iMessage always as SMS from iPhone but not iPad

Hi kraut55,

As you did not indicate how the message is being created, it's possible that you have more than one contact method saved for her and the option is defaulting to one that does not support iMessage.

To correct this situation, open the contact for your wife then tap and hold the "message" button under their name. If you have multiple contact options, a list showing those will appear and allow you to select which one you wish to use. A message would need to be sent to her Apple ID email address or phone number registered for use with the iMessage service to be sent through the Apple iMessage system. Once a new method is selected in that pop-up, it will be the default method used when tapping the "message" button on the contact list.

It may also be possible that the existing message thread is using a non-iMessage contact option, and you may need to create a new thread under the appropriate method going forward.

Regards.

Hi kraut55,

To clarify, you're finding this only happens with your wife, but all other contacts send as iMessages, correct? Since this doesn't happen when you send from your iPad, we recommend making sure your iPhone is fully updated, and it may help to update your wife's as well if you haven't yet. Be sure to back up first, and then follow these steps: Update your iPhone or iPad - Apple Support

Updating could clear up this issue, so after you verify both devices are on iOS 16.5, test it out and let us know the results.

Take care.

Hi kraut55,

Thanks for checking.

When you see the green SMS text happening, do you know if your wife is currently in a location where cellular data or Wi-Fi is available and connected?

iMessage (blue) uses Wi-Fi, or cellular data. When that is not available for the sender or recipient, then the text only message will go through as SMS (green).

If you still send as SMS when she is connected to the same Wi-Fi or cellular data as you, then we'd advise to contact Apple Support. They can take a further look at why this could be happening.

Get Support

All the best.