How to see when a text message was sent on your iphone

Lori Kaufman is a technology expert with 25 years of experience. She’s been a senior technical writer, worked as a programmer, and has even run her own multi-location business. Read more.

By default, the iPhone’s Messages app shows you the date and time for the first message on any given day, but not for every message sent and received. However, the exact time each message was sent is hidden–but there’s an easy way to show all the exact timestamps.

In the screenshot below, notice the date and time at the top of a group of messages. But, there are no times on the individual messages.

You might also see a Read message at the bottom of the latest message with a time (if it’s from the current day), a day of the week (if it’s from the last week), or a date (if it’s from before the last week).

NOTE: By default, when someone with an iOS device sends you a message, they know when you have read their message. They will see a Read message below the message you sent. However, you can prevent people from knowing you’ve read their messages when using iMessage in iOS.

To see the exact time each message was sent, swipe left on the screen and hold your finger there. While your finger is still pressing on the screen, all the exact times the messages were sent display on the right side of the screen, as shown below. When you take your finger off the screen, the times are hidden again.

Blue text messages are ones sent through the iMessage system (between iPhones). If you have friends or family with a phone other than an iPhone, such as an Android phone or a Windows phone, the messages they send you will be green, indicating that they are SMS messages, not iMessage messages. This trick works for both types of messages.

Whether you’re a lawyer building a case for a client (or an overbearing friend building a case against another friend), the hidden iMessage time stamp feature gives you the information you need.

Check an iPhone message timestamp to see when a text was sent or received.

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iPhone iMessage timestamps for individual texts are hidden, so you’ll need to know how to see iPhone message times to know when a message was received or sent. We’ll walk you through how to see the date and time someone texted you on iPhone with one simple gesture.

Why You’ll Love This Tip

• See iPhone text timestamps to know when any message was sent or received.
• Access text message timestamps with one quick gesture.

How to See Timestamp on iPhone Text Messages

Many users would prefer to always see timestamps on text messages, but unfortunately the Apple Messages app doesn’t allow that. Instead, you have to know how to see an iMessage timestamp for every message in a text thread using a special swipe gesture. We’ll show you how to do this in the steps below. To learn more tips and shortcuts for iPhone, sign up for our free Tip of the Day newsletter.

1. Open the Messages app.

Tap on the message thread you’re curious about.

Texts from different days will be separated by a date stamp, which also includes the timestamp for the first message of each day.

To see text message timestamps, tap and drag the message screen to the left.

Now you’ll see the time each text in the thread was received.

How often do you find yourself checking for an iPhone Messages timestamp? Let us know and share other tips you’d like to see in the comments below.

When it comes to texts, it’s nice to know if your message went through and the person read it. (Photo: Getty Images)

The phone in your hand can do more than the computers we had years ago. It’s a communication device, a camera, a scanner, a fitness tracker, a camcorder, a GPS, a game console – I could go on.

But sometimes, you just need to talk. If your service is spotty, there are a few ways to boost your signal strength.

When it comes to texts, it’s nice to know if your message went through and the person read it.

On an iPhone

Apple’s default text messaging app, iMessage, makes it easy to know if your recipient has read your message. There is one caveat. Both the sender and recipient must be using iMessages on an iPhone or iPad and have Read Receipts enabled.

When you text someone with Read Receipts turned on, you’ll notice the word “Read” beneath your message, and the time it was opened.

To turn on your Read Receipts in the iMessage app, click Settings, scroll down and tap Messages. Enable Send Read Receipts. These steps work with Macs and iPads as well.

Speaking of texts, I know you’re sick of spam messages. I am, too. Tap or click for tricks to stop all the junk.

On an Android

Like iPhone users, Android read receipts require both sender and recipient to enable the feature. Instructions may vary according to your device’s manufacturer, model, and operating system.

First, open your Messages app and navigate to the settings. Depending on your phone model, operating system, and cellular provider, you will notice one of the following: Read Receipts, Send Read Receipts, or Request Receipt. Turn on the applicable option.

On a Samsung phone, go to Messages > Menu > Settings > Chat settings. Here, you can enable read receipts.

In Google Messages, open Messages. Tap the three-dot menu (More) > Settings > Chat features. Tap Send read receipts.

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What about Facebook?

Read receipts are enabled by default in Facebook Messenger. If you wish to turn them off at some point, sorry, Charlie. You can’t. A sneaky workaround allows you to read messages without producing a read receipt.

Just turn off your Wi-Fi and cellular connection to read all received messages. Open the app, then turn on Airplane mode. When you finish reading your messages, force quit the Messenger app.

Are you one of those people with a perpetually low phone battery?Here’s how to get more life out of your smartphone.

WhatsApp lets you choose

Unlike its parent company Facebook, you can opt-out of read receipts in WhatsApp.

How do you know when someone views your message using WhatsApp? Look for the checkmarks:

• A single gray checkmark indicates a successfully sent message.

• The appearance of a second gray checkmark shows your message was delivered to the recipient’s phone.

• The two checkmarks will turn blue if the recipient has viewed your message.

To turn off this feature, click Settings and tap Account. Choose the Privacy option and disable Read Receipts.

Once you have your read receipts enabled on all your apps, you will no longer have to wonder or worry about whether a recipient has viewed your message.

Is your digital life in need of a little TLC? Listen for smart ways to tidy up your tech, inside and out. You’ll learn a few cleaning secrets, along with simple methods of sorting the clutter, clearing out junk and freeing up space on your devices. It looks like you just found your new holiday project.

Check out my podcast “Kim Komando Explains” on Apple, Google Podcasts, or your favorite podcast player.

Learn about all the latest technology on the Kim Komando Show, the nation’s largest weekend radio talk show. Kim takes calls and dispenses advice on today’s digital lifestyle, from smartphones and tablets to online privacy and data hacks. For her daily tips, free newsletters and more, visit her website at Komando.com.

The views and opinions expressed in this column are the author’s and do not necessarily reflect those of USA TODAY.

By: Waseem Patwegar

If you are wondering as to when a particular text message was sent or received on your iPhone, you will find below an easy way See the Date and Time of Text Messages on iPhone.

View Date & Time of Text Messages On iPhone

iPhone displays the Date and Time information only for the first message sent to or received from a Contact on a given day and hides the timestamp for subsequent messages sent to or received from the same Contact.

