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bjs19781978 Author

Level 1

18 points

iMessage thread stuck on satellite

A friend entered an area with no cell service so her iPhone 15 went into satellite mode. Her and I text(iMessage) a few times while she was using satellite. Ever since, the thread states that she is connected “only by satellite” which isn’t the case. She has been back on 5G and wifi etc. So now the only way I can send her a text is by turning off iMessage, typing and sending the message (SMS) and then I turn iMessage back on. She does not have issue messaging me. Anyone know what this is about or how I fix it? Thanks.

iPhone 13, iOS 18

Posted on Sep 28, 2024 8:22 PM

Top-ranking reply

idkmanwhatever

Level 1

38 points

Posted on Oct 3, 2024 4:35 PM

I HAVE A FIX:

After a very long chat with Apple Support, this is what ended up working:

Open Settings > Apps > Messages > Send & Receive

Remember your settings here.

Tap your Apple Account (it's a small blue link at the bottom).

Tap Sign Out.

Tap Use your Apple Account for iMessage.

Tap Sign In

Sign back in with your Apple Account.

Once you're back on the Send & Receive screen, double check that your settings here are correct.

Try having a friend text you, it should be working as normal.

View in context

27 replies

Oct 7, 2024 9:23 AM in response to UtahBook

I did this too, no dice. It's so weird that it's only on my iPhone. On my Macbook/iPad the thread is completely normal.

Apple wants me to restore to factory settings as a new iPhone, not from a backup, but I'm unwilling to do that.

kfa20

Level 1

8 points

Oct 15, 2024 3:20 PM in response to bjs19781978

This is the correct fix for anyone having this problem. I logged out of Messages completely and stayed logged out for 15 minutes. While logged out, I texted the contact with whom I was having this issue. He could send fine to me but before I logged out it said “(contact) is only connected via satellite” when I tried to message him, and he was not using satellite (and his phone didn’t say he was(. We texted back and forth with green messages bubbles because I was logged out of iMessage. Then, after 15 minutes, I logged back into Messages and I was able to message him again without the satellite message.

LoRunner

Level 1

8 points

Oct 19, 2024 4:06 PM in response to bjs19781978

My husband had been out without reception and sent me a text via satellite. When he came back and had service, on my messages it kept saying he could only receive via satellite so I couldn’t send anything but text. But on his end it was fine. I tried all of the above solutions and nothing worked. I tried signing out of my Apple account and signing back in and it worked! I have the operating system 18.0.1. Not sure where the error is coming from but signing out worked.

DopeDrew

Level 1

8 points

Oct 2, 2024 9:22 PM in response to bjs19781978

Following because I have the same issue

DopeDrew

Level 1

8 points

Oct 3, 2024 6:49 PM in response to idkmanwhatever

That worked menus thank you so much

Oct 3, 2024 7:06 PM in response to burt160

I updated to iOS 18.01 and it didn’t do it for me. But I did find a fix in my post above.

Husker13

Level 1

0 points

Oct 5, 2024 7:33 AM in response to TimothyJamesReed

Updating the IOS on both our phones fixed this issue for us. Didn’t do anything else as far as settings.

Oct 5, 2024 11:04 AM in response to Missleslie

Also, everything is fine on my MacBook. It doesn't show the "is only connected to satellite" alert in the message thread, and I can send media and initiate calls. But not from my iPhone. 🙄

Crenn1

Level 1

8 points

Oct 6, 2024 5:59 PM in response to bjs19781978

Tried all of these and nothing worked. Made a FaceTime call from the message and then it fixed it

Oct 8, 2024 11:38 AM in response to bjs19781978

I'm having the same problem, but these proposed workarounds are not working for me.

Oct 8, 2024 12:02 PM in response to StephenShutters

Same here - nothing and 10+ hours with Apple has been no help.

Oct 12, 2024 9:06 PM in response to Crenn1

Your Facebook idea worked! I tried everything else from the previous posts and nothing worked except for the FaceTime Call. Thank you,

iMessage thread stuck on satellite