"Send Later" option not appearing in Message app iOS 18

BlueButterfly888 wrote:

There is a glitch. I’ve tried everything and everyone on your message list has to be using an IPhone for this to work.

Yes, everyone needs to be using iMessage. It's not a "glitch." It's working as designed. Whether or not you agree with this decision is another matter. You can let Apple know your thoughts using the feedback link previously provided in this thread.

mikethechap wrote:

It’s worked for me when texting non-iOS devices until today. I have no idea why it’s no longer on the iMessage + list. Apple Support pages still provides instructions for its use iOS 18+. So, it seems bizarre that it would suddenly quit working. Maybe it’s true that previous messages where it worked were all going to Apple devices. But, I’m pretty sure that’s not the case. Plus, the Apple Support pages still say all devices should get it since it’s stored on Apple servers until delivery time.

It has never been an option if you were messaging someone who was not using iMessages. I think you may be misremembering.

Once your enter the email address/persons name to who you are sending the email to and complete your message, press and hold the arrow up bottom to the right of the recipient’s name to whom you are sending the message to. You will see 4 options of what to do and ‘send later’ is one of the options.

I had an android and the “Send Later” option was available for all my contacts. I used it daily and constantly! Changed to an iPhone 16, and this feature has limited usage - only available with other iMessage contacts. So disappointing! I wished I kept my android!

It only works iPhone to iPhone

I powered my phone off and it came back. What I just now realized I believe you can only schedule the messages for iPhone users and not droid users, which is not great or cool

It appears that this feature is only available iPhone to iPhone. Not iPhone to Android.

Send Later Messages iOS 18 doesn't work w… - Apple Community

Jbr_252 wrote:

Exactly what I did too! I send myself notes and reminders all the time. Tested it there and it was missing

I agree with Mac Jim ID on this. Use Siri to send yourself a reminder. You can set it to remind you at any time you want. The phone doesn't even have to be in your hands.

Going to your settings> messages> Messaging apps if you got a whole bunch of those on, you’re never gonna see it. I had to turn all of them off and only left a few on and then I was able to see it for iPhone recipients. It only lets you see so much. When you go back to send a text message, you’ll see “send later”!

Yes I've played around with it and it definitely only works to other iphone users. Very silly they need to fix that.

Enable sms & mms also. It’s there

Workaround that they don't want you to know about when sending later to yourself:

Add your email and phone number to a group chat and the send later function should appear.

I just hung up from speaking with Apple support, and the person I spoke with confirmed that the documentation is misleading an should use language that excludes Android devices (maybe non iOS 18 devices).

Very disappointing, and difficult to understand.

Hopefully there will be sufficient outrage among iPhone users to motivate Apple to address this issue.

Hey Lloeb, thanks for asking.

It can also be noted that you can only send later onto Apple Devices with iOS/iPadOS 18, macOS Sequoia, watchOS 11 or visionOS 2. The option may also be hidden, try swiping up on the menu or tapping “More”.

Hope this helps.