While this setting works well most of the times, sometimes you may want to see the exact Date & Time of Text Messages on your iPhone to check whether you are being late in responding to Messages or for other reasons.

Luckily, iPhone does record the exact Date and Time of all incoming and outgoing Messages on your device, but keeps this information hidden from plain view.

View Hidden Timestamp of Text Messages on iPhone

At any time, you can view the hidden Timestamp of any Text Message sent or received on your device by following the steps below.

1. Open Messages App and select the Message thread that you are interested in.

2. On the next screen, drag your finger from right to left in the message area and hold your finger on the screen.

You will be able to see the Timestamp for all individual Text Messages while your finger is still pressing the screen. Lifting the finger from screen will cause the Timestamp for individual iMessages to become hidden again.

Note: The ability to view timestamps for individual messages only works for iMessages and not for regular text messages sent from your cellular plan.

A recurring iOS bug that makes Apple’s Messages app send read receipts despite the setting being disabled appears to be on the upswing again, based on reports from users running iOS 15.

In iOS, with read receipts enabled (Settings -> Messages -> Send Read Receipts), the “Delivered” text that a person sees under an iMessage they have sent you turns to “Read” when you’ve viewed it in the conversation thread, so they know you’ve seen the message even if you’ve not responded. The setting syncs across all Apple devices signed into the same Apple ID.

Over the last few years there have been sporadic reports that Messages doesn’t always observe the user setting, but according to Macworld‘s Glenn Fleishman, the bug appears to be rearing its head again, only this time for a larger number of users running the latest version of ‌iOS 15‌.

Some people have found that restarting their device resolves the problem, at least temporarily, but no permanent fix has been discovered, suggesting Apple needs to change something about the way the function works in a future update to its mobile operating system. We’ll update this article if we learn more.

Top Rated Comments

People who have read receipts turned off make me suspicious and uncomfortable. What are you hiding?

People who have read receipts turned off make me suspicious and uncomfortable. What are you hiding?

If you have friends who get “butt hurt” (what an awful phrase) when you don’t reply immediately upon having seen a message, get better friends!

People who have read receipts turned off make me suspicious and uncomfortable. What are you hiding?

People who have read receipts turned off make me suspicious and uncomfortable. What are you hiding?

People who have read receipts turned off make me suspicious and uncomfortable. What are you hiding?

Nothing. I just don’t/can’t always reply right away. I turn it off so you don’t get butt hurt.

Some really expect you to instantly reply, problem is, you can’t or are not in the mood to reply instantly.

Are your texts being ignored on iOS, Android, WhatsApp, or Messenger?

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What to Know

• On iPhone: Open Settings >Messages > turn on Send Read Receipts.
• On Android: Settings >Chat features, Text Messages, or Conversations and turn on desired Read Receipts options.
• In WhatsApp: Settings >Account >Privacy >Read Receipts.

Here’s how to tell if someone read your text on Android and iOS smartphones or in the Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp instant messaging apps.

This information covers Google Messages, the Messages app for iOS, and the WhatsApp and Messenger instant messaging apps.

Read Receipts on iPhone

On an iPhone, read receipts are the only way to tell if someone read a text you sent from Messages, the default texting app for iOS. If you and your recipient both use the Apple iMessage service and activated read receipts, you’ll see the word Read under your last message to the recipient, along with the time the message was read.

If you don’t want people to know that you read their messages, turn off read receipts.

Here’s how to enable or disable read receipts in Messages for iOS:

Read receipts work only when both you and your recipient enable iMessage from the Messages settings. Read receipts don’t work if you use SMS messaging or if your recipient doesn’t use an iOS device.

Open Settings.

Tap Messages (the green icon with a white text bubble inside it).

Turn on Send Read Receipts.

Others are notified when you read their messages. If your recipient also enabled read receipts, you’ll see Read beneath your message along with the time it was read.

Read Receipts on Android Smartphones

The situation is similar on Android phones. The Google Messages app supports read receipts, but the carrier must also support this feature. Your recipient must have read receipts activated for you to see if they read your message.

Here’s how to turn on read receipts on Android phones:

The directions below should apply no matter who made your Android phone: Samsung, Google, Huawei, Xiaomi, etc. There may, however, be slight variations depending on the Android version.

From the text messaging app, open Settings. If you don’t see Settings, tap the three vertical dots or lines at the top of the screen.

Go to Chat features, Text Messages, or Conversations. If this option isn’t on the first page that displays, tap More Settings.

Turn on (or turn off) the Read Receipts, Send Read Receipts, or Request Receipt toggle switches, depending on your phone and what you want to do.

Turn on Delivery Receipts to find out if your text message was delivered to the recipient. (This option doesn’t tell you if the message was read.) On newer phones, open the Messages app and go to Settings > Advanced > Get SMS delivery reports.

WhatsApp Read Receipts

WhatsApp uses built-in read receipts in the form of check marks next to messages. One grey check mark means the message was sent; two grey check marks mean the message was delivered, and two blue check marks mean the message was read.

If you don’t want senders to know if you read their messages, here’s how to disable read receipts in WhatsApp:

In WhatsApp, read receipts are a two-way street. If you disable read receipts to prevent others from knowing you read their messages, you won’t know when they read yours.

Open WhatsApp and tap Settings (gear icon) in the lower-right corner.

Tap Account.

Tap Privacy.

Turn off the Read Receipts toggle switch to prevent the other person from knowing when you’ve read a message.

Close Settings. Read receipts are disabled, and the two blue check marks don’t appear on messages you send or read.

You can’t turn off read receipts in group messages on WhatsApp.

WhatsApp Message Details

If you’re looking for specific information about WhatsApp messages you sent, here’s how to see your message details.

Open WhatsApp and tap a chat.

Swipe left on a message to open the Message Info screen.

Alternatively, tap and hold the message and select Info.

If read receipts aren’t disabled, you’ll see the exact time your message was delivered and read.

Messenger Read Indicators

Messenger doesn’t have read receipts. Instead, it displays icons that reveal when your message is sending, when it’s sent, when it’s delivered, and when it’s read.

When your message is sending, you’ll briefly see a blue circle. When it’s sent, you’ll see a blue circle with a check mark. When it’s delivered, you’ll see a filled-in blue circle. Finally, when it’s read, you’ll see a small version of your recipient’s profile image below the message.

To read a Messenger message without letting the sender know you’ve read it, read it on the notification screen instead of opening the message.

