how do I have more than one phone number associated with my iMessages

Here is how I got iMessage to work using two iPhones on the same account.

Settings > iMessage turned ON, below is Send & Receive > make sure that only the iPhones actual phone number is checked. Other iPhone should be unchecked. Do this on both iPhones.

FaceTime is also turned on.

FYI, Once the above is done it doesn't seem to matter that both numbers are listed under "a phone number I can be reached at" in iCloud. Settings > Name (at the top) > Phone Numbers, Email

I did separate these two phones for about six months. I later put both phones on the same account and I like it much better. It just makes it easier for me to do maintenance and other sharing tasks when my wife and I are on the same account.

It's not really a good option > How do you add more than one phone number on iMessage?

Hi,

The answer to whether you can is Yes.

Add the Apple ID to the Second iPhone.
Restart the app on the Mac and accept the pop ups that tell which Number and Apple ID that iPhone is using.

I do in fact have a Second iPhone.

I also happen to have @iCloud .com and @me.com variations now to may Apple ID since I linked it to iCloud.

In Mountain Lion and Messages 7 it appeared that Messages would treat these IDs as separate entities.

In Mavericks and Messages 8 it seems less clear.

Messages on the Mac keep trying to add the second iPhone Number and the ID on that phone to Messages.

So far I have managed to keep the second iPhone Number out of the settings but the Second ID keeps appearing.

I try to keep mine separate for testing purposes.

However if you are the only one with access to both Phones then any issues about "Sharing the ID" should not arise.

As Carolyn has linked you to, the issues start when several people share the ID across several phones but are making contact with different people that they may not want to "share" with everyone else that is using that ID.

I would use separate IDs for iTunes and App Store compared to FaceTime and Messages if you are in a situation similar to the Linked item.

8:59 pm Wednesday; April 16, 2014

Hi,

I have had two phone numbers show in that pic (or what that pic shows).

However it also showed the second Apple ID as well.

AS I didn't want the second phone added to the iMessages account (I wanted it to have it's Own) I deleted the .plist that contains the Apple ID and all the "Aliases".

In Mountain Lion this was com.apple.imservice.imessages.plist

In Mavericks it is com.apple.ids.service.com.apple.madrid.plist

That's how I removed it.

I just Added the Mac's Apple ID to the Second iPhone.

The Pic now looks like this

9:16 pm Thursday; April 17, 2014

Ralph,

Does the procedure you describe above work only if the two numbers are active simultaneously (i.e. in two different phones)?

I have one iPhone (factory unlocked) but two SIM cards from two different carriers. One for use in the US, and one for use in the UAE, so that I have local phone numbers in both places. Thus, I have two different phone numbers associated with my Apple ID.

iMessage works beautifully with either number when the SIM card for that number is in the phone. But obviously I have no access to iMessages sent to the US number when the UAE SIM card is in the phone, nor do I have access to messages sent to the UAE number when the US SIM is in the phone.

Now that I have both iOS 8 and Yosemite, and have set up text message forwarding, I wonder if it's possible to set things up so that messages sent to both numbers are forwarded to my Macs. I'm expecting the answer to be "no" - I can't imagine how messages sent to a number associated with a SIM card that is in my wallet, not my phone, are going to get delivered to my Mac - but I'm wondering if it's possible.

I know you'll tell me that I can use iMessage to/from email address regardless of the active phone number - and I know that - but that's not what I want to do. Some contacts have only my mobile number - I don't want them to have my email address - but I'd still like to be able to receive iMessages from them. Getting a second phone seems to be a possible fix, but a costly and inefficient one. Any ideas?

Thanks,

DXB Law

Hi DBX Law,

(Long time no hear. Hope things are well).

This issue did pop up in a more recent thread when I though the person was saying they had two iPhones when it turned Out he only had one, but 2 SIMs, like you.

I can see this working for two iPhones in the same country. i.e. there is no Time One/location or Time Stamp issues as that was the way my two phone were originally set up with Messages (one was On UK Vodafone and the other on Orange, now EE).

What I did was to Enable Messages on the second iPhone and then Add a second Apple ID to it.

I have an Apple ID based on an original Dial Up account that then got linked to iCloud giving me an @me.com address and later an @iCloud one.

Whilst iMessages seems to treat these as two separate IDs (much the same as when you use them for AIM Screen Names) it did link to the Mac and gave me the 4 "Receive At" option above.

I accepted this via the pop ups but found it did not give me the separation I was looking for.

AS noted above i have deleted the .plist that holds these "Receive At" options. I have managed to remove the second iPhone number but every now and then I get asked if I want to allow the @me.com ID and even if I say no it appears as an Inactive option in the "Receive At" Listing on the Mac and the "1st" iPhone.

The Apple info on Call Forwarding warns you that sending and Receiving Calls on the the Mac will use carrier services and "cost" accordingly.

A short bit on Cell phone to Mac from Mac Help

Use your Mac to make and receive phone calls

When you want to make or receive a phone call, you don’t have to reach for your iPhone—you can use your Mac. When someone calls you, a notification appears on your Mac and you can take the call.

You can start a phone call on your Mac from FaceTime, Contacts, Safari, Mail, Maps, Spotlight, and many other apps.

Note: Phone calls you make and receive on your Mac use cellular minutes—cellular charges may apply.

The SMS info in Mac Help does not state the same but I would guess it is passed to the phone in the same way the calls are.

The info does suggest the iPhone has to be Live and on the same Network which suggests some info is being passed back and forth.

However It does seem this may only be for the linking of the two devices as I have seen one post where someone stated that in an Internet Cafe they only had their MacBook on the Wifi and the iPhone was only getting Carrier service.

Idea (there is only one).

If the US phones happens to be on one of these carriers then you can add Telephone Numbers as Buddies by adding a +1 to the number (As in +1234567890)

It will format the number for you and you can link to an Address Card

The "Auto-Responding" nature of this is it will tell you it is not a Valid number.

This does presume your AIM/AOL Screen Name is not your Email address. (which is might as @mac.com and iCloud Linked @me.com and @icloud.com ones work as AIM valid Screen Names).

There is also an option on the Mac that allows the things coming to you to be Forwarded as SMS via AIM.

I have never looked into this side as I presumed the phone concerned also has to be using one of those Carriers (i.e. restricted to the United States)

I would guess that any linking of the two phone numbers would be prohibitively expensive and still not tie up properly with Messages.

Whilst it appears there might be some things to check out my feeling is that it will be a No.

EDIT.

It is late where I am and it will be some time before I am back.

10:33 pm Monday; December 29, 2014

did you figure this out ? All I want to do is SYNC iMessages between my MAC and iPhone ... this seems to be an impossible question to ask ...

Messages – Fix Syncing Between Mac and IOS

Messages – Fix Syncing Between Mac and IOS (2)

Hi,

I just did this. Both phones I use (each with its own number) now appear in my iMessage settings across devices. Just make sure you have both phones side by side. Go into the Setup > Messages. Make sure iMessage is on. Scroll down and select Send & Receive. It will ask you to log in. Do so. Go through this on both phones. At some point a message will pop up asking if you want to add the second phone. Say Yes. On your Macs and iPad go through a similar procedure.

- Kevin