displays the name or number of the sender and the message, in a translucent
message rectangle. If you’re using the iPhone at the time, you can tap Ignore
(to keep doing what you’re doing) or View (to open the message, as shown
below).
Otherwise, if the iPhone was asleep, it wakes up and displays the message
right on its Unlock screen. You have to unlock the phone and then open the
Text program manually. Tap the very first icon in the upper-left corner of the
Home screen.
The Text icon on the Home screen bears a little circled number “badge,” letting you
know how many new text messages are waiting for you.
Either way, the look of the Text program might surprise you. It resembles
iChat, Apple’s chat program for Macintosh, in which incoming text messages
and your replies are displayed as though they’re cartoon speech balloons.
To respond to the message, tap in the text box at the bottom of the screen. The
iPhone keyboard appears. Type away (page 12), and then tap Send. Assuming
your phone has cellular coverage, the message gets sent off immediately.
And if your buddy replies, then the balloon-chat continues, scrolling up the
screen.