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When you send messages to another iOS device from your iPhone, the device sends those messages in iMessage format using Apple’s servers rather than the cellular network. Any problem with Apple’s servers could delay the the message and cause the recipient to get it later than expected, if at all. You can disable the iMessage feature from your iPhone at any time, forcing the device to send all messages in text message format regardless of the recipient’s device.

Open the Settings application by tapping the “Settings” icon on your iPhone’s home screen.

Tap the “Messages” row to open the Messages screen.

Tap the switch next to “iMessage” so that it reads “Off.” Your iPhone will now send all messages in text message format instead of using the iMessage service. All changes are automatically saved to your device.

• Keep in mind that when using text messages instead of iMessages, all text messaging fees and restrictions by your carrier will apply to each message you send and receive.

Joshua Phillips has done it all when it comes to video games: strategy guides, previews, reviews, in-depth interviews with developers and extensive public relations work. He has written for websites such as Hardcore Gaming 101 and MyInsideGamer.

In Messages, it’s pretty hard to miss the timestamps that appear on top of more recent texts, iMessages, or files. But if you want to view the exact times for each text, you’ll need to know about a hidden gesture.

Open Messages and go to a chat thread. Now, swipe to the left and hold onto the screen to reveal individual timestamps. This works for every message in the chat, and it doesn’t matter if you’re in an iMessage or SMS thread. Once you’re done viewing the timestamps, simply let go of the screen. That’s all there is to it!

Such a simple feature, but there’s no way to know about it unless you just stumble across it. Apple’s pretty bad about that — for instance, did you know they now let you change your iMessage profile picture and display name? Check it out below.

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Why are my Text Messages Blue or Green?

While text messaging your friends and family, you’ve noticed some iPhone messages are blue or green.

When you text message a friend, family member or colleague via your iPhone, your text message may appear blue or green. The color indicates the method you’ve used and also at times, the type of device you are sending to.

Blue Background

When your text message has a blue background, it means that your message exchange happened via iMessage and that you sent or received your message to and from another iOS device.

iMessage

iMessage is a free message exchange method available to all iOS devices such as your iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, iMac, MacBook, MacBook Air, MacBook Pro and more) Apple designed iMessage and it works for all Apple products and not for non-Apple devices. It also requires that you are logged in using your Apple ID. A person who has an iPhone but is not logged in with their Apple ID will not be able to access iMessage.

iMessage does not use the data limits set by a telecommunication provider for normal messaging. iMessage is free and fast. It’s convenient to use iMessage when you’re communicating with another iPhone or iOS user.

With iMessage, text message rates do not apply. iMessage can be sent via WiFi so no cell service is required. It can also be sent through your cellular provider (AT&T, T-Mobile, Verizon, Sprint, etc.)

Green Background

A green background means that the message you sent or received was delivered by SMS through your cellular provider. It also typically went to a non-iOS device such as an Android or Windows phone.

Sometimes you can also send or receive green text messages to an iOS device. This happens when iMessage is turned off on one of the devices.

You can check if iMessage is on or off your iPhone by going to your iPhone Settings (gear icon) and then to Messages. Enable iMessage.

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The Messages app got a brand new look in iOS 7 and with that came some new features. One of them is the ability to view timestamps for every text or iMessage you send or receive. Previously you only saw sporadic timestamps but now you can see when you send and received each and every message on your iPhone or iPad.

1. Launch the Messages app from the Home screen of your iPhone or iPad.
2. Tap on the message thread that you’d like to view a particular timestamp for and find that particular message.
3. Anywhere in the message area, slide your finger from right to left to reveal timestamps for each individual message.

Once you’re done viewing a timestamp, just release your finger and the timestamps will again be hidden off to the side. That’s all there is to it. It’s not a very obvious feature at fight sight but it’s definitely a welcome addition.

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Scrolling through days or weeks of Messages conversations on iPhone or iPad to find that one photo you’re looking for is such a tedious process. However, if you use iMessage for texting your friends, family, and colleagues, there’s a neat trick to quickly access all your media and browse through all photos that have been exchanged.

Whether you’re using an iPhone or iPad, all the images and videos that are sent and received through the Messages app are stored on your device. These can be viewed at any time, shared with others, and saved to your photo library, according to your preference.

If you’re having trouble finding the pictures you received from friends, colleagues, or family over iMessage, don’t fret. In this article, we’ll be discussing exactly how you can view all the photos in Messages threads on both the iPhone and iPad.

How to View All Photos in Messages Threads on iPhone & iPad

Finding a specific photo out of all the media you’ve sent and received through the Messages app is a fairly simple and straightforward procedure. Simply follow the steps below to get started.

Open the default “Messages” app on your iPhone or iPad.

Open the Messages thread from where you’re trying to browse pictures.

Next, tap on the contact’s name as shown in the screenshot below.

Now, tap on “Info” to access more options.

Here, scroll down and tap on “See All Photos”. This option is located right below the thumbnails.

Now, you’ll be able to browse through all the photos you’ve sent and received in that particular thread. Screenshots are filtered out and included as a separate category, making it a lot easier to find the photo you’re looking for.

if you open any of the photos, you’ll have the option to share or save the picture to your iPhone or iPad photo library. This can be done by tapping on the “share” icon located at the bottom-left corner. Additionally, if you want a list view of all the image files you’ve sent and received, tap on the “list” icon located at the bottom-right corner as shown below.

As you can see here, you get access to the file size and file names by choosing list view.

And there you have it, you now know how to view all photos in any Messages thread on an iPhone or iPad.

From now on, you don’t have to scroll through your ancient messages and texts for hours to find that one picture you want to save or share. If you send and receive a lot of pictures over iMessage, you could delete all the media in a thread to free up a chunk of storage space. Keep in mind that all the videos and audio files that you may have shared will be mixed along with the photos too.

Remember, when you delete a Messages thread, you will lose access to all the media that are stored in it too.

We hope you were able to find the photos you were looking for by viewing all media in Messages threads. What do you think of this feature? Let us know your experiences and opinions in the comments.

AppleInsider is supported by its audience and may earn commission as an Amazon Associate and affiliate partner on qualifying purchases. These affiliate partnerships do not influence our editorial content.

One of the advantages of Apple’s iMessage system is the ability to see and respond to iPhone texts across multiple Apple devices. AppleInsider shows you how to set up the feature and get messaging on your iPad, Mac and more.

