iPhone trying to send iMessage to non iPhone.

I did exactly as you stated "Blazinsun" and it worked! My friend who is a non-iphone user is very happy! thanks!

1. Deleted the iMessage conversation.

2. Removed the contact.

3. Rebooted my iPhone (This was the affected device sending an iMessage when it should have been a text).

4. Then sent a text to the phone number without creating a contact. (It tried to send an iMessage for about 2 seconds and then quickly reverted to a text message. Every text there after was fine).

5. Re-created the contact.

Go to settings - messages - turn on send as SMS( the description - Send as SMS when iMessage is unavailable.)

I concur, this is the most effective fix for this issue

Thanks for clarifying, on to the next theory haha

I was having this same issue. I called Verizon, they put me on with an Apple Tech. He sent a text message to my number with a verification code, I gave him the verification code, and he removed my cell number from Apple's system. He said it could take up to an hour for messages to start coming through correctly. We will see.

Since this is a known issue, it sounds like carriers are passing the calls on to Apple to fix.

Hello. This is how you solve this imessage issue. Go to settings - messages. There, you will see an option that says "send as sms". Turn this on. You're done. Now, when your iphone tries to send an imessage to a non iphone, it will notice it failed and instead send it as SMS. This should solve this issue. Have a nice day and God bless.

Unfortunately that only works if you are the one with the iPhone, and even then it doesn't always work. I have an iPhone and an Android phone and recently turned on the android phone instead of the iPhone. The android does not have the option to send an iMessage, so your solution cannot work. I have a coworker that was having issues sending me text messages. I would never get them on my Android because they were being sent as iMessage.

Called Verizon, they put me in touch with Apple. Apple removed my number from the database and now everything is fine.

Of course this only works for iphones. This site is Apple Support.

You are brilliant brandee. OMG. This whole time, I thought I was on an Android Support site. Silly me!

Oh wait, what I actually said was it only works if you are the one with the iphone (meaning I am the one that is using the iphone, which I am not). Contextually that is different than saying it only works for iphones. Again, silly me!

The problem is Apple's proprietary messaging system that doesn't release cell numbers once the user is no longer using an Apple product any more.

In my case, I had an iPhone. I got an Android phone. When someone texted me from an iPhone to my cell number it would never come through because the message was sent as an iMessage.

The only way to get this resolved was to talk to an Apple Tech who removed my cell number from their database. Since I don't control other people's phones and what their settings are, I can't force everyone to turn on SMS messages.

lol, thanks

It worked for me !! "Send as SMS" button was turned off. Thanks !!

I'm having this problem too, but the phone in question was never on iPhone it's a Sony Xperia, and whenever I try to text it, it wants to send via iMessage. I don't know what to do other than trying to tap "send as text" every time. I don't want to have to do that every time

Hi Kicksledkid. On the iphonem go to settings - messages. There you should see the "send as imessage" option. A little below it, you should see an option that says "send as sms". Turn this on and the phone will automatically send every message as an sms when it notices the imessage failed.

Same issue. My brother-in-law had an iPhone then switched to the new Samsung Galaxy S5. Every time I attempted to text him, it would attempt to send the message as an "iMessage". Short of tapping the message and manually selecting it to send as a text, he would not receive anything. Here is the solution that worked for me:

1. Delete the thread with the iMessage/Text Message issue

2. Log into iCloud.com

3. Go to your contacts section

4. Write down the phone number of the contact and then delete it

5. Go to your iPhone and create a new contact with the same number, select "mobile" instead of "iPhone"

Hope this helps

I'm having the same issue, I switched to the Galaxy S5 from an iPhone 4 and I'm not getting any messages from iPhones now. Is calling Apple Tech Support and asking them to remove my number from their database the only way to get this resolved? Since my iPhone is deactivated, I cannot call Apple Tech for free. Anyone run into this issue attempting to deactivate iMessages to their number after deactivating the iPhone?