iPhone iMessage Question - Selecting Recipients when composing new messages

[Gator5000e]

In iOS 13 (now 13.1.1) whenever I create a new message and I type their name in the To: bar, I am not getting a mobile phone number as the first item to select. That is, if the contact I am sending a message to has multiple phone numbers and email addresses but only one mobile number, iMessage is not selecting or listing the mobile number first. Sometimes it is an email address. Other times it is a work number. When that happens, I have to tap the > next to the name/address that shows up to get to the mobile number. Hope this makes sense.

Anyway, shouldn't iMessage be able to pick out the mobile number for sending a text to whether or not it is an Apple customer? Seems like a bunch of other steps to take that I don't recall having to do before.

Is there a way to fix this or is this expected behavior?

Thanks.

 

[digitalexplr]

Seems to be working fine for me. If I have a mobile number for the contact that is the number that shows. If no mobile then what ever number I have. If I don’t have a phone number I get the email address.

 

[Gator5000e]

Thanks. I wonder how to fix that.