iMessage May Be Coming to OS X Lion

References to key components from the iMessage application in iOS 5 have been discovered in iChat, the instant messaging app inside Apple’s Mac operating system, according to a new report.

Snooping around the framework for OS X Lion’s iChat application, a developer has discovered two new properties - “timeDelivered” and “timeRead”, both of which indicate the tracking of delivery and read receipts for instant messages, according to MacRumors.

There is now native messaging protocol within iChat that currently supports these features, and they weren’t present in earlier versions of Mac OS X either, the developer said. They are, however, supported features in the iOS 5 iMessage app.

The finding has therefore led to speculation that Apple is now building cross-compatibility between iChat and the new text messaging application built inside Apple's forthcoming iOS version.

iOS 5 is in beta at the moment. The software is to be unveiled publicly this fall. iMessage is a key component of iOS 5 as it will allow all iDevice owners to send and receive text messages over their wireless internet connection, effectively eliminating the need to use their carrier’s airwaves, if they happen to be wielding an iPhone, for example.

Users will be able to send unlimited text messages over WiFi and over 3G, if they so choose, and the feature will work not only with iPhones, but also with iPod touch players and and the iPad.

It supports text, photos, even videos and locations, and they arrive with contact information as well. Users can track them with delivery receipts and optional read receipts, and they even get to see when someone is typing (if recipients allow it, of course), just like with instant messaging clients.

Users can even start a conversation on a device and finish it on another.

So, it is only reasonable to assume that Apple will some day add Macs to the list of supported devices.

Should OS X 10.7.2 be released in tandem with iOS 5 this fall, we can expect iChat to support the feature, or even to see a dedicated iMessage app built right inside the OS.