Cannot send text messages to Android phones from Messages on my Mac. AND, text messages from iPhone to Android phones ONLY show up in Messages on my iPhone but not on my Mac.

Thanks for your reply. I had tried that before writing to you last night. I didn't have to enter a verification code because my computer already trusted my phone. I simply got this message (see below). I just tried again, and this time I did one more thing: I clicked on my email address, which is my Apple ID, as an additional address I could be reached at for texting. And NOW it seems to be working. I successfully sent text messages to 2 different Android users via Messages on my Mac. So thank you.

Added to all of this is the fact that after updating to 16.2, I constantly see the red badge on my Settings icon, and when I go to Settings > [my name] > Update Apple ID Settings and type in my Apple ID password, about 5 minutes later the red badge appears again! I hope they have an update soon! A lot of others are having this same problem.

Thank you so much for your prompt answer. I had already read that article, but I read it again carefully and thoroughly and I cannot find Settings > Messages > Text Message Forwarding on my iPhone 14 with iOS 16.2.

I choose not to use 2-factor authorization, even though my phone after the update to 16.2 is almost constantly prompting me to do so, and I do not store my messages on iCloud. It was working perfectly well for sending text Androids and iPhones and showing the text on both devices until the 16.2 update.

Thank you.

Undoubtedly the system is unhappy because you have elected not to use two-factor authentication.

Yes, the system seems very unhappy, almost possessed. The iPhone OSs have been been pushing us hard for years now to change to 2-factor authorization, but after 16.2 it has become bizarrely aggressive. I have good reasons for not wanting to use it and also for using only Time Machine and (on line) Backblaze for backup of my Mac. I'm worried that very soon Apple will simply INSIST users back up to iCloud.

Thank you very much for that insight and for all your help!

I love Macs and iPhones and I love most Apple software. I was a Windows IT guy who was won over by Macs in 2002 thanks to the introduction of OSX, and I never looked back. I loved how robust and aesthetic everything was and how radically it improved my workflow. I was more than happy to choose Apple as my hardware and software company, but I never bargained for them to also be my on-line backup company.

As they gradually became more and more insistent about their iCloud, I was starting to feel very nervous about how things were going to progress and even thinking about changing platforms again. So I really appreciate the information you shared. I see so many Mac users really struggling with iCloud-related complexities. It took my doctor brother, who taught me everything I know about computers, a month to make his iPhone stop identifying itself as his wife's iPhone. As a former college English teacher, I find a lot of the dialog related to iCloud setup and the dialog box choices presented are very often quite unclear, and this problem never seems to go away.

Here is a good example of what I mean, regarding both Apple's insistence we use their iCloud and the complexity and frustration that arises: For the first time ever, with Ventura, Apple released an OS that has forced my to allow my Mac's Keychain passwords to be stored in iCloud. I know they are well encrypted by Apple, but they still live on servers somewhere in the world that are not my own computer and not my own choice of encrypted on-line backup service.

Should I post this keychain issue as a question? I'm afraid the answer will be either "Too bad", or that I'll have to reset my phone or something radical like that.