How to Set Up SMS Relay Between Your OS X Yosemite Machine and iOS 8.1 Device

by Anthony Bouchard

So you’ve upgraded your Mac to OS X Yosemite 10.10, and you grabbed today’s iOS 8.1 update for your iOS device(s); now, you just want to set up that cool new SMS Relay feature that Apple has been bragging about since they unveiled iOS 8 at the original Summer keynote.

SMS Relay works from iOS 8.1 to OS X Yosemite, and it also works with your other iOS 8.1 devices. For example, if you have an iPhone 6 Plus running iOS 8.1 and a MacBook Pro with retina display running Mac OS X Yosemite, it will work. If you have an iPhone 6 Plus running iOS 8.1 and an iPad Mini with retina display running iOS 8.1, this will also work. In this guide, we’ll show you how to get SMS Relay all set up.

Doing so is easy; all you have to do is go to your Settings application on your iOS 8.1 device and then go to the Messages cell:

Now you can go to the Text Message Forwarding cell from the Messages preferences pane:

You’ll then see toggle switches for all of the devices that are capable of having SMS messages relayed to them from your iPhone. They’re all disabled by default, for security reasons:

When you enable one of them, you will be asked to enter the special code that appears on the device that you’re trying to connect:

After having been paired, your secondary device will be able to send and receive SMS messages that you would normally have to compose and reply to on your iPhone. It’s a handy new feature, especially if you’re already on another device that isn’t your iPhone.

A China Unicom store in Shanghai has hired a tailor to enlarge the pockets of iPhone 6 Plus buyers, reports TechInAsia and People’s Daily.

The iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus launched today in China, India and Monaco. Unlike past debuts, the China launch was described as ‘low-key‘.

About 100 customers waited in line Friday morning outside Apple’s store in Beijing’s upscale Sanlitun shopping district, which opened its doors at 8 a.m. for buyers who had pre-ordered their new wares—the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6+. That was in part because the phone also went on sale at midnight elsewhere, including offices of China’s biggest telecom carriers.

Apple’s iTunes Store has just made a little bit of a slip-up (and with perfect uncanny timing): screenshots for the iOS 8.1 iPad user guide have just appeared within iBooks and include Apple’s upcoming iPad Air 2 and iPad mini 3. Of course, Apple will be formally debuting these devices tomorrow.

The screenshots confirm that both new tablets will include nearly identical designs to their predecessors and the addition of Touch ID sensors in the Home button. Another new feature confirmed by this leak is a new Burst Mode (first introduced with the iPhone 5s) for the iPad Air 2 (image below).

These images also indicate that the new tablets will be named “iPad Air 2″ and “iPad mini 3,” which means that Apple will bringing the numbering scheme for names back to the iPad lineup. Of course, the presence of this user guide means iOS 8.1 (with Apple Pay) is likely to drop tomorrow, too.

Besides the tweaked designs and Touch ID sensors, a gold color option, and a stronger A8X processor, improved camera optics, and new software can be expected at least on the new Air. Apple will also discuss the Mac line tomorrow, including the new iMac with Retina display and OS X Yosemite.

Boom?