Go into the Settings app on your iPhone, then scroll down until you find Messages. Assuming iMessage is on — which it presumably will be — the next step is to go into Text Message Forwarding.

Here you should see compatible devices signed into the same Apple ID, and you can toggle them on and off at will. This includes Macs and iPads, which of course don’t normally handle SMS messages.

Next, go back up a level in Messages, then select Send & Receive. Be sure to set your phone number as both an origin and destination, rather than just an email address. You may have to add an email address to “You can be reached by iMessage at” in order to see “Start new conversations from” appear.

If you have an iPad, find the same Send & Receive menu within the Settings app, and make sure the information matches what was selected on your iPhone.

Mac owners should launch the Messages app itself, open up Preferences, and hit the Accounts tab. As long as you’re signed into the proper Apple ID, the only thing needed here is to once again make sure origins and destinations are the same as above.

Be warned that while you might like the idea of receiving texts across multiple devices, there are potential problems.

On a basic level, if all of your devices are in the same room or house, several simultaneous notifications can create a cacophony. You might also prefer answering on a specific device, and/or want others to be distraction-free. Then there’s the matter of privacy, since an iPad sitting on the couch might expose an otherwise private iPhone conversation.

Comments (14)

siretman

My iPhone does not have the text forwarding described for Messages in Settings. I have iOS 11.0.3. Why is that?

Dr.MORO

Great tips!
I use iCloud’s aliases to sort out which specific device gets and sends what. Use only a specific email alias per device, and add it to my address book with the device name.
I have setup forwarding so that my iPhone will receive most of the texts/messages/chats/calls/FaceTimes/etc, as well as the specific device it was send to, except for my better-half’s, that is.

BTW, I have been an iTools/.Mac/MobileMe/iCloud user since the beginning, and have created several aliases back then, which it seems that you cannot create as many anymore now.

I don’t see Text Message Forwarding in Settings->Messages either. I have an iPhone 6. Is Text Message Forwarding only available on later iPhones or is it a carrier thing? (I have At&T).

macgui

It could be the particular model of iPhone you have. Mine is a 5s and it doesn’t have that Text Message Forwarding option, nor the Show Contact Photos option show directly above it.

mobird

I don’t have this either. Running the latest Beta of IOS 11.1 that was released yesterday.
iPhone 6s.

There are many apps to spy on another phone, some of which work via Bluetooth or sim swap, but this article is not about those. This is about the app to see text messages on another phone without having that phone in your possession.

These apps work by having you install them on your phone (the one you want to monitor), and the target phone. Then, once installed, they will allow you to view the text messages on the target phone, without that phone in your possession.

Here are those 7 apps:

1. mSpy

This is a great app to see other people`s text messages because it’s simple to use and gives you access to all the standard features such as seeing all written messages that have been sent, received, and deleted.

The users of mSpy can also keep track of WhatsApp, Facebook, Snapchat, and other prominent chat apps. With the help of GPS, they can even track the physical location of the target phone.

Plus the keylogger feature can spy on all keystrokes made on the target phone, giving you access to passwords and other sensitive information. It works well with Android and iOS.

2. eyeZy

The app is a fairly new player in the spying game but has made a big splash. eyeZy allows users to read messages on another phone, as well as a long list of other features.

Some of these attributes include viewing call logs and contact lists, tracking social media usage, and viewing calendars and browser histories. You can see e-mails and check the online things that are done on the target phone, and even spy on SMS and WhatsApp messages.

You may remotely command the gadget from anywhere. The app is very easy to use, with an intuitive control panel and a simple installation process.

3: Track My Fone

Track My Fone is a very popular tracking device that enables the user to view text messages from another phone.

Using this app you can know the location of your child or employee, see all the text messages sent and received, and even track their internet usage. You can also geo-limit and remotely lock or delete data on the phone.

The price for this app is $5.83 a month’s worth of service, and it is available for both Android and iOS mobile phones.

4: Spyzie

Spyzie is another app that allows you to get someone elses text messages. It can be used to spy on a spouse, child, or employee. Some of its features include viewing call logs and contact lists, tracking social media usage, and viewing calendars and browser histories.

You can also see videos and photos taken with the phone. It can even track GPS location, which is a pretty standard factor required by most apps of this nature.

The price for this app is $39.99 for a monthly subscription and it is available for both Android and iOS devices.

5: SpyEra

SpyEra was originally designed as an SMS spy software, but it was expanded with extra features to aid parents and employers in monitoring the activities of children and workers.

This read other peoples text messages app, can help you see all incoming and outgoing messages and phone calls. You can also track the GPS location, check emails, view calendars, track websites visited and social media activities.

The price for SpyEra is $32 per month for Android and iOS devices.

6. Blurspy

Another sophisticated spy app is Blurspy, which allows you to observe someone’s mobile activities without their knowledge. This feature allows you to monitor the data on a device in real-time.

All text messages on the phone, with date and time information, are indexed by it. You can see all of these alerts through your web-based management interface at any time.

When a text message is sent to your target device, it notifies you. Also, you can download all these messages in an excel file. The price of this app is $19.9 per month for the lite version and it is available for both Android and iOS devices

The premier version is available for $36.99 per month and for a family of four it costs $199.99 per year.

7. MobiStealth

Mobistealth is an SMS surveillance application for parents and personnel who want to know what their children or company’s data is being used for.

All you need to do is install the app on a device and it will begin keeping track of all the activities that the phone performs, including text messages, GPS location, web browsing, and social media activity.

The app also takes periodic screenshots of the device’s screen and saves all the contacts on the phone. It has a lot of features that will help you monitor the activities on your phone remotely.

The price for this app is $69.99 per year and it is available for both iOS and Android devices.

Conclusion

People use text messages for all sorts of communication, from innocent flirting to business deals. So it’s no surprise that many individuals want to be able to read other people’s text messages.

There are a variety of apps that allow you to do this, each with its own set of features. Some of these apps are more expensive than others, but they all offer the same basic service: the ability to see the text messages of another person.

We hope this article has helped you learn more about the different apps that allow you to read other people’s text messages. We also hope you will use this information wisely and be aware of the legal implications of using such apps.

Blue bubble, green bubble. If you’ve been trying to send iMessages using your iPhone and all of your messages are suddenly appearing in green bubbles, then iMessage isn’t working correctly on your iPhone. In this article, I’ll explain what iMessage is and how to diagnose and fix problems with iMessage on your iPhone, iPad, and iPod.

