kbsyrstad

Q: Why won't my macbook imessage an iphone that has imessage turned on?

I just recently updated my macbook to iOS Mountain Lion. I really liked the imessage feature that allows me to text registered imessage users to their phone from my macbook. However, when i tried to text my husband from my macbook to his phone, it said he wasn't registered. I checked his iphone and he IS registered and can send me imessages to my iphone. So why does my imessages on my macbook not recognize this? Also, in my list of contacts in imessage on my macbook, my name and phone number are the only one that has the blue chat bubble icon next to it...but i know a lot of my friends are registered imessage users, what's going on? Oh, and a side note...i was able to imessage myself from my macbook to my phone but no one else.

MacBook Pro, OS X Mountain Lion (10.8.2)

Posted on Jan 27, 2013 11:33 PM

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Q: Why won't my macbook imessage an iphone that has imessage turned on?

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  • by gail from maine,

    gail from maine gail from maine Jan 27, 2013 11:58 PM in response to kbsyrstad
    Level 7 (25,645 points)
    iCloud
    Jan 27, 2013 11:58 PM in response to kbsyrstad

    Hi kbsyrstad,

     

    When you are trying to send a message to your husband, are you typing his AppleID into the "To" line? When you do that, it should automatically list the options you can choose from for that ID. For example, my husband's info in my Contacts has his iPhone number, work email address (which is his AppleID), and a couple of other numbers listed. Only his work email address and his iPhone number have the blue bubble next to them. If I select either one of those, he will get the message.

     

    Hope this helps!

     

    Cheers,

     

    GB

  • by gail from maine,

    gail from maine gail from maine Jan 28, 2013 12:32 AM in response to kbsyrstad
    Level 7 (25,645 points)
    iCloud
    Jan 28, 2013 12:32 AM in response to kbsyrstad

    Hi again,

     

    I was playing around with iMessage on my Mac, and discovered a couple of interesting things that may help some more:

     

    I was wrong to say that you needed to put in his AppleID - you can put in his name, number, email address, etc., and it should bring up a list of the email addresses and phone numbers that you have for him in your Contacts.

     

    iMessage-compatible numbers/email addresses will have a blue balloon next to them, but ONLY after you have selected it and brought it into the "To" line for the first time.

     

    I found this out by typing a single letter in the "To" box to bring up a list of names from my Contacts. No one on the list had a blue balloon next to them at this point. I then selected one of them that I knew had a registered iPhone, and his name showed up and remained blue. When I cleared the "To" box and then typed in the same letter again to get the list redisplayed, his name now showed up with the blue balloon.

     

    I think once you have selected a registered friend to text, they should then show up with the blue balloon after that!

     

    Hope this helps!

     

    Cheers,

     

    GB

  • by Ralph Johns (UK),

    Ralph Johns (UK) Ralph Johns (UK) Jan 28, 2013 1:27 PM in response to gail from maine
    Level 9 (72,994 points)
    Applications
    Jan 28, 2013 1:27 PM in response to gail from maine

    Hi,

     

    In Pics.

     

     

    Having typed "Ralph" in to the "To" spot I then select my Address Card trying to pin down the iPhone number.

    AS you can see from the Pic the name becomes a Drop down and shows you the Options to contact the person and marks the iPhone Number and Apple ID with the blue Speech Bubble.

     

    Blue iCons.png

     

    I would say though that Messages and the Contacts List seem to have to "Learn" which as valid via connection.  As you can see it tends to think my Landline number is a potential iMessages contact method.

     

    NOTE  It will not connect iMessages to AIM.

    Those below the Line will change to an AIM to AIM conversation.

     

     

    3Sigcopy2.png
    9:26 PM      Monday; January 28, 2013


    Please, if posting Logs, do not post any Log info after the line "Binary Images for iChat"

     

      iMac 2.5Ghz 5i 2011 (Mountain Lion 10.8.2)
     G4/1GhzDual MDD (Leopard 10.5.8)
     MacBookPro 2Gb (Snow Leopard 10.6.8)
     Mac OS X (10.6.8),
     Couple of iPhones and an iPad

    "Limit the Logs to the Bits above Binary Images."  No, Seriously

  • by Bentley285,

    Bentley285 Bentley285 Jun 14, 2016 1:24 PM in response to Ralph Johns (UK)
    Level 1 (8 points)
    Desktops
    Jun 14, 2016 1:24 PM in response to Ralph Johns (UK)

    We have discovered that while you can send messages from your iphone to a non-Apple phone, you can't do the same from a Macbook. It has something to do with the iPhone being an MMS device while a Macbook is not. Apple suggested I use a third party app if I am going to text from laptop. This is an unnecessary inconvenience with no fix.

  • by gail from maine,

    gail from maine gail from maine Jun 14, 2016 9:02 PM in response to Bentley285
    Level 7 (25,645 points)
    iCloud
    Jun 14, 2016 9:02 PM in response to Bentley285

    If you are running El Capitan on your Mac, and iOS 8.1 or later, then you can send text messages from your Mac. It is not an "unnecessary inconvenience". A Mac is not a phone. It doesn't have a contract with a provider. There is no "text plan" that you can use directly on a Mac. It's a computer. You can follow the instructions in this support article, however, and set up your iPhone to forward text messages from your Mac:

     

    Messages (El Capitan): Get and send SMS messages

     

    Cheers,

     

    GB

  • by Ralph Johns (UK),

    Ralph Johns (UK) Ralph Johns (UK) Jun 15, 2016 12:36 PM in response to Bentley285
    Level 9 (72,994 points)
    Applications
    Jun 15, 2016 12:36 PM in response to Bentley285

    Hi,

     

    The Thread was started over three years ago.

    At that point the Messages App and the iOS version on an iPhone could not do SMS/Text Forwarding.

     

    It is only at iOS 8 and Yosemite that it starts to become possible.

    The MMS issue does not exist.

     

    If the Carrier service you have does MMS and your have the MMS option On your iPhone then you should not have any problems.

     

    On the other hand Upgrading across server OS X version and possibly some iOS versions as well may well seem like an "unnecessary inconvenience".

     

    As Gail points out there is documentation for El Capitan.

    This thread is in Mountain Lion (Messages had only just been added to what had been iChat).

     

     

    3Sigcopy2.png

    8:36 pm      Wednesday; June 15, 2016

     

      iMac 2.5Ghz i5 2011 (El Capitan)
     G4/1GhzDual MDD (Leopard 10.5.8)
     MacBookPro 2Gb (Snow Leopard 10.6.8)
     Mac OS X (10.6.8),
     iPhone and an iPad (2)