Does imessage count as text? Explained
On iPhone you will two means of sending messages and which includes the likes of iMessage and the sms text message.
Mostly, iPhone users tend to use iMessage compared to sms text message and as it has lots of features more than the normal sms text message, and also very economical.
Using iMessage is a lot better if you have an iPhone.
Now the question we have for today is;
does imessage count as text?
By default, the answer is yes. iMessage is usually counted as text as it is one of the means of sending and receiving messages on iPhone. But it is not counted as sms text message.
I repeat this once again, iMessage is also seen as text but not sms text.
Because iMessage involves texting or messaging, some may think it is an sms text message, asking does imessage count as text, but they are completely different irrespective of the fact that they involve texts.
SMS text messages is quite different from iMessage texts messages as sms text messages are from the network carriers and do show up on phone bills whilsr iMessage is an instant messaging service and doesn’t show up on phone bill.
If you’re looking it at the side of social media and which you think that iMessage is a social media messaging like Instagram messages, Snapchat, etc.
iMessage is not but rather it is an instant messaging service and therefore is also seen as text.
iMessage is strictly for messages and no any other like whatsapp which is also an instant messaging service but can be used for messages and calls.
Same goes to other instant messaging apps and services like Facebook messenger, Skype, viber, Signal, etc.
For the fact that on iPhone or any other apple devices like the iPad, Mac or the Apple watch, iMessage is seen as text but rather an instant messaging and not a cellular sms text message.
So iMessage is counted as texts but not sms text message that uses the cellular network service.
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iMessage quick overview
Let me give you a quick overview of iMessage for a better understanding on how it works.
For the fact that iMessage is an instant messaging service or rather a P2P network service, it uses the internet to send and receive messages on am Apple device.
iMessage was launched on iOS in October 2011 and ever since then it has completely taken over sms messages as the default means of sending messages on any Apple device.
Without an active internet connection like Wi-Fi or cellular data, you can’t use iMessage on your iPhone or your device.
Also, you must make sure that iMessage is enabled on your device and also on the recipient phone as well for iMessage to work for both of you.
By default, iMessage is enabled on any Apple device but it is necessary to check and be sure that iMessage is enabled, active and working on your iPhone before you can start using it.
To be sure, open the Settings App on your iPhone and scroll down to Messages.
Open Messages and right there you will see iMessage.
Make sure that iMessage is turned on and Activated on your iPhone.
If iMessage is activated, you will see Send & Receive right below iMessage as shown in the picture below.
Once your iMessage is like the in the above picture, you’re good to go sending and receiving iMessages on your iPhone.
But remember, iMessage doesn’t work on the phones that don’t have iMessage or when iMessage is disabled.
Why I’m saying this is because iMessage will not work when sending messages to someone using an android phone, classic feature phone or rather a Java phone.
When using iMessage to send messages, you won’t be charged for sending messages by your network carrier as iMessage has nothing to do with carriers as it uses internet connection.
Even when your phone is disconnected, you can still use iMessage as long as you have an active Wi-Fi connection around your area, you’re good to go.
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Is it better to use iMessage or sms text?
It is way better to use iMessage than sms text message as iMessage has lot of message features compared to sms text message.
For example.
You can send and unsend iMessage which is not available on sms text messages on iPhone.
Like t say you sent a message to Lucy and realized that you shouldn’t send the message or made a mistake.
All you have to do is to press hold on the sent message, and you will see options that includes Undo Send as shown in the picture below down below.
When you tap on the Undo Send button, it will immediately unsend the sent message.
Aside from that, you can also edit a sent message on iMessage and that which is still not possible when using sms to send text messages on iPhone.
For Example.
You made a mistake on a sent message, instead of you undo or unsend the sent message, all you have to do is to edit the message.
Once again, press hold on the sent message and you will see Edit along with a pen icon.
Tap on it and you will have the option to edit and resend the text message.
SMS text message has no delivery report.
This is another major reason why I hate to use sms text message to send messages on iPhone.
It doesn’t have a delivery report.
For iMessage, it does have a delivery report which indicates if a recipient has received a sent text message or probably not. If a recipient received a sent text message, it will show delivered below the sent message.
However, if a recipient didn’t receive the sent text message on his or her iPhone, it won’t show delivered below the sent message.
Once a sent iMessage never show delivered, it simply means the recipient is yet to receive the message or probably haven’t received the message.
For sms text message on iPhone which is green in color, you can never tell when a green text message on iPhone gets delivered to a recipient as it doesn’t have a delivery report.
This is quite bad and I don’t know if Apple did it on purpose because android sms text messages do have a delivery report.
Third is the read receipts
On sms text messages, there is no read receipts whilst on iMessage, there is a read receipts.
Read receipts makes it possible for you to know if a recipient has opened and read a sent text message.
I don’t really bother a lot about read receipts because some people tend to disable read receipts on their devices. Once a sent text message says delivered, I don’t bother about read receipts.
Fourth is sending files.
On iMessage, you can send files likes pictures, videos, gifs, documents, etc with a maximum file limit of 100mb as at the time of writing this post.
On sms text message, you can’t send files. Even when using mms messaging, you are limited to extreme short video clips and photos.
Since the introduction of instant messaging, who uses mms messaging?
Absolutely no one or few persons as instant messaging is simply the best when it comes to sending files across.
You can react to a sent message on iMessage and which is not possible in sms text message.
Remember, you can send iMessages internationally and free without any charges, that can’t be said for sms text messages.
To round up the reason why it is better to use iMessage instead of text message is that iMessage is very economical compared to sms text message that attracts fee or charges from the network service provider.
Does Verizon count iMessages as text?
Verizon doesn’t count iMessages as sms text messages and which they don’t charge for sending iMessages even when sending international iMessages.
Also, iMessage doesn’t show up on verizon phone bill as it uses the internet and not the cellular network service.
Even if you’re using cellular data for your iMessage, it won’t show up on your phone bill but rather will be among the accumulated data for the month on your phone bill.
This applies to other networks carriers like the AT&T, T-Mobile, etc.
Is iMessage free on cellular data?
iMessage is free on cellular data as long as you have a data plan for your internet activity on your iPhone or Apple device.
You won’t be charged extra money for using iMessage to send messages on cellular data.
That won’t happen and not possible.
Once you have an active internet connection like Wi-Fi or cellular data on your iPhone or Apple device, you won’t be charged using iMessage to send or receive messages as iMessage is free.
Does iMessage count as international texting?
iMessage does not count as international texting and you won’t be charged using iMessage to send messages internationally.
You can use iMessage to send texts and files from your iPhone to someone living in another country and you will not be charged because iMessage is a P2P service.
Normally, iMessage is also a text but not sms text message as it doesn’t entirely use the cellular network service unless you’re using cellular data. And with this I draw the conclusion on the question of the day, does imessage count as text.
