Services & Recipes

iMessage in Franz: what works and what doesn't yet

What iMessage in Franz can do, what it can't do yet, like replying to one message or editing it, and why Franz sends through Shortcuts and Messages.

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Franz shows your chats from the Messages app on your Mac: iMessage, SMS and RCS, with names and photos from your Contacts. You can send texts, photos, files and voice recordings, react, forward and start new chats. A few things still need the Messages app.

Why some things are missing

Apple doesn't give other apps a way into iMessage, and apps aren't allowed to use what Messages uses internally. So Franz only uses what Apple officially offers: it reads the chats Messages keeps on your Mac, and it sends through Shortcuts, Apple's own automation app. It can send a message or a reaction, but it can't reply to one specific message, edit it or format text. If Apple adds more, we'll bring it to Franz.

What doesn't work yet

Replying to one specific message. You see other people's replies, and Reply is in the menu but greyed out.
Editing or unsending a message.
Bold, italic and text effects.
Taking a reaction back.
Voice messages. Your recording arrives as an audio file.
Sending to SMS and RCS groups. Franz sends to iMessage groups only.
Managing groups, e.g. adding people or renaming a group.

For all of these, use the Messages app.

Only Messages can start a new group. Your first message opens there and you click Send. If you allow Franz under Accessibility, it clicks Send for you.

Why macOS asks so many times

Franz needs Full Disk Access to read your messages (it only reads them), Contacts for names and photos, and a shortcut called "Franz iMessage" to send. After you click Add Shortcut, macOS asks once for each action the shortcut uses, e.g. each of the six reactions. Choose Always Allow every time and it won't ask again. Franz sends a test message to yourself for this, so you need a chat with yourself in Messages.

Photos and files go through Messages directly, so macOS also asks whether Franz may use Messages.

Without the shortcut, Franz sends through Messages, which opens each time, and reactions don't work. You can add it later in the iMessage menu.

Where iMessage works

On macOS, in the version from meetfranz.com. The Mac App Store version doesn't include it.

Franz shows what Messages on your Mac shows. If your SMS are missing, turn on Text Message Forwarding on your iPhone.