iMessage sends message to computer instead of Android phone

Question

iMessage sends message to computer instead of Android phone

Hello.

I have a Mac with and iMessage account that I use for facetime. I also have an Android phone. Unfortunately, when friends with iPhones text me, sometimes their text messages wind up on my computer instead of being sent to my phone (which is problematic since I am often nowhere near my computer when they send the messages).

How can I tell the iMessage system that it should never ever send text messages to my computer, but always send them to my phone?

iMac, Mac OS X (10.7.2)

Posted on Jan 17, 2015 2:56 PM

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Answer 1

Jan 19, 2015 1:02 PM in response to Bernhard VonZastrow1

Hi,

As Eric says the iPhone has a Messages app all of it's own.

It can do two things.

Send iMessages to Macs and iOS devices and also SMS to non Apple devices (Android Phone effectively).

However the iMessages side as it were requires that it has a good enough Carrier service to send iMessages or is on a WiFi network.

If it is Not it will resort to Sending SMS messages instead.

The app can whilst on a suitable service try to send an iMessage to a Number but will get info back from the iMessages server that it is not Registered and will send an SMS text instead.

Therefore it should automatically send SMS to your Android.

iMessages can be sent to Apple IDs or to iPhone Numbers both from Macs and from iOS devices.

You would normally refer to the Contact Card for that person and the select the Apple ID or iPhone number. Many would chose a Name from the Contacts App (Address Book ) and Send - somewhat hoping the right option had been selected or forgetting that not everyone with a Mac uses an iPhone and try to send anyway.

Therefore your Mac may get iMessages sent to your Apple ID.

There can be issues if you had an iPhone at one time and now the number is used on a Android or other type of phone.

This is because the iMessages server may think the device is still an iPhone if you did not disconnect it from the Service.

In this case the Mac > Messages > Preferences > Accounts > iMessages account may still list an "iPhone" Number, in the Receive At list and Start Conversation From drop down, which some people may still be sending iMessages to.

You may well have to "educate" them as to where you want Text Messages to go.

9:02 pm Monday; January 19, 2015

 iMac 2.5Ghz i5 2011 (Mavericks 10.9)
 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

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Answer 2

Jan 18, 2015 1:04 PM in response to Bernhard VonZastrow1

Hi,

So you have an Apple ID that you use in the iMessages account in Messages and on the FaceTime app.

This allows you to Open the FaceTime App from inside the Messages app and Video or Audio Chat to other Mac and iPhone users that have the same apps.

(To be clear the Messages app can do it's own Video and Audio Chats for AIM and Jabber accounts to other Macs but the iMessages account invokes an Outside app - FaceTime).

To get SMS on your Mac you must have an iOS 8 iPhone and, effectively, "Pair" them.

People with iPhone should only send SMS to your Andriod Number

The AIM and Jabber accounts you may have can also do Screen Sharing in-App to other Macs that are using Messages or iChat and an account of the same Service.

The iMessages account in Yosemite can Screen Share - by Invoking an outside app - to other Macs using Yosemite.

For this you have to Enable the System Preferences > Sharing > Screen Sharing Option.

In Sharing the Remote Management and Screen Sharing cannot be enabled together as they both use the Apple Remote Desktop Engine (So do the Messages In-App Screen Sharing but there is not conflict with the Sharing Options).

9:04 pm Sunday; January 18, 2015

 iMac 2.5Ghz i5 2011 (Mavericks 10.9)
 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

Reply

Answer 3

Jan 18, 2015 10:48 AM in response to Eric Root

Thanks for the suggestions!

I'm running 10.9.5

And apologies, I was using the wrong terminology. I AM using facetime, but I have been logging into iMessage so that I can do remote desktop and text chats with my parents. Perhaps I can logout from the "apple" portion of iMessage but still use remote desktop and chats via an AIM account? Would I have to get my parents to switch to AIM accounts as well (they may already have them because of the remote desktop).

I have looked through the links you listed (very briefly) and will continue to read them, but doesn't continuity and handoff assume you have both a Mac AND an iOS device? I only have the Mac side of the equation.

As I understand the way iMessage works on someone else's iPhone is that when my friends with iPhones SMS me, Apple "intercepts" this and sees whether I have an iMessage account. If I do, then Apple will send the message via that system instead. It is a cool idea except the bit where this message only goes to my Mac, and not my phone where it was intended to go. Basically what I was hoping for was to tell Apple's iMessage system that while I DO have an iMessage account, please DON'T intercept SMS messages that my friends with iPhones send and redirect them to this account.

Alternatively, would it mean that I have to sign out of iMessage and never use it? Right now the slightly annoying solution (I think) is to make sure I never have iMessage open when I am not in front of my desk. But that is easy to forget to do.

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Answer 4

Jan 18, 2015 5:11 PM in response to Ralph-Johns-UK

Thanks for the replies.

"To get SMS on your Mac you must have an iOS 8 iPhone and, effectively, "Pair" them.

People with iPhone should only send SMS to your Andriod Number"

Does this mean my friends with iPhones are not SMS texting me, but instead sending me iMessage messages? Is that a separate app that they run on their phones (i.e. for some reason they open up iMessage app on their phones instead of the standard SMS app)? If that is the case then I just need to train them to use the "correct" app when texting me, right?

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