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why are text green, blue, and grey?

why are text green, blue, and grey? When i text someone with a iphone 4s with my 4s my text to them were green,green, green, then Blue,

And there reply is Grey? Whats the difference?

iPhone 4S, iOS 7.0.3

Posted on Nov 3, 2013 1:48 AM

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Nov 3, 2013 2:58 AM

Blue=iMessage, Apple's messaging service

Green=SMS/MMS, your carrier's messaging service

Grey is just the color of incoming texts.


When you send to someone else who is also using iMessage, as long as there is a good network connection (Wi-Fi or cellular), it should send as a blue message. That means it's passing through Apple's messaging server instead of your carrier's. You can also send/receive messages with iPads and iPods if they use iMessage.


However, if for some reason iMessage is not available, the phone will try to send as a regular SMS/MMS message, which will be green. This will also happen if you send a text to a non-Apple device, like an Android or Windows phone.

1 reply
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Nov 3, 2013 2:58 AM in response to glineber

Blue=iMessage, Apple's messaging service

Green=SMS/MMS, your carrier's messaging service

Grey is just the color of incoming texts.


When you send to someone else who is also using iMessage, as long as there is a good network connection (Wi-Fi or cellular), it should send as a blue message. That means it's passing through Apple's messaging server instead of your carrier's. You can also send/receive messages with iPads and iPods if they use iMessage.


However, if for some reason iMessage is not available, the phone will try to send as a regular SMS/MMS message, which will be green. This will also happen if you send a text to a non-Apple device, like an Android or Windows phone.

why are text green, blue, and grey?

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