One of the biggest complaints among iPhone owners is that they can’t send text messages to others who have Android phones for other types of smartphones. Messages usually don’t reach anyone who has a so-called “dumb phone,” or a non-smart phone that can only receive phone calls and text messages. The problem has become so common that Apple has faced a lawsuit from outraged iPhone customers, and it can get especially frustrating when you’re trying to network and exchange contact information with new people. The cause is the way Apple has ‘Message set up, and this (Phone-unique service doesn’t work the same way as standard SMS. Several possible solutions exist that could possibly fix this, although you may have to try more than one before it’s completely resolved. If you can’t send a text message to someone who used to have an iPhone, you can often fix this by going into your iPhone settings and turning off iMessage. Then try navigating to the contact you’re trying to message and resend it via SMS. If this step still doesn’t work, you’ll need to opt for a couple of more complex workarounds. The iPhone now functions more as a handheld computer than a standard phone, and other types of phones don’t have quite the same technology. Apple engineers developed the iMessage technology to allow iPhones as well as other Apple devices to communicate with one another. You can also use iMessage on your iMac, Macbook, or iPod. Your phone number is tied to iMessage through iCloud’s technology as well. When you send a message to a group of your contacts, the entire message should show up as green as it gets sent over SMS if one member of the group has a device other than an iPhone. When you send an iMessage to another iPhone user, the message should show up as blue. Each of these options should work in theory, but all too often you may get a “Failed to Send” error as your text gets stuck in iMessage.
Before you consider switching your phone from an iPhone to another brand, you’ll need to first disable ‘Message. If you don’t complete this step, other iPhones will keep sending texts to your iMessage where you won’t be able to see them. According to other iPhone users who have tried this, it are unfortunately a multi-step process that comes with little technical support from Apple. In some worst case scenarios, attempting to disable iMessage can sometimes permanently disable your iPhone’s ability to receive text messages from other iPhone users. In order to avoid missing any texts sent or received to any non iPhones you’ll need to first remove any connection of your phone number to any Apple device or Apple software. This Is most often a time-consuming and complicated process. Even after your number is disconnected from all these places Apple’s servers can take up to 45 days to completely refresh and remove old phone numbers and iMessage information from the system. The first and simplest step you’ll need to do is switch off iMessage in your iPhone’s settings Navigate to the Messages section and turn it off by using the green slider. The next thing you’ll need to do is check that SMS is switched on and that you can receive green texts from other non iPhone devices. This should be the only step you should need to do in theory, but in practice, you’ll need to take several more to ensure your phone number isn’t associated with ‘Message across any Apple devices Texts via ‘Message can still be delivered to your iPad or Macbook because your phone number’s tied to your iCloud account. Fully deactivating your number often entails calling Apple’s tech support line and having a representative go through deregistering your number. This part of the process should remove your number from iCloud after Apple’s servers have refreshed themselves
After your number has been removed from the iCloud servers, you’ll next need to have each of your contacts delete your number and add it again to their lists In many cases, you’ll start receiving texts from other I Phone users but not from anyone who had your number as an (Message contact To fully resolve this issue, you may need to have one of your friends who also has an iPhone delete their text history with you before sending a new message as a test. When your friends and family send you new messages, ask them to select the “send as text message” option under the little information icon tinder the “Failed to Send” error under each stalled message. Each of these steps for disconnecting your phone number from iCloud should resolve the (Message problem, but they still fail to work in every case. The customer service representatives from Apple don’t always give the best advice for fixing this Some iPhone users report that they’ve been told to simply buy another iPhone or change their numbers, and a few have had no choice but to do this because nothing else has worked to get iMessage to deliver texts to non-iPhone smartphones. The underlying technical issue is that the iMessage system automatically searches for a recipient only within its own set of stored numbers, even if the recipient in question no longer owns an iPhone.
