Delivered vs sent as text message (Knowing the difference)
Last Updated on May 28, 2023 by Kennedy
On iPhone, there are three text message delivery you will encounter and which are delivered and sent as text message. Also there is a read if the recipient has opened the delivered sent message on its iPhone.
In this article, we will be looking at the question being asked on knowing the difference between delivered vs sent as text message on iPhone.
On iPhone, the difference between delivered vs sent as text message is that when it says delivered it simply means the recipient has received the text message on its iPhone and which is applicable to iMessage, while when it says sent as text message it means the text was sent using the cellular network service and not iMessage.
You can also say that delivered text message on iPhone is only applicable to iMessage, while sent as text message is only applicable to an SMS text message that uses the cellular network service.
There is more to you know the difference between delivered and sent as text message on iPhone. Let’s further explain the difference and all you need to know between the two terms on iPhone.
Delivered vs sent as text message
Delivered only shows up when you send an iMessage while sent as text message shows up when iMessage is unavailable and your message was sent using the cellular network service.
If you happen to send a text message to someone using an iMessage and suddenly you sent an iMessage it shows sent as text message, definitely know that you will get confused as to why such happened on your iPhone.
Related Posts
- How to stop receiving text messages without blocking (iPhone & Android)
- How to send someone to voicemail without blocking them on iPhone
Before going further into the post I will explain what delivered and sent as text message means on iPhone as it is very essential to understand the meaning and which will help you to know the difference between the two terms on iPhone.
1.1. Delivered text message on iPhone
On iPhone, delivered usually appears when you sent an iMessage, and which the sent text message has been delivered on the recipient iPhone or any apple device. Once a recipient receives an iMessage on their iPhone, it will show delivered indicating that the message was successfully sent to the recipient.
As long as an iMessage was successfully sent to a recipient phone, it will show delivered which lets you know that the sent text message has been delivered to the recipient phone.
However, this is only available on iMessage because if you use an SMS text message which is green in color it won’t show delivered and which makes it quite difficult to know if the recipient received the sent text message.
So as long as you’re using iMessage to send messages it will show delivered and if doesn’t show delivered it may be due to the fact that iMessage is unavailable on the recipient’s iPhone or the person has been blocked by the recipient.
Related Posts
- Do iphones last longer than android phones? Answered
- How can i text someone who has blocked me? Explained
1.2. Sent as text message
Talking about sent as text message, this occurs if send as SMS is enabled on iPhone and which iMessage is unavailable on the recipient’s phone. If iMessage is unavailable on an iPhone and send as SMS is enabled, the text message will be sent using the cellular network service but only if you have a texting plan or airtime.
Sent as text message will show up if the recipient’s phone number is linked or activated with iMessage. Below is a typical example of what I’m talking about;
The reason why the text message was not blue indicating iMessage is that iMessage was not available on the recipient’s iPhone even though the recipient’s phone number is activated with iMessage.
However, if the phone number is not activated with iMessage the text will be green in color but it won’t show sent as text message.
Here’s another example of a text message sent to someone whose phone number is not linked with iMessage or probably an android phone user.
Looking at the above green text message you will see that there’s no sent as text message below the green text message compared to the previous one above. This is because the recipient’s phone number is not activated with iMessage.
Even if the recipient is using an iPhone but the phone number you’re sending the message is not activated with iMessage, it won’t show sent as text message.
So whenever you see a green text message which says sent as text message on your iPhone, simply know that iMessage couldn’t be sent to the recipient because iMessage was not active on the recipient’s phone, and in turn the text was sent as sms text message.
Please note that this is not a case of you being blocked by the recipient, because if you have been blocked by the recipient, the message will never be green in color. It will still be blue but won’t show delivered.
For an iMessage to turn to green and say sent as text message, it means iMessage tried sending the text to the recipient.
When you’re blocked on iPhone, your text will never be sent to the recipient.
One of the major reasons of sent as text message on an iPhone is caused when the recipient has no active internet connection on its iPhone thereby making iMessage not available and active.
iMessage requires an internet connection to send and receive iMessages, and without an active internet connection like Wi-Fi or cellular data, it won’t work and will be unavailable.
Right now you have understood what delivered and sent as text message means on iPhone, now let’s go further to explain their differences.
The difference between delivered & sent as text message
Below are the main differences between
| Delivered | Sent as text message |
|---|---|
| Delivered only shows on iMessage or the blue text message on iPhone. | Sent as text message doesn't have a delivery report. |
| You can easily know if a recipient has received the sent text message. | You can't tell if a recipient has received a sent text message. |
| As it is applicable to iMessage, it works with internet connection. | Being an sms text message, it works with cellular network service. |
| You don't need a texting plan or an airtime to receive a delivery report. | Sent as text message do require a texting plan or airtime to be able to send a text message |
| Delivered works only if iMessage is available and active on any of the sender's and the recipient's iPhone | Sent as text message shows up if iMessage is unavailable on any of the sender's or the recipient iphone. |
Sent vs delivered text
The difference between sent vs delivered text is that sent means the text message has been sent out to the recipient, then if it says delivered, it means the recipient has received the sent text message.
If a text message after sending only shows sent but you didn’t see delivered, then it means that the recipient is yet to receive the sent text message. If it only says sent after a couple of hours or days, kindly know that the recipient is yet to receive the text message.
Noe if a text message says sent and shows delivered afterward, then it means the recipient has received the sent text message on its phone.
If you’re sending a green text message on your iPhone, kindly note that it won’t show except for iMessages which has a delivery report. On an android phone, there’s a delivery report which helps the sender determine if the recipient received the text message or probably not.
Why does it say sent as text message and not delivered?
It says sent as text message because iMessage was not available and the text was sent using the cellular network service.
As long as the green text message is concerned on iPhone, it doesn’t show delivered. It only shows delivered when iMessage is involved and which is blue in color.
This is quite annoying as it makes it quite difficult for a sender to know if the sent text message was delivered to the recipient or has been received by the recipient. For me, as long as I’m sending an SMS text message I will use my android phone as all android phones do have a delivery report.
I hope Apple will offer delivery reports for the upcoming ios 16.
Remember, it will say sent if you’re sending a text message to a phone number activated with iMessage. If iMessage is not available and send as sms when iMessage is unavailable is enabled on the iPhone, it will send the text message as SMS text message.
And this is the difference between delivered vs sent as text message on iPhone.
