T-Mobile: text messages between two iPhones on T-Mobile come up green, not blue like iMessages.

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T-Mobile: text messages between two iPhones on T-Mobile come up green, not blue like iMessages.

Two iPhones in this family: one iPhone 13 Pro and one iPhone SE, version before one announced this month

We've always gotten blue iMessages when we text each other. Then we switched to T-Mobile from At&T.

Now, we both get green message when we text each other, whether we are connected to cellular data or internet data. We have data over cellular toggled on.

Both phones show iMessages active in Settings. We both did the fix of toggling that "off", power cycling the phone and then enabling iMessages. That didn't work. We did it another time and that didn't work either.

When we text other iPhone users, the messages are blue iMessages. It's just a problem between the two of us on the same T-Mobile plan. We have the Magenta Max Unlimited plan and a great 5G UC signal.

For what it's worth we also have T-Mobile 5G Internet but this issue persists even with Internet disabled on both phones.

Posted on Mar 18, 2022 3:49 PM

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Answer 1

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snsok Author

Level 1

30 points

Mar 21, 2022 9:53 AM in response to Lindsay_B.

Thanks @brittany1416 and Lindsay_B.

This was just plain user error. One of the phones had the wrong setting. in Settings > Messages > Send&Receive > the cell phone number was not selected; just the email address was. We enabled the cell phone number and now everything works.

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Answer 2

Lindsay_B.

Community Specialist

Mar 19, 2022 2:27 PM in response to snsok

Thanks for that information, snsok,

Next, make sure you are both signed into iMessage with your Apple ID, in addition to having it active under Settings > Messages: Set up Messages on iPhone - Apple Support. This will help ensure iMessage works if your message thread is being sent to or from an Apple ID instead of a phone number.

We would also suggest at least one of you create a backup of their device (so not to lose any information): How to back up your iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch - Apple Support, then delete the specific message thread and begin a new one. This will recreate the message thread and clear up any issues that could be occurring in the background.

If you still have trouble after that, please get in touch with Apple Support directly. You can do that here: Get Support.

Have a lovely weekend.

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Answer 3

Mar 19, 2022 1:49 PM in response to snsok

Hello snsok,

This link outlines the difference between iMessage and SMS/MMS, and why some message bubbles are blue or green: What is the difference between iMessage and SMS/MMS?

iMessages are texts, photos or videos that you can send to another iPhone, iPad, iPod touch or Mac over Wi-Fi or cellular data networks. These messages will always be encrypted and appear in blue text bubbles. To turn iMessage on or off, go to Settings > Messages.

Since the issue is only happening with a specific contact, we'd like to confirm a few details to narrow this down more.

Do you receive any errors or messages when attempting to send a message to that person? Is the issue happening with a new conversation to that contact, or is it occurring with an existing conversation?

You can also find some good information about managing conversations in Messages here: Use Messages on your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch

Thanks!

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Answer 4

snsok Author

Level 1

30 points

Mar 19, 2022 2:16 PM in response to Brittany1416

The green "error" only occurs with this one person in my family on her iPhone. It's the same conversation thread started a while back. You can clearly see the bubbles turn from blue to green.

The messages do go through.

When I open the Messages app on my iMac, I see the same conversation. The previous messages are blue. If I try to send a message on the iMac app, it appears as a green bubble and always shows "not delivered". However, the green messages sent from my iPhone consistently go through.

Is there anything about T-Mobile 5G cellular service that could be doing this?

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T-Mobile: text messages between two iPhones on T-Mobile come up green, not blue like iMessages.

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