


As well as Home Button action and how many buttons per page.


You can set your privacy in here:


And an auto-forward feature which I do not use but a nice implenetation.


Ah the auto-lock feature. I don't use because there is no need, until I start my school again that is :)


Even more settings for passcode lock:


All the way at the bottom is the more stuff section. Here you can set contact pics, smileys, accents, character counter and more.


The contact pics tab allows you to choose where you would like to see your contact list pictures.


And the smileys have a few nice features as well.


One of the cool things you can set is use the green Messages icon for biteSMS and then completely hide the stock Messages app from view.


Okay we're done here let's test this tweak out. As you can see in NC there is a nice pink little icon on the bottom right corner. This is your quick compose setting we chose earlier.


Tap on it and here is the popup I spoke of earlier. Let's type a name in and pick a contact.


For this demo I will pick myself (notice the send button changed to blue, as it does in stock Messages when you're going to iMessage someone, in this case myself since I have an iDevice).


If you notice up above the contact name there is a grey bar with an arrow. If you pull it down it will show you conversation history like so (with included time stamps):


Ok so I send myself a test text and here we go in Springboard (or any other app) this is the popup you will see. Notice the buttons we picked before and paging (little gray dots). If you swipe on the buttons you will see another page of those buttons you set before:


Let's tap on later and see the same message in NC:


Once tapped on, you will see the exact same window to popup. You can reply then and there when you receive the message, or select later to come back to it at a later time (YES THIS WORKS IN ANY APP OR GAME YOU'RE IN SINCE THIS IS FROM NOTIFICATION CENTER = AWESOME).


And the same button swipe action like before, and yes this supports landscape mode as well :) Buttons are pushed to the right side of the screen (forgot to take a pic of this but yes it does work).


Now, let's resend the same text but this time a view from the lockscreen. Once you get a text you can swipe to reply and the quick reply window will pop up. Or you can wait for a later time to do so (you're busy etc etc).


If you can't reply and get back to it at a later time here is how the text will look like:


As you can see when I tap on the text icon you will read "slide for quick reply" text string just like the slide to unlock. Very nice attention to detail here. If you don't want to reply, simply tap on the icon and you will be presented with an "x" on the far right side which will dismiss the text (remember, it will be marked as read just like we set it to before).


This is the quick reply while in lockscreen (same like before, no need to unlock your iDevice):


And the same button setup:


Well that was quite a mouthfull of a review. I hope I covered everything I possibly could about biteSMS. It is available in the BigBoss repo for free with a 14 day advertisment display or you can support the team by buying a license and no ads for ever. I don't remember exactly how much it cost, I assume around $7 but do not quote me on that. Created by the biteSMS team.


Gotta love those nice detailed sections, there is more included for you to read up on or just visit biteSMS website and check it out.


Alright then it took me more than 40 minutes to write this time for some hot cocoa and enjoy this beautifull snowy day here in Chicago :) Have a wonderfull weekend stay safe be careful and please please support pod2g the mastermind behind iOS 5.0.1 untether jailbreak for all A4 devices and AS OF TODAY A5 DEVICES! Yes you read that right, your iPhone 4S and iPad2 can be jailbroken thanks to this amazing person! Go support him, follow me on Twitter and Google+ for uptodate happenings and I'll catch ya next time :) Cheers!

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