What Is iMessage And How Does It Work?

iMessage was Apple’s answer to Blackberry Messenger, and it is fundamentally different than traditional text messaging (SMS) and multimedia messaging (MMS) because iMessage uses data to send messages instead of the text messaging plan through your cellular service provider.

iMessage is a great feature because it allows iPhones, iPads, iPods, and Macs to send messages that transcend the traditional 160-character limit of text messages and data limits associated with MMS messages. The primary drawback of iMessage is that it only works between Apple devices. It’s impossible to send an iMessage to someone with an Android smartphone.

What Are The Green Bubbles and Blue Bubbles On iPhones?

When you open the Messages app, you’ll notice that when you send text messages, sometimes they are sent in a blue bubble and other times they are sent in a green bubble. Here’s what that means:

• If your message appears in a blue bubble, then your text message was sent using iMessage.
• If your message appears in a green bubble, then your text message was sent using your cellular plan, either using SMS or MMS.

Diagnose Your Problem With iMessage

When you’re experiencing an issue with iMessage, the first step is to determine whether the problem is with one contact or whether iMessage isn’t working with any of the contacts on your iPhone. If iMessage isn’t working with just one of your contacts, the problem is most likely on their end. If iMessage isn’t working with any of your contacts, the problem is most likely on your end.

Send A Test Message

Find someone you know who has an iPhone that can successfully send and receive iMessages. (You shouldn’t have to look too hard.) Open up Messages and send them a message. If the bubble is blue, then iMessage is working. If the bubble is green, then iMessage isn’t working and your iPhone is sending messages using your cellular plan.

iMessage Out Of Order?

If iMessage is working on your iPhone, but the messages you receive are in the wrong order, check out our article on how to fix the problem.

How To Fix iMessage On Your iPhone or iPad

1. Turn iMessage Off, Reboot, And Then Back On

Head to Settings -> Messages and tap the button next to iMessage to turn iMessage off on your iPhone or iPad. Next, hold the power button down until you see ‘Slide to Power Off’ and slide your finger across the bar to turn off your iPhone or iPad. Turn your device back on, head back to Settings -> Messages, and turn iMessage back on. This simple fix works a lot of the time.

2. Make Sure iMessage Is Set Up Correctly

Head to Settings -> Messages and tap to open the menu item called ‘Send & Receive’. Here, you’ll see a list of the phone numbers and email addresses that are configured to send and receive iMessages on your device. Look under the section titled ‘Start New Conversations From’, and if there isn’t a checkmark next to your phone number, tap on your phone number to activate iMessage for your number.

3. Check Your Internet Connection

Remember that iMessage only works with a Wi-Fi or cellular data connection, so let’s make sure your iPhone or iPad is actually connected to the internet. Open up Safari on your device and try navigating to any website. If the website doesn’t load or Safari says you’re not connected to the internet, your iMessages won’t send either.

Hint: If the internet isn’t working on your iPhone, you might be connected to a Wi-Fi network that doesn’t have a good internet connection. Try turning off Wi-Fi and resending your iMessage. If that works, the problem was with Wi-Fi, not with iMessage.

4. Sign Out Of iMessage and Sign Back In

Head back to Settings -> Messages and tap to open ‘Send & Receive’.

Next, tap where it says ‘Apple ID: (your Apple ID)’ and choose ‘Sign Out’. Sign back in using your Apple ID and try sending an iMessage to one of your friends with an iPhone.

5. Check For An iOS Update

Head to Settings -> General -> Software Update and check to see if there is an iOS update for your iPhone. During my time at Apple, some of the most common issues I faced were problems with iMessage, and Apple routinely pushes out updates to address iMessage issues with various carriers.

6. Reset Network Settings

Issues with network connectivity can also cause problems with iMessage, and often times restoring your iPhone’s network settings back to factory defaults can resolve an issue with iMessage. To reset your iPhone or iPad’s network settings, go to Settings -> General -> Transfer or Reset iPhone -> Reset and tap Reset Network Settings.

A word of warning: Before you do this, make sure you know your Wi-Fi passwords, because ‘Reset Network Settings’ will erase all of the saved Wi-Fi networks on your iPhone. After your iPhone reboots, you’ll have to re-enter your Wi-Fi passwords at home and at work. Your iPhone’s Bluetooth and VPN settings will also be reset to factory defaults.

7. Contact Apple Support

Even while I was at Apple, there were rare occasions when all of the above troubleshooting steps wouldn’t fix a problem with iMessage, and we’d have to escalate the issue to Apple engineers who would personally resolve the issue.

If you do decide to visit an Apple Store, do yourself a favor and call ahead to make an appointment with the Genius Bar so you don’t have to wait around to get help.

Wrapping It Up

I hope this article has helped you to resolve the issue you’ve been having with iMessage. I look forward to hearing from you about your experiences with iMessage in the comments section below.

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iMessage can sometimes stall if the service is experiencing problems, or if you’re out of Wi-Fi or 3G/4G range. However, texts can still be sent via the regular cellular network.

To do this, tap and hold the bubble with the message inside. When options appear, tap Send as Text Message . The iPhone will then attempt to send the text using a cellular connection. The message bubble will turn green to indicate that it was sent as a text message. Of course, this will use up some of your SMS allowance.

If you’d prefer the device to send messages as regular texts by default, then you can.

Open the Settings app, select Messages , and turn on Send as SMS . When an iMessage fails in the future it will automatically switch and try to send as a text message. Again, this will use your text allowance.

Text length

Texts longer than 160 characters are billed as multiple text messages, so if you have a limited cell plan you’ll want to keep track of your messages.

Open Settings then Messages and turn on Character Count. The count appears after one line has been typed.

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There’s nothing worse than missing out on a text message because you didn’t see it. Luckily, you can now start getting your texts sent to iMessage on your Mac, but the setup process is a little tricky. Here’s how to do it.

First of all, you’ll need to have OS X Yosemite on your Mac. If you bought a computer in 2014 or after, you should be all set. You can check your version of macOS by click the Apple icon in the top left of your desktop screen, then clicking “About This Mac.”

Next, you’ll need to sync your iPhone and Mac via your iCloud account. Be sure to register both devices under the same email to make this process is as easy as possible — this just means you’ll use the same Apple ID for both. This signals to your phone and computer that they should pull information from the same account.

