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How can I make Text be just Text?

Two issues, different faces of the same coin: When I ask Siri to send a text, I mean the "new" form of communication, not a draft of written words. It's aggravating that I must select which way I want it sent; A text is just a Text, it's not an email or voice message or anything else. Is there a setting to eliminate this waste of my time, every time ? And when in the text function in my phone, it should be obvious to send to the mobile phone number associated with the Contact whose name I selected. Worse, at some point it stopped using Text as the default and stuck in a personal phone or email address and for a long time I couldn't reach people until I figured out one day what was happening. More wasted time on for me what is an absolutely useless function I didn't ask for and don't want. Is there a way to make it stop?

iPhone 7 Plus, iOS 14

Posted on Oct 2, 2022 11:28 AM

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Posted on Oct 2, 2022 1:25 PM

Settings, messages, iMessage needs to be on.

Then underneath in Send & Receive, make sure only your main phone number is checked/ticked. Not your iCloud email address.

iPhone will always use data to send "text" messages to other iPhone users.

Ask Siri to send iMessage to.....

9 replies

Oct 2, 2022 5:05 PM in response to RasterBastion

It seems you are not understanding how iMessage works, and this stems from the confusion of "text" and "text message". An analogy is the use of "call" when you really mean "telephone". You personally may always use a telephone, and never cup your hands in a megaphone shape and raise your voice, to call someone, but many do.


When you are in iMessage, Contact entries as you search for them will show up in either blue or green regardless of whether the identifier is a phone number or an email address. Blue entries will be handled by the iMessage protocol and green entries will be handed off to your cellular service provider's MMS service. MMS messages will be handled according to the rules your cellular service provider sets.


Blue targets are handled by iMessage. In this case, Apple simply facilitates a direct connection between you and your target(s), using the telephone number and email address labels as identifiers but not as delivery methods. There is no Apple messaging server engaged in this process, so messages that cannot be delivered in real time fail. This is why you may from time to time see that a target you know to be an Apple device lights up green. If the device(s) is/are off line for any reason, that target will light up green and iMessage will not work. In any case, iMessage will never hand a "blue" message off to a cellular provider or email provider for processing.

How can I make Text be just Text?

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