I cannot receive picture or video by text message

[missorange]

I cannot receive picture or video by text message, currently I have $13 plan. Everyone have the same?

[missorange]

Yes, I tried. It works. Even no data, I can receive picture. Thx

[dust2dust]

But here's a funny thing, an actual MMS text (not internal imessage) doesn't need or take or consume data. It just needs cellular data turned on. You can have no data add-ons on your account and you can still send and receive real MMS. (again, not internal imessage stuff) The pic sent via TextNow would be a real MMS.

Now, with the forced new $13 plan, maybe that's not true anymore. I'm not sure how many $13 plan holders have no data after all the freebies over the years. $13 plan holders are generally more likely to be low usage users.

[37800606m]

Yeah I'm in the same boat but then I noticed that if I turn on my data I can receive pictures and maybe videos but I have yet to try videos

[missorange]

You did not read, I don’t have data, otherwise no discussion here.

[CountyDownIeUk]

For the future. Change your message settings to only send/receive from your phone number only. Don’t allow email addresses. It helped me immensely. 

[CountyDownIeUk]

@missorange 

Leave iMessage on. 
Reboot phone. 
Try with data on and wifi off. 
Try with wifi off and data on. 
Is the text that you want to receive from an Apple product? 
Are your texts from this person usually green bubble or blue bubble?

Some iPhones flip to text mode automatically when both data and wifi are not available. 
Is the sender, sending you a text to your phone number or a registered email?

[softech · Accepted solution]

@missorange   that is a good test.

for MMS, you will still need to have Mobile Data enabled, but it won't cost you any actual data.  So, is your data enabled now?

[missorange]

Ok, I text myself from TextNow, still not receive any picture. I think it will be required by data. 

[softech]

@missorange   ask your friend to check then.. LoL

[missorange]

Lol, I am using dark mode, so I did not see any Colour.

[softech]

@missorange 

the blue or green shown on the right:

if you or your friend see the message sent in Blue, then it is iMessage

[dust2dust]

---

@darlicious wrote:

iMessage requires wifi or mobile data on your account.

---

...when used as its special Apple messaging app.

[missorange]

Green blue? I don’t know. I will turn on iMessage and connect to wifi. Hope it works. 

[darlicious]

@missorange 

Regardless you need mobile data enabled to recieve MMS but you do not require any mobile data on your account. iMessage requires wifi or mobile data on your account. MMS does not work on wifi.

Have your contacts send you a non picture text. Light blue text bubbles are Android. Green bubbles are iMessage. 

[dust2dust]

It's ridiculously complicated to me. Somehow or other a large number of people are happy with their idevices. I don't get it. I suppose as long as you stay coddled in their sheltered world and not stray away from their watchful eye by going rogue then maybe things might be simple.

Turn on imessage. Turn on send as sms. Turn on send as mms. Turn on cellular data, Turn on wifi. Then you might get things from whoever however.

I don't suppose you happen to be in the states right now?

I don't know. I wish the Apple guy from earlier would have chimed in. I am not an Apple guy. For this and many other reasons.

[missorange]

Omg, too complicated. How I can determine who use iMessage or regular MMS

[dust2dust]

Ok. imessage can be a standard texting app or the special Apple messaging app.

SMS is standard texting. MMS is standard picture texting. MMS requires cellular data to be on to send and receive pictures and video.

The kicker is that imessage can also do its own non-standard "texting" and it can send and receive pictures and video.

imessage needs the internet to do all that. Internet can be wifi or cellular data.

Using imessage as a standard SMS and MMS app needs those two options on and to turn off imessage as a whole which disconnects imessage from Apple servers and lets the app run in standard mode.

It gets messy.

[hTideGnow]

HI @missorange   if your friends sent you iMessage, it won't help for you to disable iMessage on your phone

Your friend has to send you from SMS/MMS in this case

[missorange]

I connected with wifi, I don’t have any data on, I did turn off iMessage, but I still can’t receive pictures and video. Should I turn on iMessage?

[dust2dust]

Ah. More Apple.

@CountyDownIeUk?? Incoming MMS? Adding - or at least picture or video

@missorange  - Can you get pictures or videos when you connect to wifi? If so then do you have any data add-ons left on your account? Because imessage prefers to use the internet by default for its transmission. If you turn on send as sms and send as mms I'm still not sure things will work for you. If you turn off imessage after turning on those options and let that app run as standard sms texting and standard MMS texting then it should all work.

[missorange]

I don’t know it is iMessage or MMS

[hTideGnow]

HI @missorange  

are you sure your friend not sending you iMessage?  iMessage is different from MMS.  iMessage needs data (and will consume data) or need Wifi

[missorange]

I did not use up outgoing text message, it showed I used 11. I am use iPhone. 

[dust2dust]

It's a YMMV situation. Not all $13 accounts stop MMS when out of outgoing texts. Did you do the refresh thing? Did you in fact use all the outgoing? When is your next renewal? Can you hold on until then?

Cynics would say that that price gouge was an intentional coercion to push people to the $15 plan. I'm still standing my ground.

Adding - wait...I finally clued in on your subject line and last reply and that RossN picked up. Incoming texts are not counted. Nor does MMS consume any data when data is present. It should work even without data present.

What make and model is the phone?

[missorange]

That is very bad, if pay $2 more to get $15 plan, am I going to receive pictures and videos?

[dust2dust]

Can you please click on the little spinner refresh icon below the usage bars in the middle (on a desktop) to make sure the counters are updated. What are you showing for the text counter?

[RossN]

@missorange hi you need your data on to send or receive mms , also incoming texts are unlimited @Yummy @darlicious 

[Yummy]

You have to have DATA On in order to handle MMS.

And your plan is limited to 50 texts.

[darlicious]

@missorange 

Have you used up your 50 texts? Another unlucky $13 plan holder reported that "free" MMS no longer works once the 50 texts are used up but rather they are counted along with the SMS and then stop. Looks like pm not only raised our plan price by 30% by charging us $0.03/each for the included texts and minutes but also removed the unmetered MMS texts.

Edit:

I barely use my plan so I haven't tested this info but it appears you may be confirming it.