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iPhone XR I am receiving text messages on "messages" app on Mac but not on phone

16BitArcadeGraphics

16BitArcadeGraphics

macrumors member
Original poster
Jan 1, 2019
34
40
New York City
Does anyone know why this is the case? I have iMessages disabled on my phone. I had no clue I was even receiving text messages for the past month until I checked the messages app by mistake yesterday and saw so many texts I had never received on my phone.

Does anyone know how to get simple text messages on my phone and none of this iMessages or anything like that on the computer or some app? I just want basic text messaging on my phone.
 
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16BitArcadeGraphics said:
Does anyone know why this is the case? I have iMessages disabled on my phone. I had no clue I was even receiving text messages for the past month until I checked the messages app by mistake yesterday and saw so many texts I had never received on my phone.

Does anyone know how to get simple text messages on my phone and none of this iMessages or anything like that on the computer or some app? I just want basic text messaging on my phone.
Click to expand...

i cant make it out if you want to only have SMS on yr phone and no SMS on yr mac or whatever.

as you are aware, Messages on the iPhone is apple's messaging app.
the reason you are getting messages into that app is that people know yr phone number and message you and you have it installed on yr phone as the default messages app.

you don't need to continue to use a person's apple ID or tell others yr own apple ID.
in apple's Messages app its straightforward to use SMS (just enable it in the Messages preference) and get these SMS on both yr phone and mac if you want. you cant just have SMS enabled on yr mac but not on yr phone.

although i don't recommend it, there are alternatives to apple's Messages complete text messaging service.
but all alternatives have severe trade offs when compared with Messages.

the way to stop all interaction with iMessages except to use it as an SMS sender/receiver is detailed here:
www.cnet.com

3 steps to disable iMessage and not lose your mind

iMessage is a convenient platform so long as you remain within Apple's walled garden. The following tips help you stay connected after leaving.
www.cnet.com www.cnet.com
 
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niji said:
you cant just have SMS enabled on yr mac but not on yr phone.
Click to expand...

Yes you can. Right now, I only get text messages on my MacBook. I get nothing on my phone. I am asking for a way to ONLY receive text messages on my phone. I have no idea why this is such a big problem with Apple products. Why can't I just receive a simple text on my phone? That is the problem.
 
turning off Text Messaging Forwarding on iPhone Messages preference settings doesn't work?
 
Screenshot 2020-01-07 at 23.46.56.png

turn off text messaging forwarding
and it sounds as if you also want to turn SMS on as well
 
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And like I stated, to see the settings that niji has shown in his image, you must turn iMessage "ON" with the switch at the top of Settings>Messages.

I'm not sure what version of iOS in which this first appeared.
 
Are you logged into the same iCloud account on the Mac and iPhone in question?

What version of macOS and iOS are on those devices?

Are there any other Apple devices that may be logged into that iCloud account?
 
If you only want "basic" text messages on your phone and not on your Mac, turn off iMessage on both the Mac and iPhone.

SMS messaging ("basic" text messaging) is provided by your phone company, not Apple. It works only on your phone, not your Mac, and there's no way for you to turn it off. It's always on, so long as your cellular service is working.

SMS works even when iMessage is turned off. The only settings in your iPhone that affect SMS messaging are the options for MMS (multimedia SMS messaging) and Group Messaging (again, using SMS). "Send as SMS" is an option for when you're using iMessage - if iMessage is unavailable for technical reasons (such as an iMessage user who is temporarily signed out of iMessage) it sends an iMessage as an SMS instead.

Text Message Forwarding is a feature of iMessage, so if you don't have iMessage turned on, you will not see that option.
 
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I turned off and signed out from the messages on the Mac. I also signed out of iCloud on the phone and the Mac. Thank you both for trying to help. This has been a headache. Your tips did not work so I just left the Apple ecosystem. At this point, I may as well go back to a simple text and talk phone if I can't receive a basic text message on my phone and have such a big problem.
 
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16BitArcadeGraphics said:
I turned off and signed out from the messages on the Mac. I also signed out of iCloud on the phone and the Mac. Thank you both for trying to help. This has been a headache. Your tips did not work so I just left the Apple ecosystem. At this point, I may as well go back to a simple text and talk phone if I can't receive a basic text message on my phone and have such a big problem.
Click to expand...

oh sorry to hear that.
you can always pop into an apple store and have them show you what we in this thread failed to get you to be able to do.
goodbye.
 
For what it's worth, I think it's possible you don't have imessage enabled for your phone.

This is what I mean. If you go into message preference on the Mac under the '@' tab, you will see
'You can be reached for messages at'
If your phone number isn't listed there then imessage won't work with your phone number.
You can still be reached by whatever is there on your mac: email address, apple account etc.
I message isn't really an SMS service it's Apple's own message service so when you send an imessage you aren't really sending an SMS (or MMS).
If it's coming from Android to your phone (and the message is green) then it's an SMS and I'll guess your getting those.
Why wouldn't you want to use imessage? It's brilliant! Android have been trying to copy it for years without getting it right.
 
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