Apparatus and method for handling dispatching messages for various applications of a communication device

A communications device (10) with a processor having instructions that execute on the processor. The programmed instructions include a message manager program (16) for accepting and dispatching messages, one or more application programs (17, 18) for handling and presenting messages; and one ore more message client programs (30, 40) that receive messages from the message manager program (16) and provides them to the application program. The message manager program (16) accepts a registration from each message client program and sets rules, and message attributes to which the rules are to be applied for new messages.