A recent acquaintance and I have just discovered that we are unable to send or receive text messages from each other on our iPhones. The messages appear to go through successfully on the sender’s screen but the recipient never gets them. We can both message other people without any problem. Does anyone have any idea what’s causing this or how to correct it?
I assume you’re using the stock texting app? Are you able to call the person that doesn’t receive your text messages?
Is there an ignore list on the iPhone?
I’m using the native texting app, don’t know about the other person though I could probably find out this evening. We can call back and forth with no problem.
Does either of you have another Apple product that might be intercepting the text? Maybe an iPad set up with Messenger?
I don’t though she might. I’ll have ask about that too. But bear in mind that I’m not receiving texts that she sends to me either.
Do the individual texts have blue or green backgrounds?
Mine are green, not sure about hers.
She (and probably you, just to be safe) should check Settings>Messages and make sure that iMessage is set to “on.” (If it already is, try turning it off and then back on). Then do a warm reset by holding the sleep/wake and home buttons until you see the Apple logo.
I was having a similar problem messaging my sister’s iPhone and the above steps got it working again. If you’re seeing green bubbles it’s trying to send them as SMS, which it shouldn’t have to if you both have iMessage enabled.
I’ll look into it. Thanks.
Ok, that means they’re going over (or trying to go over) as text messages via your phone signal vs using Apple’s iMessage system which is more of an IM connection between iPhones. The nice thing about imessage is that it’s pretty instant and doesn’t count against any texting limits. Follow Turnip’s instructions to check that it’s on on your phone but she’ll need to do the same on her’s. You’ll know if the message is going over as an iMessage if the text background is light blue instead of green.
Okay, I didn’t have iMessage turned on but now I do…or at least I think I do - I clicked the ‘read more’ link before activating and when I returned, the button asking for my Apple ID was gone and my phone number is showing up as the destination for incoming messages. I tried texting my friend but still got the green bubble and no response from her. I’m away from the house though and not in a Wi-Fi hotspot. I assume msgs go out SMS when Wi-Fi isn’t available?
What does your phone run on, 3G? 4G? Whichever it is, the iMessages will go out on that network - or over wi-fi if you’re connected. If you don’t have a data signal or wi-fi, it should revert to SMS.
My guess is that your friend just needs to turn it on on her phone.
Thanks. I just messaged a relative who I know has iMessage turned on and I got a blue bubble even though I’m not in a Wi-Fi hotspot, so I know I’m good. I’ll call my friend tonight and have her check/turn on the appropriate settings on her phone. Many thanks to you all for your help.