MMS Buddy is a pretty good solution to a huge problem still facing the iPhone today, the ability to receive MMS messages. There have been countless times when someone has asked me if I had received their picture message. I always tell them, embarrassingly, "Sorry, my phone can't receive picture messages". Then they are always so shocked to hear that my amazing iPhone can't do such a simple task. Enter, MMS Buddy. The app solves the problem, but the process is definitely not pretty.

The app opens up with a detailed explanation of how the whole process works. The idea is that when you receive an MMS message in your SMS app, you'll see a web link, MSG ID and password. The first step is to take a screenshot of this information by pressing the home and lock buttons at the same time. Then you need to open MMS Buddy and hit the "Fetch Image" button. Here's where it gets hairy. The system has to try and recognize the text in your screenshot to get the ID number and password. This process isn't always 100% accurate, so when the info comes back you need to make any necessary corrections. I had to fix one letter that was interpreted incorrectly. Then, you hit the "Go" button and pray. At first there was a major error. The app clearly states that you have to give it a few minutes for the picture to get onto AT&T's server so MMS Buddy can grab it. After trying again, the app came back with a few more errors but automatically retried until my picture message was finally delivered. Basically, the process is not a smooth one.

Once you have your image and save it to your library, you are brought to a screen that holds all of your fetched MMS messages. Each photo is stamped with the date and the sender's name and can be sorted as well. When you tap on a photo it brings it up full screen with the options to delete or reply to the message. When you reply, your default SMS application automatically opens up.

The inability to send and receive MMS messages on the iPhone has been a frustration for users for years now. With MMS Buddy, now you can actually tell people to send you that funny picture they took on their phone that you really want to see. You still can't send MMS messages, but at least you can get them.

There have been many complaints about the app not working for people. Yes, the process was annoying and took some time and a few attempts, but it definitely worked for me. If you don't get MMS messages often and are a patient person, this app will work just fine for you until AT&T gets its act together and finally allows MMS messaging.