Can't send texts to one particular friend, texts work one-way, phone calls work both way

Question

Can't send texts to one particular friend, texts work one-way, phone calls work both way

For about a bit more than a month now, one particular friend (and just one, as far as I can tell) has not been receiving my text messages. He can send me texts messages and we are able to call each other. The texts emitted from my phone however, don't seem to go through. I have no indication that the text has not been delivered (no red exclamation point next to it). This particular person is not using an iPhone for this particular phone number.

I am using an iPhone 4 (32GB) running iOS 7.1.2.

I have tried many different things.

(1) I have checked that this friend was not in my block list. The block list is empty. But even if that person were in my block list, would I be able to receive texts and call? I have tried adding that person to the block list then sending a text. Then removing that person from the block list and texting again.

(2) Yesterday I have restored my phone from a backup. I then erased completely the (long) text exchange between me and this friend, waited for the phone to process the deletion and tried again to send a text. I then deleted the entire contact information of this friend. And then I texted the phone number.

None of these steps have worked. I'm very puzzled.

Has anyone ever been confronted to an issue like this one?

MacBook Pro, OS X Mountain Lion (10.8.2)

Posted on Mar 29, 2015 3:15 AM

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Answer 1

Best reply

Arthur Poireau Author

Level 1

9 points

Mar 29, 2015 4:36 AM in response to Rudegar

This friend has an iPhone and I can iMessage him on his other phone numbers (he has three). For a short time the Sim card attached to this phone number was inside an iPhone and we did iMessage each other but that was almost a year ago (April 2014). That sim card is now in an ordinary phone (not a smartphone, not an iPhone). We reverted back to texting for a long while. It only began to act strangely on January of this year.

On that friend's contact card, 2 of the numbers (the ones attached to his iPhone) have blue bubbles next to them. The number I can't send texts to doesn't have that blue bubble - meaning that the number doesn't have iMessage capabilities, right?

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Answer 2

Rudegar

Level 10

170,658 points

Mar 29, 2015 4:21 AM in response to Arthur Poireau

if the friend used to have an iphone but switched and did not disable iMessage then your phone will send the messages to his iMessage account rather then as sms's

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Answer 3

Mar 29, 2015 3:13 PM in response to Arthur Poireau

I checked my latest phone bill and the texts are on there. I think the problem lays on my friend's end of things. I will investigate next time I see him. I wonder what can be the problem.

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