> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.tied.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Apple Messages for Business

> Branded, interactive conversations inside the Messages app — with payments, scheduling and authentication in the thread.

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.

<Info>
  **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.
</Info>

## 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.

<Warning>
  **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.
</Warning>

| Requirement | |
| - | - |
| **Plan** | Advanced or Enterprise. Advanced includes 5,000 messages a month |
| **Apple Business Register** | An approved account, with verified brand assets |
| **Brand verification** | Apple reviews your identity, logo and colours |
| **A registered MSP** | Tied acts as your Messaging Service Provider |
| **Time** | 4–6 weeks, typically |

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.

## What you can send

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

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Apple Pay" icon="credit-card">
    Payment in the thread, authorised with Face ID. No redirect, no checkout page.
  </Card>

  <Card title="List Picker" icon="list">
    A native list to choose from — the only primitive with dependable identifiers on the way back.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Time Picker" icon="calendar-clock">
    Appointment slots picked natively and returned as structured data.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Form" icon="clipboard-list">
    Multi-page guided input with a splash screen, collected inside Messages.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Rich Link" icon="link">
    A card with an image or video — the only primitive that takes video.
  </Card>

  <Card title="OAuth" icon="key-round">
    Authenticate the customer against your identity provider, in-thread.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Simple Message" icon="message-square">
    Text, quick replies and attachments.
  </Card>

  <Card title="iMessage Extension" icon="app-window">
    Your own app surface embedded in the conversation.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>

<Card title="Rich Feature Messages" icon="sparkles" href="/channels/apple-messages/rich-feature-messages" horizontal>
  All eight in detail — the shared envelope, media slots, real schema constraints, and which to reach
  for when.
</Card>

## 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`.

## 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](/channels/apple-messages/entry-points).

## Pairing it with RCS

AMB covers iPhone. [Google RCS](/channels/rcs) will cover Android — it is not available yet. Until it is, decide deliberately where Android visitors go: [web chat](/channels/web-chat) and [SMS](/channels/sms-mms) 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.

## Getting set up

<Steps>
  <Step title="Register with Apple" icon="clipboard-check">
    Apple Business Register: account, brand assets, verification, and linking Tied as your MSP.
    [Registering with Apple](/channels/apple-messages/registration)
  </Step>

  <Step title="Connect the account to Tied" icon="plug">
    Credentials, inbox creation, routing and a verified test message.
    [Connecting your inbox](/channels/apple-messages/connect)
  </Step>

  <Step title="Read the limitations first" icon="triangle-alert">
    A short page, and the one most likely to save you a redesign.
    [Known limitations](/channels/apple-messages/limitations)
  </Step>
</Steps>

## Next

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Registering with Apple" icon="clipboard-check" href="/channels/apple-messages/registration">
    The application process, step by step, with realistic timelines.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Apple Messages fees" icon="receipt" href="/pricing/channel-fees/apple-messages">
    Custom-quoted by volume, with no agent fees.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>


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