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Messages failing to send since iOS update

Since my iPhone 12 Pro updated to iOS 15.4.1 every time I try to send a message I get an error to say that the message failed to send.


However my friend called to tell me she received it multiple times!


I’ve turned iMessage on and off. Restarted my phone. But still have the same issue.


Has anyone had this and managed to fix it?

iPhone 12 Pro

Posted on Apr 16, 2022 6:51 AM

Reply
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Apr 26, 2022 4:13 AM

As Purplemist89 says the issue seems to have been caused by the update as I had tried all of your suggestions before posting.


  1. I restarted multiple times.
  2. Network continues to be fine.
  3. O2 definitely supports SMS messages (as do all carriers).
  4. I'm not sending a group MMS message.
  5. I have plenty space and the issue is with sending a simple SMS, not receiving them.
  6. The phone number is still correct and was before the update.


The issue continues with sending SMS messages. How can this be resolved?

11 replies
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Apr 26, 2022 4:13 AM in response to Alex_Han

As Purplemist89 says the issue seems to have been caused by the update as I had tried all of your suggestions before posting.


  1. I restarted multiple times.
  2. Network continues to be fine.
  3. O2 definitely supports SMS messages (as do all carriers).
  4. I'm not sending a group MMS message.
  5. I have plenty space and the issue is with sending a simple SMS, not receiving them.
  6. The phone number is still correct and was before the update.


The issue continues with sending SMS messages. How can this be resolved?

Apr 26, 2022 10:34 AM in response to deggie

I called o2, they were as much use as a chocolate fireguard - they insisted I take a bus 30 mins to the Apple store to ask someone to click 3 dots at the top right of my messages list that doesn't exist, and then cut the call when I insisted that the dots didn't exist on my phone screen or indeed on the screens I was looking at on the Apple Support website.


In the end I...

  1. Turned off iMessage, then turned it on
  2. Turned on Airplane mode, turned it off
  3. Turned off Send as SMS, turned it back on
  4. Checked that iMessage was sent to send from my phone number and not an email address


I'm not sure which of these sorted it, but doing all of these seems to have kicked something in as my message sent!

Apr 21, 2022 9:48 AM in response to Alex_Han

I have thesame issue after the IOS 15.4.2 update on an Iphone 12. The messages are Green SMS and going via cellular data,. The messages are being received by the sender but on my phone show as a message send failure/ not received.

I restarted my device and have the same issue

wifi calling is on, I have a strong wifi signal and a 4G celluar phone signal

Its just text no pictures

Its tyo one person not a group

I have lots of space on my phone

Phone number is correct and the same messages last week before the update went fine


Net the IOS update has done something to generate this error message - Please advise how to fix

Apr 17, 2022 7:56 AM in response to mhairibell

Hi mhairibell,


If you'd like your messages to send without an error message, this information might help. 


You mentioned that the messages, do in fact send, but you still get the error message. Because the messages seem as if they aren't sending (even though they are), let's follow the steps here: 


1. Restart your device:
iPhone
iPad
iPod touch
2. Check your network connection. To send a message as iMessage or MMS, you need a cellular data or Wi-Fi connection. To send an SMS message, you need cellular network connection. If you turn on Wi-Fi Calling, you can send SMS messages over Wi-Fi.
3. Check with your carrier to see if the type of message you’re trying to send, like MMS or SMS, is supported.
4. If you’re trying to send group MMS messages on an iPhone, go to Settings > Messages and turn on MMS Messaging. If you don't see an option to turn on MMS Messaging or Group Messaging on your iPhone, then your carrier might not support this feature.
5. Make sure that your device has enough space to receive images and videos.
6. Make sure that you entered the correct phone number or email address for the contact.


The information above is from If you can't send or receive messages on your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch. If the issue remains after following the guidance above, let the community know what steps you had a chance to try. Additionally, we'll want to know if this is on Wi-Fi, cellular, or both, if this is an iMessage (blue) or SMS message (green), and if this is just happening with one contact or a few. 


We hope that helps with your question and take care!

Messages failing to send since iOS update

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