topic Re: Using data to text?? in Get Support

Using data to text??

Kath1 — Thu, 06 Jan 2022 07:47:28 GMT

Hi all,

im super confused - I have the $15/month plan which includes unlimited texting. But I have to turn my data on for any texts to go through. So I’m paying to use my data, which doesn’t exactly make it unlimited. Am I doing something completely wrong here? Help!

Tia 🙂

Re: Using data to text??

Anonymous — Tue, 13 Jul 2021 05:16:58 GMT

@Kath1 : Yes...you're either using iMessage without SMS checked on or you're using the chat feature in some Android texting apps.

Re: Using data to text??

Kath1 — Tue, 13 Jul 2021 05:19:15 GMT

Aha! Thank you!!

And how do I check SMS on?

Re: Using data to text??

Asher2 — Tue, 13 Jul 2021 05:46:02 GMT

To turn on SMS. Please go to settings and then to messages. Scroll down then you’ll will see “Send as SMS” turn that on and you’ll be good to go!

Re: Using data to text??

Kath1 — Tue, 13 Jul 2021 05:50:36 GMT

Thanks 🙂

i found that in settings, turned on sms, turned off iMessage but any text I try to send a message pops up and says iMessage must be turned on or I must turn on wifi or data

Re: Using data to text??

Asher2 — Tue, 13 Jul 2021 05:54:18 GMT

Hey, maybe try restarting your phone

Re: Using data to text??

computergeek541 — Tue, 13 Jul 2021 06:21:23 GMT

@Kath1 wrote:
Thanks 🙂
i found that in settings, turned on sms, turned off iMessage but any text I try to send a message pops up and says iMessage must be turned on or I must turn on wifi or data

This means that either SMS isn't turned on or that iMessages's features aren't turned off. Can you take a screenshot of the settings screen? Not only does SMS not require the use of internet, it can't actually use data/Wi-Fi/internet.

Re: Using data to text??

darlicious — Tue, 13 Jul 2021 08:08:02 GMT

@Kath1

Most iPhone users have iMessage enabled and may have turned off SMS support.

To turn on SMS:

1. Open the Settings app and go to “Message”
2. Locate the switch for “Send as SMS” and turn this to the ON position
if send as SMS is already on, try turning it off for about 10 seconds and then turn it back
3. Return to Messages and try sending the text message again.

Courtesy of @softech

Re: Using data to text??

esjliv — Tue, 13 Jul 2021 10:55:55 GMT

@Kath1 wrote:
Hi all,
im super confused - I have the $15/month plan which includes unlimited texting. But I have to turn my data on for any texts to go through. So I’m paying to use my data, which doesn’t exactly make it unlimited. Am I doing something completely wrong here? Help!
Tia 🙂

Hello @Kath1

If you turn your data off occasionally, then it is recommended to turn off iMessage altogether and use regular text messaging instead.

To do this, go to Settings > Messages and toggle iMessage off.

If you prefer to use iMessage, then you can perform the following steps to fix the issue:

Connect to the internet using WiFi or Data.
Go to Settings > Messages and toggle iMessage OFF.
Turn your iPhone off completely, then turn it back on.
Go back into Settings > Messages and toggle iMessage ON.
Make sure “Send as SMS” is also turned ON.

Re: Using data to text??

cuvy69 — Tue, 13 Jul 2021 11:28:45 GMT

It will use data to text pictures, which will accumulate on your phone settings but will not go towards your data usage on Public.

Re: Using data to text??

og2 — Tue, 13 Jul 2021 12:36:34 GMT

Kat,

You must register your phone number to your Apple ID before you are able to text sms

Re: Using data to text??

Kath1 — Tue, 13 Jul 2021 13:13:19 GMT

Re: Using data to text??

esjliv — Tue, 13 Jul 2021 13:26:43 GMT

@og2 good point

@Kath1 try this.

