Group text messages sending as individual texts from Mac

I am running the latest versions of MacOS and IOS. If I send a group text from the Mac it sends individual texts to all recipients and they can't reply to the group - just to me. If I send from the iPhone, then it goes out with all recipients shown, so anyone can reply and it goes to the group. There are IOS and Android users in the group, but I don't understand why the Mac Message app behaves like this.

iMac 21.5″ 4K, macOS 13.3

Posted on May 29, 2023 1:35 PM

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25 replies

Oct 10, 2023 6:16 AM in response to Rev2220

Addendum: @IdrisSeabright, please don't take my post as snarky or smug or anything like that. I'm simply expressing my frustration (along with others) that we A) recognize this is a known problem and B) that a known problem with the software should be addressed by the developer. Workarounds and stopgap measures should not be what the enduser has to discover through trial and error, and many users simply don't want to, or can't afford to, waste their time trying to find out an answer. And sure, your "solution" might work, but if it reliably worked, then perhaps Apple could publish your solution?

Oct 10, 2023 6:30 AM in response to Rev2220

Rev2220 wrote:

I've encountered this, too, as it seems have lots of people, and when you look for a solution you find people asking the same question with no one (esp. from Apple) providing a viable answer.

@IdrisSeabright: your response saying "That's because it often works. Troubleshooting something like a phone is frequently not a 'let's just do the sure fix'. It's, let's see if, by trial and error, we can narrow down the cause of the problem" is inadequate.

Do you want to wait around until the causes (there are probably several)? Or do you want to solve the problem.

Trial and error doesn't address the cause. The cause is in the software itself, which is designed by someone to do specific things. If it does not do those things reliably then that is called a bug. The enduser is not the person responsible for addressing and removing or fixing the bug.

You're making the assumption that this is a bug. I suppose if you contort the definition of bug enough, anything that goes wrong on a machine that runs software is a bug. But, reality if often more complicated than that. Sometimes, problems are caused by user error (actually, pretty often). Sometimes, they are caused by an unforeseeable conflict between the system software and something else. Sometimes, they are hardware problems. We know that Apple is constantly working on resolving bugs so, other than to tell them what you've observed, there's no much you can do but wait. They will get to it when they get to it. But, if the problem isn't a bug, nothing the do will fix it. Why not try some things while you're waiting? How is that wasting time? Even if you don't ever find the root cause (you probably won't), you may resolve the issue.

Apple should be providing "the sure fix." Have they yet? If so, what is it?

Again, we don't yet know the problem is Apple's to fix. If they do something that fixes the problem, the problem will go away. That's how we'll know.


I don't take your post as snarky, but rather an expression of frustration. I get it. I'm still sputtering about the fact that you can no longer assign custom text tones on an iPhone (and that is almost certainly either a bug or a deliberate choice on Apple's part). But, we are the only ones who can decided how to respond to a situation. If you don't want to do any troubleshooting and instead wait an hope for Apple do do something, that's your choice.


Best of luck.

Oct 13, 2023 5:44 AM in response to AdrianCO

Hi there! Not sure if anyone is still having this problem but after a detailed convo with Apple support we were able to figure out the issue


Apparently, somewhere along the way iMessage syncing to iCloud was turned off; I either did this in an effort to free up space or it glitched somewhere in the system update. I am currently running Sonoma 14 on my MacBook Air and upgraded to 16.7.1 IOS on my iPhone 13pro. (I am still holding out on the iOS 17 update until more of the glitches are resolved).


When turning off, signing out, and shutting down/restarting and reactivating all of possible iMessage forwarding option on both device, the issue was still occur. Through screen share on both devices, Apple Support was able to determine that since my iMessage to iCloud was shut off on my phone, that was what was causing the problem.


Hope this helps some of you still experiencing this.

Oct 13, 2023 11:49 AM in response to Victoria329D

Hi, @Victoria329D,


Thanks for the input. Your example is one which supports @IdrisSeabright's comment, "Sometimes, problems are caused by user error (actually, pretty often)." I'm glad this was the issue you faced and was easily addressed. My problem, however, is exactly like the OP posted. Everything is fully synced and has been.


I will add here that I believe the source of the problem is in the desktop Messages app. To add to what the OP said, once a group text is created from my iPhone I can then send texts to that group from my desktop, and the group stays as a group going forward. My texts to the group don't get sent as individual texts to the different members of the group, and it doesn't matter whether all members are on iOS or Android. It is only when I initiate a new group text on my desktop to a distinctly new group that the text gets sent to the individuals and not the group. For whatever reason the desktop Messages app won't allow creating the group to begin with.

Oct 13, 2023 11:57 AM in response to Rev2220

My problem was also initiating them from my MacBook. Phone was not the issue either and I could respond from my iPhone as well as my computer if it originated from the phone. Perhaps something on your end is not synced. Perhaps it’s still a mystery lol. It was driving me crazy and I like to consider myself very tech savvy. Sign out iCloud on all devices and then sign back. And check what’s synced to cloud on both ends. I swore mine was and then felt dumb lol

Oct 13, 2023 2:32 PM in response to Rev2220

Rev2220 wrote:

It is only when I initiate a new group text on my desktop to a distinctly new group that the text gets sent to the individuals and not the group. For whatever reason the desktop Messages app won't allow creating the group to begin with.

I suspect that may have to do with the fact that your Mac is not capable of sending messages to an Android phone. Everything is routed through your phone when you send something to someone with an Android user, whether or not they are in a group. I honestly don't know if that's a bug or a limitation of the system. That is definitely something I would report to Apple.

Oct 13, 2023 4:28 PM in response to IdrisSeabright

I suspect that may have to do with the fact that your Mac is not capable of sending messages to an Android phone. Everything is routed through your phone when you send something to someone with an Android user, whether or not they are in a group. I honestly don't know if that's a bug or a limitation of the system. That is definitely something I would report to Apple.

Whether bug or limitation, it's a known issue and this reported problem appears to have gone back more than a year. As such, you'd think by now there'd be something more definitive out there about it. Whether it is a bug or a limitation I think it would be helpful for Apple to say which it is. I'm OK with it being a bug, even if it's one that only affects some percentage of users, as long as Apple says it is so that I don't spend time trying to fix something I can't.

Oct 14, 2023 10:21 AM in response to Rev2220

Rev2220 wrote:

Whether it is a bug or a limitation I think it would be helpful for Apple to say which it is. I'm OK with it being a bug, even if it's one that only affects some percentage of users, as long as Apple says it is so that I don't spend time trying to fix something I can't.

For better or worse, that's not generally the way Apple works. Either they will fix it or they won't (either because they can't or because they don't feel it's worth the effort). But they will not announce anything.


Continue to submit feedback. The more people who do, the more likely Apple is to do something.


Product Feedback - Apple

Oct 14, 2023 6:47 PM in response to IdrisSeabright

IdrisSeabright wrote:

For better or worse, that's not generally the way Apple works. Either they will fix it or they won't (either because they can't or because they don't feel it's worth the effort). But they will not announce anything.

Continue to submit feedback. The more people who do, the more likely Apple is to do something.

Product Feedback - Apple

I'd say "for worse." Ha! I did have a call with Apple Support. The rep said she didn't see my problem "populated," as in, because she doesn't see much by way of complaints about it, the problem doesn't really exist. (It must be all in my head.)


I ran a test in which I tried a group with a known Android user and another with only iOS users. It does appear the problem lies there, with the Android users keeping the group from forming.


Now I'm wondering if turning OFF iMessages on my phone before writing a group text might do something...

Group text messages sending as individual texts from Mac

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