My iMessages don't work on my iPhone 5

Question

My iMessages don't work on my iPhone 5

As the title says, my imessages just wont work on my iphone 5. I have tried everything from a dfu restore, to turning imessages on and off, resetting network settings, turning off sending as sms, etc. etc. If I put my sim card into a friends iPhone 5, my iMessages activate and work right away.

Every message I send seems to send as a text.

iMessages in settings is activated and looks like its working but will only send as a sms. I cant receive iMessages either.

My iphone is out of warranty and Im all out of options. If this is a software problem, can I get a replacement iphone through apple as this is obviously not a hardware issue?

Thanks. Any help would be much appreciated.

iPhone 5, iOS 7.1.1

Posted on Jun 2, 2014 3:21 PM

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Answer 1

Jason L

Community Specialist

Jun 4, 2014 8:16 AM in response to Dimitri Brooks

Hi Dimitri,

Take a look at the article below, it provides some additional suggestions that you can use to resolve the iMessage issue described above.

iOS: Troubleshooting Messages

http://support.apple.com/kb/ts2755

If you can't send and receive iMessages

You will need these to send and receive iMessages:

An iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch

iOS 5.0 or later

A cellular data connection or a Wi-Fi connection

A phone number or Apple ID registered with iMessage in Settings > Messages

To resolve issues with sending and receiving iMessages, follow these steps

Check iMessage system status for current service issues.

Go to Settings > Messages > Send & Receive and make sure that you registered iMessage with your phone number or Apple ID and that you selected iMessage for use. If the phone number or Apple ID isn't available for use, troubleshoot iMessage registration.

Open Safari and navigate to www.apple.com to verify data connectivity. If a data connection isn't available, troubleshoot cellular data or a Wi-Fi connection.

iMessage over cellular data might not be available while you're on a call. Only 3G and faster GSM networks support simultaneous data and voice calls. Learn which network your phone supports. If your network doesn't support simultaneous data and voice calls, go to Settings > Wi-Fi and turn Wi-Fi on to use iMessage while you're on a call.

Restart your device.

Tap Settings > General > Reset > Reset Network Settings on your iPhone.

If you still can't send or receive an iMessage, follow these steps

Make sure that the contact trying to message you isn't blocked in Settings > Messages > Blocked.

Make sure that the contact you're trying to send a message to is registered with iMessage.

If the issue occurs with a specific contact or contacts, back up or forward important messages and delete your current messaging threads with the contact. Create a new message to the contact and try again.

If the issue occurs with a specific contact or contacts, delete and recreate the contact in the Contacts app. Create a new message to the newly created contact and try again.

Back up and restore your device as new.

-Jason

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