Set up your phone number On your iPhone:

Go to Settings > Messages and make sure that iMessage is on. You might need to wait a moment for it to activate.
Tap Send & Receive. If you see “Use your Apple ID for iMessage,” tap it and sign in with the same Apple ID that you use on your Mac, iPad, and iPod touch.
In the "You can receive iMessages" section, make sure that your phone number and Apple ID are selected.
Go to Settings > FaceTime and make sure that your phone number and Apple ID are selected in the "You can be reached by FaceTime at" section.

Re: Using data to text??

hTideGnow — Tue, 13 Jul 2021 13:34:10 GMT

@Kath1 wrote:

@Kath1 the fact that the message you are sending has a Blue Colour , you are sending via iMessage, which is not SMS. message sent through SMS should be green background.

There is nothing wrong with sending via iMessage, but you will need either Wifi or Mobile Data to send. If you are out a lot and try to avoid using Data, you might want to send via SMS only

Re: Using data to text??

Meow — Tue, 13 Jul 2021 15:39:07 GMT

Just trying to understand - WHY is this Apple so complicated to use? Why they have to force on you some nonsense? Never had any issue with Android...

Re: Using data to text??

hTideGnow — Tue, 13 Jul 2021 15:53:41 GMT

it's Apple, they have to make something new all the time to keep selling new devices.

But to be fair, Google is following with RCS chat now., except that RCS is not as widely used as iMessage.

Re: Using data to text??

Anonymous — Tue, 13 Jul 2021 16:06:48 GMT

@Meow : It's the Apple way. They want you to stay trapped in their own little "sandbox" and never let you stray. Some people buy in to the one device/one OS theory.

There's one phone brand that can run the one iOS. There's a bunch of phone brands that can run the one Android OS. Some people see that as a bad thing and all out of control. Whereas Apple is all completely under control.

Re: Using data to text??

srlawren — Tue, 13 Jul 2021 19:55:32 GMT

While I am definitely an Android guy and not an iPhone fan for myself, I recognize that they are both incredibly popular and also very capable device. To be fair, iMessage with a data connection is far superior to the SMS/MMS which it supersedes. It would be nice if it would default to automatically falling back to SMS when neither WiFi nor Mobile Data were available, but that would come at the expense of a degraded experience, which isn't really in Apple's vocabulary.

I actually wish Apple would open iMessage up to the Android platform and am convinced it would become the defacto rich-messaging service by people like my iFriends that keep guilting me that they have to use something other than their beloved iMessage to communicate with me. 🙂

Re: Using data to text??

Anonymous — Tue, 13 Jul 2021 20:05:18 GMT

@srlawren : But doesn't it become a degraded experience anyway when the user is wondering why their texts aren't working? They switch phones, their contacts switch phones, they switch providers, their contacts switch providers, a major update happens etc.

I think we also all need to understand that Apple to Apple iMessage is the same as oldie old instant messaging. Or what Blackberry Messenger was. And what the chat feature in Android does. And all need an internet connection. SMS just works without any required connectivity (other than cell). That's the standard base-line. Equality throughout. Everybody can do SMS. Old and new users, phones, providers.

Re: Using data to text??

srlawren — Wed, 14 Jul 2021 18:46:52 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
SMS just works without any required connectivity (other than cell). That's the standard base-line. Equality throughout. Everybody can do SMS. Old and new users, phones, providers.

@Anonymous sure, but that doesn't necessarily mean that everyone should be limited to just SMS in perpetuity. The messaging experience in just about every other service (iMessage, WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, Skype, Signal, Telegram, Slack, and dozens more) are arguably better in just about every way other than ubiquity and not requiring a data connection. I think it's fair for designers of a modern messaging service to assume that most of their target users are going to have access to WiFi and/or mobile data the majority of the time and to design for that. It's not even like these services are terribly data-hungry* and use a lot of data--the "problem" for folks on a very limited data plan is incidental data usage more than messaging using a rich service.

Anyway I think we've veered pretty far off course here. Sorry to @Kath1.

*at least, basic messaging. If you start sharing images, audio, video, etc. it's obviously going to eat up a lot of data quickly.