iMessage Will Not Stay Disabled

Question

Level 1

4 points

iMessage Will Not Stay Disabled

Everywhere I search, the answer seems so simple to disable iMessage on my iPhone. Settings - Messages - turn the iMessage toggle off. I have been fighting this for several years...it does NOT stay off. Out of the blue (pun intended), on a regular basis, it turns itself back on and I only notice it because I see the blue background on a given text. I then have to go back into settings and turn it off once again. I don't want to hear about how SMS will, automatically, be used if the phone I am communicating with isn't an iPhone (I don't trust that and have had issues when an Android is added to a group thread). I don't want to use iMessage period. I only ever want to use SMS or MMS. I don't want to hear about some kind of superiority that iMessage might have over SMS (which it doesn't have in the age of unlimited data we live in). Why can't I keep the setting on my phone fixed and not changeable?

Posted on Jan 29, 2023 8:01 PM

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Answer 1

SravanKrA

Level 10

433,256 points

Jan 29, 2023 9:10 PM in response to UpsetParent2

I understand that you do not want to hear about anything other than how to keep the iMessage turned off.

Nothing on an iPhone or for that matter any smartphone happens out of the blue. It is always triggered by some action by a user (not necessarily the owner) intended or otherwise.

The following question may give you some lead to check.

Do you have multiple devices
Do you use FaceTime using your Phone number?
Did you hand over an iPhone to kids or to a stranger without Enabling Guided Access?
Do you share Apple IDs
Have you Jailbroken the device
Have you shared sensitive information pertaining to your device
Have you been Phished
Do you leave your iPhone unlocked and unattended in public places like offices, schools, malls, etc?

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Answer 2

UpsetParent2 Author

Level 1

4 points

Jan 29, 2023 10:06 PM in response to SravanKrA

Number 1 from above, yes I have an iPad on the same account and it isn't used for messages and it still has and always has had iMessage off. No to everything else. Family sharing is on so I can control my child's screentime and manage location sharing. There is nothing I can think of that would allow someone else to change my settings without me knowing and I am pretty security conscious. However, I have seen some threads that talk about a relationship between Facetime and iMessage. If I have Facetime enabled (I haven't used it in years but might have used it while traveling before Covid), does that automatically re-enable iMessage? Facetime is enabled and has been the whole time, even though I don't use it.

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iMessage Will Not Stay Disabled

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