Once you know your iPhone and Mac are using the same iCloud account, it’s time to make sure iMessages is actually turned on. You can start with your iPhone.

Make sure iMessage is on

Also be sure to turn on the option called “Send as SMS.” This is what allows you to send a text even when iMessage isn’t available.

Next, choose the addresses you want iMessage to send and receive messages from. This is under the “Send & Receive” label on your iPhone.

Once you’re in this menu, it will show you which Apple ID your iMessage is using, so double check to make sure it’s the right one. Below, it shows you all of the addresses you can use for this account. So if you have a phone number and email address that you want to send messages from on the same network, add them all.

Now, your iPhone should be all set up. Next you’ll need to setup your Mac. The instructions are very similar to the ones you just followed, so it should be really easy. Here’s what to do:

Launch Messages on your Mac

Enter Apple ID email address and password (make sure it’s the same one you just used on your iPhone)

Click Messages in the Menu bar in the top lefthand corner of your Mac

Choose the phone number and email addresses you want to use for the account (once again, make sure they’re the same ones you selected on your iPhone)

Choose which phone number or email address you want people to see when you start a new conversation

And there you have it! The directions on both very similar, so once you get through one it should be smooth sailing. You definitely don’t need to set up messages on both, but doing so will make sure you never miss out on anything. So set it up, and start chatting away on all of your devices!

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Use these steps to stop your iPhone from sending iMessages as text messages.

Scroll down and choose the “Messages” option.

Tap the button to the right of “Send as SMS” to turn it off.

There won’t be any green shading around the button when this option is turned off. I have it turned off in the picture below.

The steps above were performed on an iPhone 11 in iOs 13.4.1. These steps will also work on other iPhone models using iOS 13, as well as most other recent versions of iOS.

The iMessage feature on your iPhone provides some additional messaging features that aren’t available with traditional SMS text messaging. This includes things like Apple Pay, animojis, and some other interesting options found in the Messages app.

You can tell if you have sent an iMessage because the shading around the message will be blue. Traditional SMS text messages have green shading around them.

But even if you and your recipient have iMessage enabled on your Apple devices, it’s possible that a message will be sent as an SMS. This can happen if iMessage is down, or if there is a network issue on the part of the sender.

Additionally, if the message was intended to be sent as an iMessage but was unable to do so, then there will be a little indication under the green message bubble stating that it was sent as an SMS instead.

In many cases this switch isn’t problematic, but you may prefer that you only send intended iMessages as iMessages, and that the iPhone not fallback to the SMS option.

Following the steps above will prevent your iPhone from sending your iMessage as a text message. Note that this may result in the message not being sent at all.

Frequently Asked Questions

Not necessarily. As mentioned previously, an iMessage sent as a text message is usually indicative of a network issue. If your iMessage doesn’t have a “Delivered” message underneath it, but previous ones in the conversation did, then this could be an indication that you have been blocked.

Any message sent to a non-Apple user will be sent as a text message. The iMessaging service is only available for Apple devices. But if the iMessage couldn’t be sent, or if the recipient doesn’t have iMessage enabled, then your iPhone will send it as a text message.

You can enable or disable iMessage by going to Settings > Messages and tapping the button next to iMessage at the top of the screen.

See also

• How to delete apps on an iPhone 8
• How to check an iTunes gift card balance on an iPhone
• What is a badge app icon on an iPhone?
• How to make your iPhone louder

Matthew Burleigh has been writing tech tutorials since 2008. His writing has appeared on dozens of different websites and been read over 50 million times.

After receiving his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Computer Science he spent several years working in IT management for small businesses. However, he now works full time writing content online and creating websites.

His main writing topics include iPhones, Microsoft Office, Google Apps, Android, and Photoshop, but he has also written about many other tech topics as well.

If your friends, family, or colleagues are telling you that your text messages are coming from your email address instead of your phone number, the culprit is likely in your iPhone settings! Especially after transitioning to a new iPhone, the “send from” address for iMessages gets set as your Apple ID email account instead of your number.

Follow these steps to fix the issue of your messages being sent from your email address instead of your phone number:

1. Open the Settings app on your iPhone.
2. Scroll to “Messages” in the menu and tap “Messages.”
3. Tap the “Send & Receive” item in the Messages menu.
4. Scroll to the “Start New Conversations From” list, and select the default address you would like your messages to come from (likely your phone number.)
5. (Bonus) Review the accounts listed for the “You can be reached by iMessage at” list and make sure that you want all of those. Tap on any accounts that you want to link or unlink from iMessage on your device to add or remove the check-mark.

I also ran into an issue once (with a friend’s iPhone) where the phone number wasn’t showing up in the “Send & Receive” list when we went to fix this. If this happens to you, the first thing I’d do is turn off your iPhone wifi in settings, and try to make a phone call to see if your SIM/phone number is working properly. In our case, she couldn’t make calls either. The real problem was that the wrong SIM card was in the iPhone, so the phone number wasn’t actually being used with that iPhone, hence it wasn’t available in the “Send & Receive” list.

Decipher Media makes Decipher Tools software to address common iPhone, iPad, and iPod needs like documenting text messages, photo recovery, and fixing broken iPhone backups.

Unleash the full potential of Apple’s not-so-humble text messaging app.

Apple’s Messages is probably one of the most-used apps on your iPhone that you spend the least time thinking about. After all, it’s just texting.

But this humble messaging app is actually remarkably feature-packed, and if you spend a few minutes poking around in your settings , you’ll be able to unlock lots of useful features to make it far more useful (and potentially less annoying) than it already it . The true measure of any texting app worth its programming is that it can be configured to sends alerts for important texts while filtering out the spam—and i t’s totally possible to do that with Messages, and a lot more .

Customize your text notifications

Customize your text notifications

Your first step toward making Messages less annoying should be to the number of alerts you receive. Go to Settings > Messages > Notifications. Here, you can choose if you want to be pinged immediately when you get a text, or if you’re okay with receiving alerts as a part of iOS 15’s Scheduled Summary (this feature sends alerts only at preset times of the day). If you choose Scheduled Summary, be sure to keep Time-Sensitive Notifications enabled to ensure that you do not miss important alerts.

Next, if you have a lot of unread messages, you can get rid of the red notification badge that appears above the Messages app icon. Go to Settings > Messages > Notifications and disable Badges under the Alerts section.

