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iPhone sending SMS instead of iMessage without internet connection

Astrohunter

Astrohunter

macrumors regular
Original poster
Sep 16, 2021
249
164
Hi,

My brother bought an iPhone and he has often poor internet connection.
Quite often when I send a message it will try to send it as SMS instead of iMessage.

Could it be related to him having poor connection?
I have never seen this issue before.

Cheers
 
Yes, poor internet connection can cause messages to be sent as SMS instead of iMessage, as iMessage requires a stable internet connection. When the iPhone detects that iMessage cannot be delivered, it defaults to sending the message as an SMS.

Encourage your brother to check his internet connection and possibly troubleshoot any connectivity issues to improve his messaging experience.
 
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The Clark said:
Yes, poor internet connection can cause messages to be sent as SMS instead of iMessage, as iMessage requires a stable internet connection. When the iPhone detects that iMessage cannot be delivered, it defaults to sending the message as an SMS.

Encourage your brother to check his internet connection and possibly troubleshoot any connectivity issues to improve his messaging experience.
Click to expand...
That's a big bummer then compared to apps like Signal, Telegram etc.
Luckily I have set a spend limit so Vodafone keeps sending me SMSs saying that I can't send the sms because of limit spend.

He lives in a small village in Switzerland so not much he can do.

I thought iMessage will wait until there is connection or something.
 
Astrohunter said:
That's a big bummer then compared to apps like Signal, Telegram etc.
Luckily I have set a spend limit so Vodafone keeps sending me SMSs saying that I can't send the sms because of limit spend.

He lives in a small village in Switzerland so not much he can do.

I thought iMessage will wait until there is connection or something.
Click to expand...
iMessage does indeed attempt to send messages when there's poor internet, but if it fails to send after a certain period, it defaults to sending as an SMS if the "Send as SMS" option is enabled in the iPhone's settings.
 
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Astrohunter said:
That's a big bummer then compared to apps like Signal, Telegram etc.
Luckily I have set a spend limit so Vodafone keeps sending me SMSs saying that I can't send the sms because of limit spend.

He lives in a small village in Switzerland so not much he can do.

I thought iMessage will wait until there is connection or something.
Click to expand...
That's very interesting. In America it's normal to have unlimited SMS which allows your iMessages to get sent quickly and consistently even if the internet is poor, which Telegram and other apps may be unable to. I've never thought of that as a bad thing.
 
Paddle1 said:
That's very interesting. In America it's normal to have unlimited SMS which allows your messages to get sent quickly and consistently even if the internet is poor, which Telegram and other apps may be unable to. I've never thought of that as a bad thing.
Click to expand...
I'm in UK and he is in Switzerland, so that's the issue.
 
You might try enabling “Wi-Fi assist” in the cellular settings if it’s not enabled. That will cause the phone to use cellular data for certain things if the Wi-Fi connection is poor.
 
Paddle1 said:
That's very interesting. In America it's normal to have unlimited SMS which allows your iMessages to get sent quickly and consistently even if the internet is poor, which Telegram and other apps may be unable to. I've never thought of that as a bad thing.
Click to expand...
SMS and iMessage are two different things. An unlimited SMS plan isn't going to help send an iMessage if you have no internet connection.
 
Astrohunter said:
That's a big bummer then compared to apps like Signal, Telegram etc.
Luckily I have set a spend limit so Vodafone keeps sending me SMSs saying that I can't send the sms because of limit spend.

He lives in a small village in Switzerland so not much he can do.

I thought iMessage will wait until there is connection or something.
Click to expand...

Does he have Internet at home? Or does this just happen when he's outside in that small village?

I'm also from Switzerland and there's always one of the networks that work, everywhere, with very few exceptions. Maybe he could look for a different mobile operator?

But yes, what others said is correct: just disable the "send as SMS" in your iPhone settings, so it won't do that. Or use some other app, like Telegram, Signal, etc.
 
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ManuCH said:
Does he have Internet at home? Or does this just happen when he's outside in that small village?

I'm also from Switzerland and there's always one of the networks that work, everywhere, with very few exceptions. Maybe he could look for a different mobile operator?

But yes, what others said is correct: just disable the "send as SMS" in your iPhone settings, so it won't do that. Or use some other app, like Telegram, Signal, etc.
Click to expand...
Also from Switzerland (just outside Zurich) here. It would be interesting to learn about your brother's network carrier and rough locations.
 
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mrochester said:
SMS and iMessage are two different things. An unlimited SMS plan isn't going to help send an iMessage if you have no internet connection.
Click to expand...
Yes I was simplifying it. Your iMessage can be automatically converted and sent as SMS if there's no internet connection when the setting is enabled.
 
In your phone settings under messages you can uncheck "Send as SMS" and it will try to stick to iMessage for iMessage contacts. You probably have it checked so it times out and sends as SMS automatically.
 
jaytv111 said:
In your phone settings under messages you can uncheck "Send as SMS" and it will try to stick to iMessage for iMessage contacts. You probably have it checked so it times out and sends as SMS automatically.
Click to expand...
But then if I sent a message to Android user will it send the message at all?
 
Astrohunter said:
But then if I sent a message to Android user will it send the message at all?
Click to expand...

It will still send as SMS to Android users. That setting only switches off the fallback to SMS if for any reason (like bad network coverage) iMessage is not available.

Also, Lebara is on Sunrise network, and I usually have good reception with Sunrise in Leukerbad (although I'm not there often). I suggest he gets a fixed/landline Internet connection to use at home, and only uses his cellular data when outside. This way it should always work.
 
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ManuCH said:
It will still send as SMS to Android users. That setting only switches off the fallback to SMS if for any reason (like bad network coverage) iMessage is not available.

Also, Lebara is on Sunrise network, and I usually have good reception with Sunrise in Leukerbad (although I'm not there often). I suggest he gets a fixed/landline Internet connection to use at home, and only uses his cellular data when outside. This way it should always work.
Click to expand...
So if i disable it, it will use imessage once he gets internet connection?
 
Astrohunter said:
So if i disable it, it will use imessage once he gets internet connection?
Click to expand...

I am not sure if it will automatically retry once it gets Internet connection, or if it will fail with an error, then he needs to click on it again to retry. It's hard for me to simulate these conditions, so you need to do some tests. Maybe someone else knows.
 
My LTE plan is fairly light so I've on occasion got charged for sending a MMS when it didn't properly go through iMessage, instead sent via SMS. So now I tend to check first if my "send arrow" turns blue from the get go.
 
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