There are certain situations whereby you may not neccesarily want to use the iMessage when it comes to sending a text message on your iPhone, but rather prefer to use the sms text message.
Though every iPhone user prefer the iMessage than the sms text message, but sometimes, you may want to send a green text message.
This leads us to the question of the day.
Can I turn off iMessage and still text?
The straight answer is yes. You can turn off iMessage and still send a text message on your iPhone, but rather it will be the green sms text message.
If you noticed on iPhone, we have two types of text messaging and which;
- The iMessage which is blue in color.
- The sms text message which is green in color.
You can send either the iMessage on your iPhone or the green sms text message depending on the recipient.
In order to send a blue text message on your iPhone, you must ensure that iMessage is enabled on your iPhone, and the recipient is another apple user. While sending a green sms text message is applicable to any phone number not linked or activated with iMessage.
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Before going further into the question we have here on can I turn off iMessage and still text, let me explain the iMessage or probably the blue text message and the green sms text message on iPhone.
Understanding the blue text message (iMessage)
On iPhone, whenever you see the ble text message, kindly note that it is the iMessage.
iMessage is the blue text messages on iPhone, and which is an instant messaging service that requires internet connection when it comes to sending a text and receiving a text on your iPhone.
Every iPhones has the iMessage and by default it will be turned on or enabled on every iPhones, iPad or any other Apple devices.
Before you can start using the iMessage, you must first enable it, and active your Apple ID and phone number with iMessage. Mind you it is very compulsory unless you don’t fancy using iMessage on your iPhone or any Apple device.
To Activate iMessage;
First you have to make sure that iMessage is enabled on your iPhone. To do so, open the settings app and scroll down to MESSAGES and open it.
Tap on messages and open it.
Look closely and you will see iMessage, make sure that the button is turned on and which will be green in color.
Please make sure that you have an active internet connection like the Wi-Fi or cellular data on your iPhone or any Apple device.
Once iMessage is turned on, it will immediately start to active on your iPhone and that shouldn’t take more than three minutes if everything is properly connected.
As iMessage is activated on your iPhone, you will see the number of addresses it is connected to but mostly it will be two and which your Apple ID and your phone number.
If you have multiple phone numbers like two sim cards, you can connect the two.
Once everything is connected you will see send and receive and whicg will indicate the number of addresses it is connected to. Below is an example of what I’m talking about.
You can choose to select the very address which you want to send and receive iMessages.
For example, you may not want to use your phone number for iMessage but rather only your apple id, what you have to do is to tap and open Send & Receive below iMessage.
Tap on the phone number and it will ask if you want to Remove Number from iMessage and Facetime? Go ahead and tap on the remove button and that’s it.
You have to do that on both receive messages and start new conversations.
You can also remove your Apple ID if you only want to use your phone number for your iMessages. So you can customize or set your iMessage receive and send any way you want.
Sending iMessages
Once you have everything in order, it is time to start sending and receiving iMessages on your iPhone or Apple device. Remember, internet connection is required for iMessages and without internet you can’t receive iMessages.
You can only send iMessage to another iMessage user else the text will be sent as sms text message.
To send iMessage on your phone, simply open the message app and enter the recipient apple ID or phone number connected with iMessage and the text will be blue in color.
Advantages of iMessage
Below are the advantages of iMessage;
- It uses internet like Wi-Fi or cellular data which is cost effective.
- Know when a text message is delivered, opened and read by the recipient.
- Being able to send photos, videos, files, documents, etc.
- Group messaging is allowed.
- Very nice text reactions.
- With ios 16, you can unsend a text message on iMessage.
Disadvantages of iMessage
Below are the disadvantages of iMessage;
- Only work for apple users.
- Can’t send or receive texts when internet is poor or no internet connection.
Understanding The SMS Green Text Message
The next type of text message we have on iPhone is the green sms text message which is the default messaging.
Back then or few years back we only have the sms text message which requires a sim card, cellular network and a texting plan or airtime in order to send a text message.
