Apple Event: May 7th at 7 am PT
Good day Apple Community!
We purchased an iPad version 8 for my mother for Christmas. She doesn't have, nor does she want, a mobile phone.
Is it possible for those within our family that don't have Apple devices, i.e. Androids, to send her a text message (that she'll receive in iMessage) using her e-mail address over WiFi?
Thanks and cheers,
MB
Hi Lyssa,
She has a landline. Despite us trying to convince her, she's never wanted to get a mobile phone.
Even though we were able to FaceTime last night, I'm having trouble connecting to her using her Apple ID? "FaceTime/Video" is not an option on her contact card it's grayed-ou?
Thank you for your response and regards,
MB
Just the two of us. I'm on my iMac and went first to her contact card, but as I mentioned, the "FaceTime/Video" icon is gray. I then went to FaceTime and tried to use one of the calls that we made yesterday and that didn't work either.
I must be doing something wrong, or there's setting on her iPad that I'm missing?
Regards,
MB
Hmm, Facetime isn't my strongest area, but, on her iPad, she can try this:
Open Settings. Scroll down to FaceTime. Make sure it's toggled on & the Use your Apple ID for FaceTime option is checked.
~Lyssa
I just tried using my iPad; the "FaceTime/Video" icon was blue and it worked fine. However, even though I changed the setting on my iMac from my mobile phone number, to my e-mail address, it didn't work.
Maybe I can't make FT calls to an e-mail address from my iMac?
Regards,
MB
Oh no Lyssa, I'm not trying to call myself. LOL! I'm trying to FT call to my mother's Apple ID, from my iMac. I know she can FT call me from her iPad and I can receive them on my iMac, but it doesn't appear that we can do the reverse?
Regards,
MB
Oh! Hmm, that's odd. Are you able to send messages to her from your Mac? And, just for grins, if you double click on that video icon, does anything happen?
I'm not finding anything super helpful in my google searching about this issue, unfortunately. You may have to contact Apple directly for more help.
~Lyssa
It is odd.
Yes, I can send iMessage without issue. If I’m on my iMac, in “Messages” and I click on the recipient’s name (her name) and the pane opens to where you see “Audio/FaceTime/Info”, FaceTime is gray, so selecting it is not an option.
I’ll give support a call tomorrow, but I really do appreciate your help, so THANK YOU VERY MUCH!
With warm regards,
MB
No, iPads can only receive from iOS devices unless the owner also has an iPhone.
~Lyssa
Thank you very much Lyssa, I really appreciate your response
Would you happen to know if it would be possible using a "Google Voice" number?
Regards,
MB
Google voice numbers can receive text messages. Does she have a landline and/or cell phone? She would need to use one of those to set up the Google voice number.
~Lyssa
Were you trying to do a group facetime with other family members or just the two of you?
~Lyssa
If you're trying to call yourself, that gets a bit weird. You'd want to try calling someone with a different Apple ID.
~Lyssa
Texting With iPad
