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Email ↔ iMessage Bridge (via Blooio + Gmail)
A 2-branch bidirectional bridge. Email a customer from Close (or any CRM) — they get a blue-bubble iMessage. They reply on iPhone — it lands in your Gmail with the phone number in the subject. Reply in Gmail — it goes back out as iMessage. No database, no state store. The subject IS the routing table.
How it works
- ⏰ 📬 Gmail Trigger polls a dedicated bridge inbox every minute for new outbound email
- 🔍 IF node validates the subject contains a phone number (
\+?\d{10,15}) — drops everything else - 🧹 Set node extracts the phone from the subject and strips HTML + quoted reply chains from the body
- 💬 Blooio Messaging node sends the cleaned text as iMessage to the extracted phone
- 📡 Blooio Webhook fires on
message.received— inbound iMessages arrive in real-time - 📧 Set node builds a consistent subject
iMessage from +15551234567, Gmail Send delivers to your main inbox withReply-Toset back to the bridge — so your reply re-enters Branch 1 - 🗂️ In parallel, the workflow looks up the lead in Close by phone and logs the inbound iMessage as an email activity — attaches it to the lead timeline AND triggers Close Sequence exit
The 2 branches
| Branch | Trigger | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| 🟢 Email → iMessage | Gmail Trigger (1-min poll) | Phone-in-subject → strip quoted chains → send iMessage via Blooio |
| 🟣 iMessage → Email | Blooio Webhook (message.received) |
Build threaded subject → send to main inbox with Reply-To → log to Close |
Why this matters
| Metric | Manual | This workflow |
|---|---|---|
| ⚡ Speed | Switch apps every reply, lose context | Stay in Gmail, customers get blue bubbles |
| 🔁 Consistency | Some texts in Messages, some in a 3rd-party app | Every conversation in one Gmail thread |
| 📉 CRM gaps | Texts never reach Close — lead timeline is half a story | Every inbound iMessage logged + Sequence exits fire |
| 🧠 Staff time | 30–60 sec per reply jumping apps | Zero — reply in the inbox already open |
Sales teams using SMS or iMessage close ~3× faster than email-only follow-up, but every minute spent app-switching erodes that edge. This workflow keeps the speed AND the inbox you already live in.
What you need
| Tool | Cost | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Blooio | ~$39/mo + per-message | Warmed iMessage number that delivers as blue bubble |
| Gmail (bridge inbox) | Free | Dedicated address that only this workflow watches |
| Gmail (main inbox) | Any provider | Where inbound iMessage notifications land |
| Close (optional) | From $59/seat | CRM lead lookup + Sequence exit logging — skip the 3 Close nodes if you don't use it |
| n8n | Free self-host / cloud tier | Runs the bridge |
⚠️ Blooio P2P notice: Blooio is opt-in only. Perfect for replies to inbound traffic and warm conversations. Cold outreach requires explicit consent per Blooio ToS.
Set up steps
- Takes about 20 minutes
- Create a dedicated bridge Gmail account (e.g.
[email protected]) — keep its inbox clean, this workflow watches it - Sign up at blooio.com, activate a warmed iMessage number, grab the API Bearer token
- Branch 1 — connect bridge Gmail credential to Gmail Trigger, connect Blooio credential to Send iMessage via Blooio
- Branch 2 — copy the Blooio Webhook production URL, register it in the Blooio dashboard for
message.received, connect bridge Gmail credential to Send Email via Gmail, replace the<__USER_MAIN_INBOX__...__>and<__BRIDGE_GMAIL_ADDRESS__...__>placeholders with your real addresses - (Optional Close logging) Bind a Close API Bearer token credential to both Close: Find Lead by Phone and Close: Log Inbound iMessage — or delete those 3 nodes if you don't use Close
- Test outbound: email the bridge inbox with subject
+1YOURPHONE - test→ confirm iMessage hits your phone - Test inbound: text the Blooio number from your phone → confirm an email lands in your main inbox with subject
iMessage from +1YOURPHONE - Test the loop: reply to that email → confirm a second iMessage arrives
- Toggle workflow Active