How do I send SMS only at ALL TIMES with an iPhone to ALL contacts? My family shares iPads under my ID and now my teenager gets all my business texts!

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Level 1

8 points

How do I send SMS only at ALL TIMES with an iPhone to ALL contacts? My family shares iPads under my ID and now my teenager gets all my business texts!

How do I send SMS only at ALL TIMES with an iPhone to ALL contacts? iOS 8 now forces all Apple users to use iMessage all the time with all other iOS users. The option to send as SMS only is subordinate to iMessage in iOS 8 settings and CANNOT be turned off to send only SMS texts to another iOS device! This is a serious privacy issue for all households using iOS and doing family sharing, including over a number of iOS devices, under one member's Apple ID. Why should business conversations or financial conversations between parents be readable on an iPad in the hands of a teenager or a seven year old? The answer is not as simple as "Just don't enable iMessage on your other devices," because amy family that shares the Apple ID password is vulnerable to teenagers particularly hacking into iMessage to monitor, for example, what their parents are saying. If I were Samsung or Google I would hammer this issue immediately and continually until it is fixed by Apple (and I'm not sure why they haven't yet). iMessage is a convenience but it has this serious limitation given the architecture of the Apple universe.Apple simply cannot force all its users to conduct text messaging in arbitrarily limited way, any more than it was able to force all its users to switch from Google Maps. When will Apple fix this?

iPhone 5, iOS 8.1

Posted on Oct 29, 2014 6:46 AM

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Answer 1

FoxFifth

Level 10

475,431 points

Oct 30, 2014 7:13 AM in response to Trademann

Trademann wrote:

Fox, that does not work, because then you are blocked from sending any form of message to another Apple user. iMessage MUST be activated to text any other iOS device. And then Apple defaults by ALWAYS using iMessage between iOS devices.There is simply no way, within iOS 8, to send SMS only to another Apple user. Apple has made that impossible.

...

That is not correct. I have had iMessage turned off for quite some time (as I suggested) and have never had any trouble sending messages to anyone, Apple users or otherwise. All messages are sent as SMS or MMS. If you want SMS/MMS only, Settings > Messages > iMessage Off.

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Answer 2

Oct 30, 2014 6:22 AM in response to Trademann

Family Sharing does not require using he same Apple Id for all family members: http://support.apple.com/kb/HT201060

The first, and most obvious answer would be to set up a separate AppleID for you daughter and link it to yours under Family Sharing. Also keep in mind that iOS is not and never has been designed as a multi-user account system. This would also allow her to have a separate contacts list as well, if you are syncing the contacts via iCloud.

If that is not an option, you will need to set different Send & Receive addresses on the iPad than what you have on the Phone(s). this may in your case mean adding an email address to the iPad that is not already on it for this purpose:

Settings App > Messages > Send & Receive. Make sure to uncheck the addresses you use. In addition, you may want to set up restrictions on the iPad to prevent her from making any changes to it (Settings app > General > Restrictions.

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Answer 3

Oct 29, 2014 6:50 AM in response to Trademann

GGo to settings messages, send and receive. And disassociate your email/ and or number with that device.

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Answer 4

Trademann Author

Level 1

8 points

Oct 30, 2014 5:43 AM in response to FoxFifth

Fox, that does not work, because then you are blocked from sending any form of message to another Apple user. iMessage MUST be activated to text any other iOS device. And then Apple defaults by ALWAYS using iMessage between iOS devices.There is simply no way, within iOS 8, to send SMS only to another Apple user. Apple has made that impossible.

The SMS-only choice used to be on the same menu level as iMessage, but now it is locked WITHIN iMessage, and is not available as a choice unless iMessage is activated. Then it is limited solely to being used if iMessage is not available.

I'm sure their argument is that they are saving their customers money because iMessage is free, but they are imposing an opportunity cost on 100 percent of their user base in the guise of saving that money. What they are really doing is entrapping faithful users such as myself further within the Apple ecosystem. If I hadn't already spent thousands of dollars on my iTunes library I might consider a Galaxy ... Samsung does not deserve to regain any momentum if they can't figure out how to exploit this.

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Answer 5

pogster

Level 5

5,123 points

Oct 30, 2014 6:08 AM in response to Trademann

Well it must be something YOU are doing wrong because if I turn off iMessages as FoxFifth suggested I can still send messages to other Apple users. My wife and I share the same Apple ID and we don't get each others messages so clearly YOU have something setup wrong.

Hint: If you truly want help with your device drop the rants and just ask for help. No need for all the drama.

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Answer 6

Oct 30, 2014 6:18 AM in response to Trademann

Trademann wrote:

Fox, that does not work, because then you are blocked from sending any form of message to another Apple user. iMessage MUST be activated to text any other iOS device. And then Apple defaults by ALWAYS using iMessage between iOS devices.There is simply no way, within iOS 8, to send SMS only to another Apple user. Apple has made that impossible.

The SMS-only choice used to be on the same menu level as iMessage, but now it is locked WITHIN iMessage, and is not available as a choice unless iMessage is activated. Then it is limited solely to being used if iMessage is not available.

I'm sure their argument is that they are saving their customers money because iMessage is free, but they are imposing an opportunity cost on 100 percent of their user base in the guise of saving that money. What they are really doing is entrapping faithful users such as myself further within the Apple ecosystem. If I hadn't already spent thousands of dollars on my iTunes library I might consider a Galaxy ... Samsung does not deserve to regain any momentum if they can't figure out how to exploit this.

Turning off iMessage does not prevent you from sending messages to other Apple users. You can send an SMS to any iPhone without your own iMessage turned on, even if it is turned on on their iPhone.

The SMS-only option is: Turn off iMessage. Literally. That's it.

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Answer 7

Varptr

Level 1

4 points

Nov 28, 2014 11:05 AM in response to FoxFifth

I have the same problem, With iMessage turned off I can send SMS to non-iPhone users but if i try to send to an iPhone user the message will not get sent and a message box appears saying "Cannot Send Message. iMessage needs to be enabled to send this message". Obviously I have mobile network connectivity and an SMS allowance or I would not be able to SMS non-iPhone users.

This problem does exist in IOS8.1.0. Not tried 8.1.1 yet.

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