Messages to a friend go out as text rather than iMessage after they changed their phone number

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Level 1

4 points

Messages to a friend go out as text rather than iMessage after they changed their phone number

Hi, the number of a friend of mine switched from a German mobile number to a US number. I've updated their contact card (but retained the old German number as "other"). They use an iPhone and are signed into iMessage. I can send a direct, person-to-person iMessage to them, but when I try to send a message to an existing group, it goes out as text. So I tried to create a new group, selecting my friend by their new US number. It still goes out as text.

Does anyone have any ideas about what's going on here?

Thanks!

iPhone 15 Pro, iOS 18

Posted on Aug 8, 2025 04:54 PM

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Answer 1

Bill.Blatt Author

Level 1

4 points

Aug 9, 2025 04:33 AM in response to Bill.Blatt

OK, I think I figured out a less-than-ideal fix: I created a second contact card for my friend, so that I now have two contacts for them, one with the US number, one with the German. (I added something to their name for the German card so it was clear.) Now there are two group discussions displayed, one with the German number, one with the US. I didn't want to lose the discussion history.

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