Group text message says "outgoing" and is sending to each person individually

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Group text message says "outgoing" and is sending to each person individually

When I send a message to a group of people, everyone in the group receives it individually and I get their responses individually. The group chat stays there and says "Outgoing" under the photos of the recipients. Some of the recipients have iPhones and some don't.

I have deleted the group chat, deleted each person's individual chat, reset network settings, closed the messages app, tried with iMessages on and off in settings, tried with Send as SMS on and off in settings, and restarted the phone multiple times, but the behavior persists. In other words, the solutions offered in the following places do not work for me.

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204065

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/7857347

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/7933912

https://apple.stackexchange.com/questions/74700/problems-with-group-sms

https://www.imobie.com/support/iphone-group-messaging-not-working.htm

What should I try next?

Model name: iPhone 8

Software version: 12.2 (16E227)

Network: Google Fi

iPhone 8, iOS 12

Posted on Jun 7, 2019 10:39 AM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

SravanKrA

Community+ 2024

Level 10

413,580 points

Jun 7, 2019 10:58 AM in response to davidemphillips

If you don’t see an option to turn on MMS Messaging or Group Messaging, contact your carrier to see if your plan supports Group MMS Messaging.

Types of group messages

The three types of group messages that you might see are: group iMessage, group MMS, and group SMS. The Messages app automatically chooses the type of group message to send based on you and your recipients' settings, network connection, and carrier plan. For example:

If you and your recipients are using Apple devices and iMessage is turned on, then the group message is sent as an iMessage.
If you send a group message to people who aren't using iMessage, then the message is sent as an MMS or SMS message.

Send a group message on your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch - Apple ...

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT202724

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Answer 2

Jun 7, 2019 11:14 AM in response to SravanKrA

Thanks for your reply. I don't think the problem is that Google Fi doesn't support group messaging. Group messages were working up until recently, and continue to work for other phones on my family plan.

Under Settings>Messages, I don't have any options related to group messages specifically. Just iMessage (on), Show Contact Photos (on), Text Message Forwarding (1 Device), Send Read Receipts (off), Send as SMS (on), Send & Receive (my phone number), Show Subject Field (off), Character Count (off), Blocked (a list of numbers not including these recipients), Keep Messages (Forever), Filter Unknown Senders (off), Expire (After 2 Minutes), Raise to Listen (on), and Low Quality Image Mode (off).

Other potentially relevant information: this behavior seems to have started once I returned from using my phone in a foreign country.

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Answer 3

ChrisJ4203

Level 10

230,588 points

Jun 7, 2019 12:12 PM in response to davidemphillips

Given that information, I suggest you contact them about the problem. The ability to make certain settings changes, including MMS and Group Messaging is dependent on your carrier. They control the carrier file, and there has to be something you can do after a trip as you described. The lack of those settings is up to the carrier. You need to make contact with them for corrections or explanation. I'm guessing that Carrier designation that you provided, PRL may have something to do with it. When I look at my carrier for AT&T and tap on it, SMS comes up.

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Answer 4

Jun 7, 2019 12:06 PM in response to ChrisJ4203

I dont see those options under SMS/MMS, just "Show Subject Field", "Character Count" and "Blocked".

While travelling, I continued to use the same SIM I use in the US. I don't think Google Fi is a VoIP network, but I'm not totally sure. Here's what they say about it on a third party site.

Under Settings>General, I actually don't see a section called Profile. Under Settings>General>About I see Network listed as Google Fi and Carrier listed as Carrier 36.0. If I tap the Carrier bar it switches to "PRL" listed as 1. Not sure what that means... does it help at all?

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Answer 5

ChrisJ4203

Level 10

230,588 points

Jun 7, 2019 11:27 AM in response to davidemphillips

You should have two additional settings under SMS/MMS heading. There should be one for MMS Messaging, and one for Group Messaging. When you were in a foreign country, did you use another country's SIM? If so, it is possible that you have a different profile on the phone, or it is trying to still use the foreign carrier file. I suggest you look at Settings>General, and then scroll down to see if you have a section titled Profile. See if there is an entry there. You can also check Settings>General>About>Carrier and see what is listed there. Is Google Fi a cellular network, or is this some kind of VoIP network?

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Group text message says "outgoing" and is sending to each person individually

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