Sms text message doesn’t neccesarily require activation like the iMessage, but you may need to enable it on your iPhone.
Remember that for sms text message to work, you must have a sim card in your iPhone, a cellular network service and a texting plan or an airtime. This is because the green sms text message send and receive text messages using the cellular network service.
It works on all devices like from iPhone to Android phone, from iPhone to a feature or classic phone.
And this is one major advantage of green sms text message have over the iMessage.
Like I said earlier, before you can send the green sms text message and it is essential to the question being asked on can I turn off iMessage and still text, you must make sure it is enabled on your phone.
To do so;
Open the settings app, scroll down to Messages and open it.
Scroll down a bit and you will see Send as SMS, please make sure that it is turned on just like on the picture below.
Once send as sms is enabled on your iPhone, you can send green sms text messages and receive sms text messages as well.
Advantages;
- It works on all platforms and carrier network.
- It can be sent when there’s no active internet connection.
Disadvantages;
- On iPhone, the green sms text message don’t have a delivery report meaning that you can’t tell if a text message was delivered or not.
- You can’t send photos, videos, gifs, files, documents, etc using the green text message except for mms messaging which is poor compared to instant messaging apps and services.
- You must have a texting plan or airtime in order to send a green text message.
Right now you have understood the iMessage or the blue text message, and the send as sms green text message on your iPhone.
Back to the question!
Now let’s get back to the question on can I turn off iMessage and still text.
The answer is yes. You can turn off iMessage and still text on your phone by using the green sms text message.
So you can go ahead and turn off iMessage on your iPhone and kindly note that you won’t be able to receive iMessages on your phone. Turning off iMessage simply means you can’t send iMessage and receive iMessages on your iPhone.
To send text messages messages when iMessage is disabled turned off, make sure you’re sending a text to a phone number and not an apple ID.
If you send to a phone number, the text will go through but if you send a text message to an apple id, it won’t go through because the apple id has no phone number but rather an email address.
What is the difference between iMessage and text message?
The fact is that there’s no difference between iMessage and text message but rather there’s a difference between iMessage and SMS text message.
The difference between iMessage and SMS text message is that iMessage is an instant messaging service that uses the internet to send and receive text messages, while sms uses the cellular network service to send and receive text messages.
When you are talking about iMessage you’re talking about instant messaging service like whatsapp, Skype, Facebook messenger, telegram, etc. While sms text message comes from our carrier network and that is why sim card is required along with a texting plan and cellular network service.
On iMessage, you can send pictures, videos, gifs, documents, etc while you can’t do such on sms text message except for mms messaging.
What does turning off iMessage do on iPhone?
Turning off iMessage on iPhone will restrict the iPhone user from sending and receiving iMessages.
Once iMessage is turned off, you have practically deactivated your phone number and Apple ID activated with your iMessage and which means iMessage won’t be active on the iPhone.
If you don’t fancy iMessage on your iPhone, then go ahead and turn it off. You still have the option of sending and receiving sms text messages. But remember you have a texting plan or an airtime unless your carrier offers free sms text messages.
How do I turn off iMessage and turn text messages on?
To turn off iMessage and turn of sms text messages on;
- Open the settings app and scroll down to messages.
- Open messages and you will see iMessage.
- Slide the button to turn off iMessage on your iPhone.
- Scroll down to Send as SMS and make sure it is turned on.
Once you have disables iMessage and turned on send as sms on your iPhone, you can only send and receive sms text messages on your iPhone. Afterwards you won’t be able to send and receive iMessages om your iPhone until you enable it on your iPhone once again.
Does turning off iMessage delete messages?
Turning off iMessage won’t delete messages or iMessages on iPhone, iPad or any other apple device.
If you turn off iMessage on your iPhone, all the sent and received iMessages will still remain in your iPhone and iCloud until you choose to delete the text messages yourself.
When I turn off iMessage I don’t get texts?
Once iMessage is turned off, you won’t be able to receive iMessages or blue text messages except for sms text message which is green in color.
With all explained in this article, I came to end of the topic on can I turn off iMessage and still text.