Q: messaging confusion
I'm confused by Messaging on my Ipad Air ... some of the phone numbers come up grey instead of blue and I cant send a message.This only happens on my Ipad ... although on my Iphone they all come up blue. Why would thgis be?
Also whats the difference between Imessage and Message?
Thanks
iPad Air, iOS 9.3
Posted on Jun 4, 2016 5:52 AM
In iOS the Messaging App is used to send and receive both iMessages and SMS/MMS text messages. iMessage is a proprietary free Internet messaging service offered by Apple and it can only be used to send and receive messages from one Apple device to another Apple device. And, both Apple devices must have the owner signed in to the iMessage service with a valid AppleID.
SMS texting is a very old form of short messaging that is handled by your cell service provider. SMS is not an Internet messaging service and in fact it uses your cell phone's voice channel and thus requires a voice cellular telephone capable device and service. MMS is an extension of SMS where the text portion is sent as SMS but the image/video portion is sent over a cellular Internet data connection (so requires the cellular telephone to have both a voice and a data plan provisioned in the account).
An iPad cannot natively send nor receive SMS/MMS texts as it is incapable of connecting to a cellular service providers voice telephone channel(s). In iOS & OS X, Apple added a feature called continuity that allows your iPad or Mac to be paired to an iPhone so that all devices can send and receive SMS texts, using the telephone as the sender & receiver and the local wifi network to share the messages across devices. See Use Continuity to connect your iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, and Mac - Apple Support
In your messaging app, with iMessages, a gray box indicates a received message while a blue box indicates a sent message (sent by you). A green box will indicate a sent SMS text.
Posted on Jun 4, 2016 6:15 AM