You can also go to Settings > Messages > Notifications > Customize Notifications and change a few more useful settings: Under Allow Notifications, select which categories of notifications you want alerts for. This lets you disable notifications from Unknown Senders, or message categories such as Transactions or Promotions. Mute notifications for the messages you don’t need to see right away.

You can also tap Repeat Alerts on the same page and set it to Never to stop Messages from pinging you twice for every incoming message.

If you are a part of too-chatty group texts, you can mute conversations to stop notification spam from disturbing you. Open the Messages app, swipe left on any chat thread, and tap the purple crossed-out bell icon to disable alerts from that chat only .

A stranger could see your text and if they have your phone actually reply to them even if locked

By default, the iPhone will show the world your SMS texts and iMessages on your lock screen whether you have Touch ID or a passcode setup on your device. For most people, this isn’t a big deal and therefore they don’t change the setting.

However, it can actually be a big privacy or security issue. For one thing, you never know what kind of text you’ll receive and who might happen to see it. With default settings, anyone who is within eyesight of your phone can read messages when they arrive because your phone will light up.

If they can physically touch the phone, they can not only read messages, but actually reply to them from the lock screen. This is true even if you have Touch ID or a passcode enabled.

From a security perspective, it can be dangerous for someone who has two-factor authentication enabled on websites. Many websites simply send you a code via text message, which can then easily be viewed by anyone in close proximity to you.

Thankfully, Apple has included a bunch of different options in the settings to control your privacy. In this article, I’ll show you how you can secure your text message so that only you see them.

Note that none of these settings below will help if you do not enable Touch ID or enable a passcode. Even if you configure your phone to show nothing on the lock screen, someone could easily just swipe to unlock your phone and read anything they want.

Show Previews

The first setting you can change is Show Previews, which will probably be enough for most people. Go to Settings, then Notifications, and tap on Messages.

Scroll down to the bottom and you’ll see an option called Show Previews. Tap the little toggle button so that it is no longer green.

Now when you get a text or iMessage from someone, you will only see the name of the person and not the message. Instead of the message, you will just see default text like iMessage.

Note that when you hide previews, you can no longer reply to the message from the lock screen, even if that option is enabled. This makes sense because how can you reply to a message you can’t see?

Show on Lock Screen

For those who want more privacy and security, you can also go to Notifications – Messages again and turn off a couple of more items.

The next step would be to disable the Show on Lock Screen option. When you receive a message now, not even a notification will show up on the lock screen. Instead, the phone will either make the text message sound or vibrate if you have it on silent.

When you unlock your phone, a banner will show up across the top showing you the new messages. You’ll also still be able to see how many new messages have arrived because of the badge app icon.

The maximum level of security is to disable Badge App Icon, disable the notification sound and disable messages in the notification center. If you do that, you won’t even know when you have received a new message. You’ll have to manually open the Messages app to see any new messages. That’s probably a bit much, even if you want more privacy and security.

A good balance is to turn off Show Previews and to enable a passcode. That way you will still know when new messages arrive, but can only see them after you unlock your phone.

Text Message Forwarding

You should also be careful about how you use another “useful” feature on iOS called text message forwarding that can expose your messages to unwanted viewers.

If you go to Settings, then Messages, you will see this option listed below iMessage. If you enable it, you can allow other devices to send and receive text messages as long as those devices are signed into the same iMessage account. Here I have one device enabled, namely my Macbook Pro computer.

I’m only mentioning this because most people who have an iPhone also have Mac computers, iPad, iPod Touches, iMacs, etc. If you are logged into iMessage on everything and have text message forwarding enabled, then you also need to ensure that all of those other devices are secured too with a password at least.

Founder of Online Tech Tips and managing editor. He began blogging in 2007 and quit his job in 2010 to blog full-time. He has over 15 years of industry experience in IT and holds several technical certifications. Read Aseem’s Full Bio

If you accidentally sent an iMessage to someone and want to undo it, here’s how to do that on your iPhone or iPad.

I’m sure we’ve all been there before: You type out a message and then send it, but realize right after you send it that you forgot to include a detail or realize that you probably shouldn’t have sent that nasty message in the first place.

In fact, if you’re reading this now, there’s a chance that this has happened to you and you’re looking for a way to protect yourself in the future.

Luckily, there is a way to undo a sent iMessage hopefully before it actually delivers to your recipient.

When you send an iMessage, it can take a few seconds before the sending actually completes, depending on your WiFi or mobile connection. It takes even longer for photos and videos to send through iMessage. During that short amount of time, you can actually undo the message from being sent as if you act fast enough before it’s delivered to your recipient.

In any case, here’s how to unsend an iMessage or text message on your iPhone hopefully before it gets delivered to the other side. Unfortunately, there is no way to unsend an iMessage that’s been delivered to the recipient already, even if they haven’t read it.

How to Undo a Sent iMessage

The process for undoing a sent iMessage or text message on the iPhone is really easy and quick to do, but you have to be quick on your feet in order to do it properly, as it only takes a couple of seconds for an iMessage to officially send and get delivered.

Act fast to undo a sent iMessage on your iPhone or iPad.

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Act fast to undo a sent iMessage on your iPhone or iPad.

To undo a message that you sent, simply swipe down from the top-right corner of the iPhone’s screen to bring up Control Center and quickly enable Airplane Mode on most iPhones or iPads. On the iPhone 8 and older, you need to swipe up from the bottom of the screen. This will cut off all signals going to and from your iPhone, which will make it impossible for the message to send, and you’ll eventually get a “Not Delivered” message in red.

When you hit the send button on an iMessage or text message, you only have a couple of seconds to activate Airplane Mode, so you have to be quick for sure. If you’re sending a picture or a video, you have a bit longer to enable Airplane Mode.

After you receive the red exclamation mark and “Not Delivered,” you can tap and hold down on the message and then select More. From there, hit the trash can icon to delete the message. You’ll want to make sure that you don’t skip this step because once you disable Airplane Mode and your iPhone gets its signal back, it will attempt to send the message again.

Physically deleting an iMessage that’s already been delivered from a friend or family member’s iPhone won’t solve your problem either. That’s because once you send an iMessage, it’s transmitted to all of their Apple devices right away. Even if they let you delete your iMessage from their iPhone in person, they may have already seen it on another device, such as an Apple Watch. Or they could see it in the future when they pick up their iPad or MacBook.

