Set up Messages with a phone number or with an email account

One of the advantages we have in the Apple ecosystem is that, for some time now, the Messages application can be used on any of its devices, that is, we can start a conversation on the Mac and end it on the iPad or the Iphone. All of this is possible thanks to the Messages application is one of the Apple applications that makes use of synchronization through iCloud.

However, it may be that there are many users who do not know how to configure this application correctly and that is if you have activated the service on your Mac, iPhone and iPad, chen you receive a call, you may jump on all of them at the same time if you have it configured. 

A few days ago, a very good friend, Manu Sierra, asked me if the Messages application only worked with a phone number or if it could also be configured to be used through an email or Apple ID. I quickly commented that, indeed, You can configure the Messages app to your liking and decide with what data it will be activated when they make a call. 

As I mentioned, Messages can be used from any of the Apple devices but we have to bear in mind that when we activate Messages on an iPhone, it will activate the service through an SMS that will be charged to our phone bill and from that moment on, if anyone sends us a message to our number, we will receive it. We cannot configure that the iPhone does not receive messages addressed to that phone number, which we can do in the rest of the devices.

If we enter Messages on the Mac and in the top bar we click on Messages> Preferences A window opens in which we have two tabs. In the tab Accounts We can see a list of the ways we can connect with Messages, that is, the phone number and the emails that you have saved in your contact in addition to the Apple ID.

On devices like the Mac, iPad or iPod Touch, you can select or not the phone number, which you cannot do from the iPhone and that is, Messages on the iPhone will always have the phone number configured. If you don't have iPhone, you will not have this problem and you will be able to select between the emails that you have configured. 

Everything that I have explained can be configured from each device in the app itself and select in each one of them with which information you want to be contacted. We will update you when Apple introduces the news that has already been seen in the betas of the next version of the system.