krustyfur
Level 1 (9 points)
iPhone

Q: imessage sends to email not phone number

I just upgraded my iPhone 5s to a 7+. Before the upgrade, I had iOS 10 on the 5s and messaging behaved as normal.

 

On the new phone however, if I go to send a text message to someone the ONLY option is to their email address if I have one in their contact list, otherwise the phone number shows. So when I send a text to a friend on an android, it emailed him with the return path as the SMS email address thing @att. It didn't show up in his messaging app, but in his email. Not cool.

 

It wasn't until he texted me that I could send a message directly to his phone.

 

I tried deactivating iMessage and reactivating it via message settings. Nada. Everyone else in my contact list only shows up as an email address in the message app.

 

Why can't I just send a text message to a pWho/what do I have to sacrifice under what phase of the moon to get this thing to work as it used to?

iPhone 7 Plus, iOS 10.0.2

Posted on Sep 26, 2016 1:22 PM

Close
krustyfur

Q: imessage sends to email not phone number

  • All replies
  • Helpful answers

  • by razmee209,

    razmee209 razmee209 Sep 26, 2016 1:33 PM in response to krustyfur
    Level 7 (33,442 points)
    Sep 26, 2016 1:33 PM in response to krustyfur

    krustyfur wrote:

     

    I just upgraded my iPhone 5s to a 7+. Before the upgrade, I had iOS 10 on the 5s and messaging behaved as normal.

     

    On the new phone however, if I go to send a text message to someone the ONLY option is to their email address if I have one in their contact list, otherwise the phone number shows. So when I send a text to a friend on an android, it emailed him with the return path as the SMS email address thing @att. It didn't show up in his messaging app, but in his email. Not cool.

     

    It wasn't until he texted me that I could send a message directly to his phone.

     

    I tried deactivating iMessage and reactivating it via message settings. Nada. Everyone else in my contact list only shows up as an email address in the message app.

     

    Why can't I just send a text message to a pWho/what do I have to sacrifice under what phase of the moon to get this thing to work as it used to?

    Why don't you ask your phone carrier why... SMS/MMS is a carrier feature.

     

    You can't send an imessage to an android only to other Apple devices.

  • by VickeVireG,

    VickeVireG VickeVireG Sep 26, 2016 1:34 PM in response to krustyfur
    Level 1 (17 points)
    Mac OS X
    Sep 26, 2016 1:34 PM in response to krustyfur

    Have you tried writing their number in the recipient field, instead of their name?

  • by krustyfur,

    krustyfur krustyfur Sep 26, 2016 1:50 PM in response to razmee209
    Level 1 (9 points)
    iPhone
    Sep 26, 2016 1:50 PM in response to razmee209

    There is one and only one messaging app provided by apple on iOS for sending messages to phone numbers (ignoring other social messaging apps). I have used it to send messages to phone numbers on android devices for multiple years without problems. Now that I have a new phone, there is a problem. I know it isn't an iMessage when the destination is not an ios device. Apples servers have always converted it to an SMS/MMS message so it can be routed.

     

    That is no longer happening on my new phone. Now it insists on routing it as an email which is not correct.

  • by krustyfur,

    krustyfur krustyfur Sep 26, 2016 1:42 PM in response to VickeVireG
    Level 1 (9 points)
    iPhone
    Sep 26, 2016 1:42 PM in response to VickeVireG

    No, and I fail to see why I need to when I didn't have to on the 5s under ios 10.

     

    There is something going on with the imessage service activation with a new phone that has messed this up.

  • by VickeVireG,

    VickeVireG VickeVireG Sep 26, 2016 1:47 PM in response to krustyfur
    Level 1 (17 points)
    Mac OS X
    Sep 26, 2016 1:47 PM in response to krustyfur

    I did not mean to imply that you should need to do it. Hopefully, if your issue is a bug, it will be squashed quickly. But in the meantime, perhaps it is more convenient for you, if it turns out to work, to type their number than to have to wait for them to send a message first.

    I was simply trying to help.

     

    Best of luck!