Why can't I send myself an iMessage since iOS 16

Question

Level 1

5 points

Why can't I send myself an iMessage since iOS 16

For as long as I can remember, I've always sent myself messages on my phone throughout the day as a way of remembering things I need to do later on. and they always come through as iMessages I usually read these on my commute home. I also do this from my MacBook when typing long messages I may want to then copy and paste to someone who doesn't have iMessage, or who uses a third party app instead.

However, ever since I updated to ios16, my phone will no longer send iMessages to myself, it will only send text messages. This also means I can't send myself any pics which I may want to share with friends later (I don't send picture messages through sms).

If I send a message to myself on my phone, it goes through as a green text. If I reply from any of my other Apple devices, it goes through as a blue iMessage. But if I then reply for my iPhone, it goes through as a green text again. This is really annoying and Im refusing to update any more of my devices until its resolved as I don't always find myself in a place where I have a mobile signal, but I do have wi-fi there.

Has anyone else had this and found a solution?

Posted on Oct 24, 2022 12:50 PM

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Answer 1

Oct 26, 2022 7:49 AM in response to Kevlar118

Hi Kevlar118,

For help with ensuring you can send an iMessage to yourself, check out the information below found in the article here: If you can't send or receive messages on your iPhone or iPad - Apple Support

"If you see a green message bubble

If you see a green message bubble instead of a blue one, then that message was sent using MMS/SMS instead of iMessage. There are several reasons for this:

The person that you sent the message to doesn't have an Apple device.
iMessage is turned off on your device or on your recipient’s device. To check if iMessage is turned on for your device, go to Settings > Messages > iMessage.
iMessage is temporarily unavailable on your device or on your recipient’s device.
You might need to update your settings for Messages after you set up a new device."

You can also test sending the message to the Apple ID associated versus the telephone number. Send and receive messages on iPhone

You can also check if changing the "start new conversations from" options changes the behavior.

Add or remove your phone number in Messages or FaceTime - Apple Support

Best.

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Answer 2

Oct 30, 2022 10:04 AM in response to Kevlar118

To be able to send an iMessage (blue “bubble”) to yourself, you must have iMessage turned on in “Settings”, “Messages” … and have “Group Messaging” turned off.

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Answer 3

Kevlar118 Author

Level 1

5 points

Oct 26, 2022 8:55 AM in response to OrigamiFan1

Thank you for your reply, appreciated. :-)

I will look at those links. many have already tried.

Just to clarify, I can send an imessage to my own phone number using my ipads, macbooks and imac. I can send an imessage to any other iphone user. Its just that when I send myself a new imessage, or reply to an existing thread I've already got going with myself, it only comes out as an SMS and this has only started happening since I downloaded ios16 onto it.

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