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Customers message your business from Apple Maps, Safari, Siri, your website or your app, and the conversation opens in the Messages app they already use every day. No download, no account, no app-store detour. What arrives is not a text thread with your name on it. It is a branded, verified conversation that can take payment with Face ID, present a native appointment picker, run a multi-page form, and authenticate the customer against your identity provider — all without leaving Messages.
1.56 billion active iPhones. Roughly 82% run the latest iOS; AMB requires iOS 11.3 or later, so effectively the entire installed base is reachable.

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What it takes

This is the highest-value channel Tied supports and the one with the longest runway. Be honest with yourself about the timeline before you commit to a launch date.
Apple Business Register verification typically takes 4–6 weeks. That is Apple’s process, not Tied’s, and it cannot be compressed. Start the application on day one and run another channel meanwhile.
If you would rather not run that process, our team can handle the entire application, brand verification and go-live on your behalf. It is worth asking — the application has a number of ways to stall that are obvious only in hindsight.

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What you can send

Eight schema-validated interactive message types, not a text box with attachments:

Apple Pay

Payment in the thread, authorised with Face ID. No redirect, no checkout page.

List Picker

A native list to choose from — the only primitive with dependable identifiers on the way back.

Time Picker

Appointment slots picked natively and returned as structured data.

Form

Multi-page guided input with a splash screen, collected inside Messages.

Rich Link

A card with an image or video — the only primitive that takes video.

OAuth

Authenticate the customer against your identity provider, in-thread.

Simple Message

Text, quick replies and attachments.

iMessage Extension

Your own app surface embedded in the conversation.

Rich Feature Messages

All eight in detail — the shared envelope, media slots, real schema constraints, and which to reach for when.

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Answer opening questions

The Answer opening questions account setting lets the agent answer a customer’s first question after Mary & Pip’s welcome messages and cards. It is on by default for Apple Messages inboxes and applies to every Apple Messages inbox in the account. A greeting such as “hi” adds no extra answer. An account administrator can turn it off to keep the welcome flow as it was; Subscribe and Cancel continue to work after an answer. Generic flow-builder placement awaits a product decision. The settings API at /api/v1/accounts/:account_id/bot_flow_settings reads and updates answer_opening_question using true or false.

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Where conversations start

AMB has eight entry points, and they matter more than they sound: a customer who finds you in Apple Maps and taps Message never had to find your website, your phone number or your support page. See Entry points.

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Pairing it with RCS

AMB covers iPhone. Google RCS will cover Android — it is not available yet. Until it is, decide deliberately where Android visitors go: web chat and SMS are the usual answers, and SMS is the number RCS will fall back to later. That is the strongest configuration this platform supports, and it is why both applications are worth starting at the same time.

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Getting set up

Register with Apple

Apple Business Register: account, brand assets, verification, and linking Tied as your MSP. Registering with Apple

Connect the account to Tied

Credentials, inbox creation, routing and a verified test message. Connecting your inbox

Read the limitations first

A short page, and the one most likely to save you a redesign. Known limitations

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Next

Registering with Apple

The application process, step by step, with realistic timelines.

Apple Messages fees

Custom-quoted by volume, with no agent fees.