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expat93

Q: In Messages, my phone number is in gray. Why cannot I be reached in iMessage using my phone number?

Why is my phone number is gray... indicating that iMessage will not work on my phone? It has always worked. I changed my Apple ID password and now I do not have iMessage on my phone. Any ideas? Thank you.

iPhone 6 Plus, iOS 8.1.1

Posted on Apr 1, 2015 2:43 PM

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Q: In Messages, my phone number is in gray. Why cannot I be reached in iMessage using my phone number?

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  • by Phil0124,

    Phil0124 Phil0124 Apr 1, 2015 2:47 PM in response to expat93
    Level 7 (27,937 points)
    iPhone
    Apr 1, 2015 2:47 PM in response to expat93

    Gray means it cannot be turned off.  Its gray on mine too.  What it means is on your iPhone You cannot not be reachable at your number by iMessage of FaceTime.  It should have a checkmark next to it.

     

    FaceTime and iMessage must alway be able to use your cell number so it can never be un checked. As long as it has a checkmark next to it its fine eventhough it looks gray.

  • by expat93,

    expat93 expat93 Apr 1, 2015 3:19 PM in response to Phil0124
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Apr 1, 2015 3:19 PM in response to Phil0124

    Thank you much for the reply. I understand what you are saying. However, there is no check mark by my phone! Any ideas?

     

    Thank you.

  • by Eric Shawn2,

    Eric Shawn2 Eric Shawn2 Apr 1, 2015 3:34 PM in response to expat93
    Level 3 (612 points)
    Mac OS X
    Apr 1, 2015 3:34 PM in response to expat93

    Mine has been acting up all day like this.  Was perfectly fine last night.  Grey bubble for texts sent to me, and blue bubbles when I send text to iPhone users.  This morning, without doing anything different to my phone other then texting, it was green bubbles when I send to iPhone users.  And no replies ALL DAY.  I texted Android users I know, and they received my texts, and I received theirs.  Just when I got home, I finally received a text from my brother.  But when I replied back, it was still a green bubble.  But he tells me, it's blue for him when he sends to other iPhone users.  Yes, iMessage is turned on.  Short of resetting my phone to factory, I've done all the troubleshooting involved with fixing iMessage issues.  All of it.  No luck. 

  • by expat93,

    expat93 expat93 Apr 1, 2015 3:41 PM in response to Eric Shawn2
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Apr 1, 2015 3:41 PM in response to Eric Shawn2

    Same here. Just today. I am abroad so every green text I send to the USA costs $!

  • by expat93,

    expat93 expat93 Apr 1, 2015 3:44 PM in response to expat93
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Apr 1, 2015 3:44 PM in response to expat93

    Hey, not 2 minutes after I replied, I was asked by the 'system' if I wanted to add my phone number to iMessage and FaceTime.

     

    Strange. Very strange.

    Now it works again.

     

    You?

  • by ckuan,

    ckuan ckuan Apr 1, 2015 3:46 PM in response to expat93
    Level 7 (34,344 points)
    Apr 1, 2015 3:46 PM in response to expat93

    Read here:

    iOS and OS X: Link your phone number and Apple ID for use with FaceTime and iMessage

    http://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201349

  • by Eric Shawn2,

    Eric Shawn2 Eric Shawn2 Apr 1, 2015 3:58 PM in response to expat93
    Level 3 (612 points)
    Mac OS X
    Apr 1, 2015 3:58 PM in response to expat93

    Not for me.  I haven't seen or even heard of that message appearing on iPhones.  Must be a new thing Apple pushed to some iPhones.

     

    All I know was it has been working fine, until this morning.  Without doing anything different.  Very annoying.  And yes, especially for people in your situation, you end up spending money on sms messages.

     

    Where did the message come up for you.  Did it just pop up on your phone's screen?

  • by Eric Shawn2,

    Eric Shawn2 Eric Shawn2 Apr 1, 2015 4:08 PM in response to ckuan
    Level 3 (612 points)
    Mac OS X
    Apr 1, 2015 4:08 PM in response to ckuan

    Yes, both my number and email address is attached.  Always has been.  Nothing has changed since last night when it was working fine.

     

    I did forget to mention that when I tried sending texts this morning, it was a blue bubble.  Then it gave me the "not delivered" message, then my phone resent the text as an SMS.  This happened to the first 3 texts I sent out.  After that, it's been stuck on SMS.  I've rebooted, turned iMessage on and off, removed signed off and on my AppleID, and I even reset the network settings.  That is as far as I will go with resetting anything.

  • by ckuan,

    ckuan ckuan Apr 1, 2015 4:12 PM in response to Eric Shawn2
    Level 7 (34,344 points)
    Apr 1, 2015 4:12 PM in response to Eric Shawn2

    It takes 2 to tango.

    If wi-fi/cellular data connection is weak on either side, iMessage will default to SMS.

    Settings > Messages > Send As SMS: ON

  • by Eric Shawn2,

    Eric Shawn2 Eric Shawn2 Apr 1, 2015 4:19 PM in response to ckuan
    Level 3 (612 points)
    Mac OS X
    Apr 1, 2015 4:19 PM in response to ckuan

    No weak connections at work, or at home.  Before today, even sending iMessages through LTE was no issue.  The only other time this happened was because iMessage server was down (that was about a year ago).  Which is why I was asking if anyone else had issues.  My brother doesn't seem to have any, or any of my co-workers.  In my circle, it would just seem to be my phone.  Again, was working perfectly fine, until this morning.  With me doing nothing different.  Unless I was sleepwalking and messed with my phone and I don't remember it.  lol

  • by jackmarcus435,

    jackmarcus435 jackmarcus435 Apr 1, 2015 4:29 PM in response to Eric Shawn2
    Level 1 (12 points)
    iPhone
    Apr 1, 2015 4:29 PM in response to Eric Shawn2

    My iMessage works fine.

  • by ckuan,

    ckuan ckuan Apr 1, 2015 4:31 PM in response to Eric Shawn2
    Level 7 (34,344 points)
    Apr 1, 2015 4:31 PM in response to Eric Shawn2

    Try

    Settings > General > Reset > Reset Network Settings.

     

    Also:

    Restart / Reset

    http://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201559

  • by expat93,

    expat93 expat93 Apr 2, 2015 5:01 AM in response to Eric Shawn2
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Apr 2, 2015 5:01 AM in response to Eric Shawn2

    I really cannot explain it. It just popped up and started working again.

    Any change there?

    I wish I could help but I do not know what I did (or did not do).

  • by expat93,

    expat93 expat93 Apr 2, 2015 5:02 AM in response to jackmarcus435
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Apr 2, 2015 5:02 AM in response to jackmarcus435

    Good to know.

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