jman0613

Q: "iMessage needs to be enabled to send this message?

What does "iMessage needs to be enabled to send this message" mean?  I can't get my messages to send and when I try that pops up. What is it and how can I fix it?

iPhone 4, iOS 6.1.4

Posted on Jul 22, 2013 3:38 PM

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Q: "iMessage needs to be enabled to send this message?

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  • by Ocean20,Helpful

    Ocean20 Ocean20 Jul 22, 2013 3:43 PM in response to jman0613
    Level 6 (13,596 points)
    Jul 22, 2013 3:43 PM in response to jman0613

    Is imessage enabled on your phone?

  • by jman0613,Helpful

    jman0613 jman0613 Jul 22, 2013 3:57 PM in response to Ocean20
    Level 1 (10 points)
    Jul 22, 2013 3:57 PM in response to Ocean20

    It should be. It still says "Waiting for activation" and I've tried several things to fix it.

  • by ckuan,

    ckuan ckuan Jul 22, 2013 4:01 PM in response to jman0613
    Level 7 (33,902 points)
    Jul 22, 2013 4:01 PM in response to jman0613
  • by jman0613,

    jman0613 jman0613 Jul 22, 2013 4:07 PM in response to ckuan
    Level 1 (10 points)
    Jul 22, 2013 4:07 PM in response to ckuan

    I'll wait 24 hours then and get back

  • by cvanderveer,Helpful

    cvanderveer cvanderveer Sep 22, 2014 2:17 PM in response to jman0613
    Level 1 (5 points)
    Sep 22, 2014 2:17 PM in response to jman0613

    my 5c just prompted me last night to install ios 8 and I also cannot send texts as regular messages. This REALLY upsets me as our family shares a data plan and Verizon informed me several months ago that iMessage uses data. We have unlimited texting which is what I WANT to use. Why would apple FORCE you to use data instead of giving you the OPTION?

  • by leesehome,Helpful

    leesehome leesehome Sep 23, 2014 10:14 AM in response to cvanderveer
    Level 1 (10 points)
    Sep 23, 2014 10:14 AM in response to cvanderveer

    I just installed IOS 8 on my iPhone 4S.  I do not use iMessage, it has been disabled for months without issues.  Now, however, I cannot send texts to some people.  I'm prompted that "iMessage needs to be enabled to send this message."  I will not enable iMessage to solve this.  What is another proper solution for this?

  • by leftbyte,Helpful

    leftbyte leftbyte Sep 23, 2014 10:44 AM in response to leesehome
    Level 1 (5 points)
    Sep 23, 2014 10:44 AM in response to leesehome

    @leesehome, I just upgraded to IOS on iPhone 4S as well.  I also usually do not use iMessage and was getting this error.  To fix my issue, I enabled iMessage, sent a message, then disabled iMessage and the error no longer appears.  I don't know if simply toggling iMessage on and off would fix this issue, but I would give that a try.

  • by MillAlien,

    MillAlien MillAlien Sep 23, 2014 4:33 PM in response to jman0613
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Sep 23, 2014 4:33 PM in response to jman0613

    Same problem - upgraded to iOS8 and now forced to use iMessage. I get an error that imessage must be enabled to sent text message; disabling that 'feature' blocks any SMS texting. Tried toggling and shut-down, still stuck with imessage.

  • by leesehome,Helpful

    leesehome leesehome Sep 23, 2014 4:57 PM in response to MillAlien
    Level 1 (10 points)
    Sep 23, 2014 4:57 PM in response to MillAlien

    Managed to solve this on my phone.  One or both of the following did it:  1) Reset Network Settings (General | Reset | Reset Network Settings).  This was a recommendation for IOS 8 texting issues.  It deletes all wifi passwords, so beware.  2) Toggle iMesage on, then turn phone off and back on, then sent a message, and toggle iMessage off again.   After all of this, all of my texts seem to go through.

  • by standard_bum,

    standard_bum standard_bum Sep 24, 2014 5:19 AM in response to leesehome
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Sep 24, 2014 5:19 AM in response to leesehome

    I turned Facetime off and toggled iMessage on/off and it now works for me ok

  • by cvanderveer,

    cvanderveer cvanderveer Sep 24, 2014 9:37 AM in response to standard_bum
    Level 1 (5 points)
    Sep 24, 2014 9:37 AM in response to standard_bum

    This worked! Thank you!

  • by sabinscabin,Helpful

    sabinscabin sabinscabin Oct 5, 2014 7:32 AM in response to cvanderveer
    Level 1 (15 points)
    Oct 5, 2014 7:32 AM in response to cvanderveer

    I have a similar problem as the OP, I wished to disable iMessage just to avoid the complications of having two messaging systems. Also, I never use data and always keep it off in order to save battery. Third, I noticed that when using iMessage, sometimes others' messages to me reach me late, i.e. they would send it at 3 pm and I would receive it at 6 pm when I turned on my wi-fi (remember, I have data off always). For these reasons I chose to completely disable imessage.

     

    However, for one of my contacts, I noticed that the "send" button was still blue, rather than green (as you know, green is for ordinary SMS while blue is for iMessage). When I try to send this person a text, I naturally get the "imessage needs to be enabled to send this message". I tried the solutions in this thread, but none of them worked.

     

    However, I managed to find a workaround. First, I turned on iMessage, then I turned on "send as SMS if imessage not available" in the settings. Then, I disconnected my wifi and data so that imessage would not be available, then I tried to send an iMessage to the person in question (the one with the button stuck on blue). This time I did NOT get the error message, but the iMessage tried to send anyways, getting stuck when the bar was around 85% complete. Then, I pressed on the speech bubble being sent, and manually chose "send as text message"). Voila! the button suddenly turned green, and now I can send regular texts to that person again!

  • by MillAlien,

    MillAlien MillAlien Oct 7, 2014 3:15 PM in response to sabinscabin
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Oct 7, 2014 3:15 PM in response to sabinscabin


    This worked only if I leave cell data to off, which isn't what I want. I only want to disable iMessage for all text messages. If I turn cell data back on, I'm back to square one.

  • by MillAlien,

    MillAlien MillAlien Oct 7, 2014 3:32 PM in response to leesehome
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Oct 7, 2014 3:32 PM in response to leesehome

    This routine did not work for me - still can't send non- iMessage texts. I've tried everything on this thread and the only way to force SMS is to shut-off cell data altogether, which is not what I want to do.

     

    It would impossible for me to more frustrated with Apple at this point. It worked fine. Then iOS8 happened. Now I can't send texts. Brilliant innovation if you don't mind delays of minutes and hours between when messages are sent and when they're received. I especially like the feature which labels messages as delivered even though they've not been. Hard to understand why they've destroyed basic cell functionality.

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