Since 6th March Messages being sent as SMS not iMessage to 1 Family member

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Since 6th March Messages being sent as SMS not iMessage to 1 Family member

I have an iPhone XR (iOS 18.3.2) and one of my Family members has a larger iPhone XR (iOS 18.0). Since the 6th March, all messages to them, have been sent to via SMS rather than iMessage (Green bubble) / Message area has in it's background "Text Message - SMS". When sending to other Family members, I see "iMessage" in faint grey in the message input box. - though they have a more recent iPhone.

The iOS 18 release seems to have removed the specific

Disable SMS/MMS Messaging:

Go to Settings > Messages.
Toggle off Send as SMS and MMS Messaging.

And this is nowhere to be found.

Any idea what's wrong ? And how to fix it ?

iPhone XR, iOS 18

Posted on Mar 16, 2025 04:36 AM

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Answer 1

Mar 17, 2025 06:59 AM in response to svaardt

In order for a message to be sent as an iMessage, both parties must be logged into iMessage and have an active data connection. As you are able to send iMessages to other people, it sounds as if the problem is on the other end. Your family member should check to see that they are still logged into iMessage and that they are connected to either WiFi or cellular data.

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