Unable to send photos with my new iPhone to non-iPhone users through Messages

Switching bluetooth off and on worked for single android texts and group texts!!! Genius

switch bluetooth on/off and it solved the issue on my new iphone 14... saw that suggested in this very forum

Because sending pictures to non-iPhones uses the carrier’s network, specifically SMS and MMS, and they are 100% managed by the carrier.

I turned off MMS messaging, then the pics sent immediately

This turning off Bluetooth bizarrely worked for me as well. Photos reeent immediately. iPhone 13 iOS 16.6 8/6/2023.

It doesn’t matter. ALL SMS AND MMS messaging is handled by the carrier, so if it isn’t working only the carrier can fix it.

I was having this problem, but turning off Bluetooth worked for me!

prettypaidpisces wrote:

Same issue. I need help immediately!

Contact your carrier immediately!

Turning off Bluetooth solved the problem for me. Just have to remember which of your contacts don’t have iPhones.

Wow! I’ve been trying for weeks to fix this and nothing has worked…. Until now! I turned off Bluetooth and yes, the pictures sent! Thank you SO much! 👏🙌

(iPhone 12pro plus)Yeah Im throwing the BS flag. It is likely due to their latest update. Saturday sending pics and vids back and forth. Sunday updated the iOS and now nothing goes through except text. Roaming, MMS/SMS, reboot, no changes were made from Saturday to Sunday but still doesn't work.

[Edited by Moderator]

I just got an iPhone 14 pro and the same thing has happened to me. I can send photos, etc to other iPhone folks but not to non-iphone folks. Using google photos, however, I can send photos to non-iphone folks with no problems. I have T-mobile as a carrier.

akstrawser wrote:

IT IS NOT THE CARRIER! Those saying it is are incorrect.

It has been a carrier issue for many people. MMS messaging is a carrier service.

This issue of not being able to send photos from my iPhone to any android (single or group text) has been plaguing me on and off for months. I JUST FIGURED IT OUT. I went to settings —> messages and turned off iMessage. I restated the text app and sure enough I was able to send pics to an android phone and to a group text with an android phone in it. I then turned iMessage back on, and while I still got a green bar that moved a little slowly, it did send after about 20 seconds.

Turning iMessage on or off has no effect on sending messages to Android devices. The fact that your phone started working again when you did is far more likely to be coincidence. Resetting the Messages app might have been what did it.

A little update:

On my fourth session with Verizon, upper tier and all, they still can't figure it out and I'm currently on hold as the rep tries to patch an Apple rep into the conversation. Here are some things I did/discovered along the way:

• I am able to send images to Android via my wifi-only iPad, which is very strange because it relays through my phone
• I can receive images from non-iPhone senders, but I can't send. I'm prompted to turn on MMS messaging, but of course, it's already on
• The "Group Messages" toggle under the MMS toggle in Message Settings is missing
• MMS Provisioning and group messaging has been reset on Verizon's side multiple times
• Group messages with Android/iPhone participants don't even appear on my iPhone, but they do appear on my laptop and iPad
• The issue has transcended two iOS versions now (16 to 17) and two iPhones (13 Pro to 15 Pro)
• I tried the suggested solution of turning on the Block Media messages in the MyVerizon iPhone app, but that did nothing
• The Verizon Tech (#4) said this was a known issue, hence he's trying to patch Apple into the conversation

I will report back any findings or results!

Thank you for posting this. This has been going on for years for me. Some observations, there is progress bar at top of iMessage that takes awhile to load. I know it will fail when I see that.

However, this only happens on my home network or WiFi. When I’m on cellular, the images send across platforms no problem. WhatsApp has no problem whatsoever sending images across platforms.

I tried turning off Bluetooth and that did not help at all. I hope there is some more insight into this issue in the near future.