If you find yourself needing to unsend iMessages more often than you like, you might want to make sure you have photos for your important contacts so you can tell the conversations apart at a glance. The Messages app shows contacts’ initials by default, making it easy to tap on the wrong conversation.

Since you can’t unsend iMessages all the time, you can get away with following up errant iMessages with something like ‘sorry, wrong conversation’ if it’s a minor mistake. Of course, this won’t work if for the more embarrassing iMessages, especially if the content is inappropriate.

Other iMessage Tricks

iMessage is more than just a messaging platform to text your friends. It can do a whole lot more, like sending audio messages and even sharing your location so friends know where to meet you.

To send an instant audio message in iMessage, tap and hold on the small microphone icon to the right of the text box and it will automatically start recording.

When you’re done recording the audio message, lift up your finger and you’ll be able to delete the audio message or send it (the X icon will delete the message and the arrow pointing upwards will send it). You can also tap and hold to record your message and then immediately swipe up to instantly send it, or swipe left to delete the message and start over.

iMessage also allows you to share your location with a friend, which can be great for when you’re meeting up with someone and don’t want to explain where you are or how they can get there.

Simply tap on Details in a conversation and you’ll see two options: Share My Current Location and Share My Location. Selecting Share My Current Location will send your current location. It’s important to note that this is a one-time instance, so if you move to another location, iMessage won’t keep updating your friend with your new location.

Instead, you can use Share My Location, which will bring up more options as far as how long you want to share your location, and iMessage will continue to update it whenever you move to a new location.

One other handy trick that many users could take advantage of is the ability to mute certain contacts. If you’re wanting to mute notifications for certain contacts but want to make sure that you still receive notifications from other important people, you can mute notifications for certain friends. Simply just open up their conversation window, tap on Details, and then enable Do Not Disturb.

An iOS 14 bug doesn’t show notifications when some new messages arrive

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Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge

If you’ve noticed that you’re receiving SMS texts and iMessages from people but aren’t getting any notifications about them, you’re not alone. Far from it. I’m one of many people experiencing an annoying bug where messages come through fine — but without any pop-up notification or even the usual red badge to indicate that there’s a new message waiting to be read.

Last month, MacRumors wrote about increasing reports of the problem on the new iPhone 12, 12 mini, 12 Pro, and 12 Pro Max phones. But it seems to also be affecting people with older iPhones as well, so this is looking more and more like an iOS 14 issue. What’s more aggravating about the glitch is that it doesn’t always happen. I’ve noticed some messages pop up on my lock screen like normal, but others just quietly roll in with me being none the wiser.

People in that very large MacRumors thread have tried to come up with workarounds like turning off Messages on a Mac, or deleting and re-adding contacts. Some are noticing they get notifications if they completely force close the Messages app every time after sending a text. And in other cases, the missing notifications are only happening for pinned conversations, and unpinning contacts seems to do the trick. There are sporadic reports of success with these short-term fixes, but they aren’t working for everyone. There’s also this 42-page thread on the company’s support forums about the ongoing frustrations.

Those dealing with the issue are understandably disappointed that Apple hasn’t released a thorough fix yet. This is pretty fundamental stuff, and it’s probably causing some awkward conversations between couples or friends when messages just sit there for hours without the recipient knowing they came. And if you’re hoping that all will be well when iOS 14.3 releases next week, I wouldn’t be so sure. Early reports indicate that the no-text-notifications bug remains present — at least in some cases — in the second release candidate build of iOS 14.3 that Apple pushed out to public beta testers yesterday.

The Verge has reached out to Apple for more information on the status of this bug and the company’s plans to resolve it.

July 24, 2015 / 11:38 AM / CBS NEWS

Need to force-close multiple apps fast? At the risk of looking like you’re clawing at your phone, you can close up to three apps at once by swiping up with three fingers.

Click through for more iPhone tips courtesy of our partners at CNET.

Quickly shut off the flashlight

Included in iOS’s Control Center is access to a flashlight. Once enabled, you can quickly shut it off by using the camera shortcut from the lock screen.

Hidden bubble level

Leave your lime-green bubble level in the drawer. iOS’s built-in leveling tool uses the phone’s gyroscope to help you find out if an object is perfectly horizontal (or vertical).

To access it, launch the compass, then swipe right to reveal the level.

Quickly ‘go back’

Unlike Android, the iPhone doesn’t have a dedicated “back” button. But a little-known gesture makes that completely acceptable.

In Messages, Mail and even Safari, simply swipe right from the edge of the screen to go to the previous window. The gesture even works in some third-party apps like Instagram.

Lock focus and exposure

When the camera is active, tapping the screen sets the focus and exposure for that object. But, the moment the camera moves, these settings are lost.

To lock the focus and exposure, tap and hold until you see a yellow bar appear at the top of the screen, Even if you change your composition, the focus and exposure will be unaffected.

Find out what the locals use

When you’re traveling, it’s a good idea to find out which apps the locals love most — especially public transportation apps.

To see what locals are downloading, go to the App Store and tap the Explore button, then select Popular Near Me.

Search text messages

Here’s another one you might only stumble upon. To find a specific text message, use the search bar at the top of the message interface.

Don’t see it? Pull down to reveal it, or tap the top bar.

Use iMessage overseas

When you’re connected to in-flight Wi-Fi or traveling without a data plan, you can still send text messages to iPhone-using friends.

Just head to Settings > Messages and make sure Send as SMS is disabled, and that iMessage is enabled.

Reveal time stamps

To see when a message was sent, drag the message screen to the left, and the time stamps will be revealed.

Siri’s hidden features

Siri can handle really complex commands. She can even do things like set your alarm, and learn how to properly pronounce names.

Charge your phone much faster

Sometimes you need to charge your phone fast. The fastest way to do that? Airplane mode.

With all sending and receiving of data cut off, your phone will charge much faster. Just be sure to leave the backlight off, too.

Shoot in burst mode

Thanks to a faster processor in the iPhone 5S and later, the camera now lets you shoot in burst mode, snapping multiple photos per second.

It’s great for capturing sports, kids, and special moments you want every bit of.

Faster Touch ID recognition

Touch ID seems to have a beef with certain fingers, consistently requiring multiple scans before unlocking the device.

If this sounds familiar, try this: Go to Settings > Touch ID & Passcode. Here, enroll the same finger two to three times by choosing Add a fingerprint.

Doing so will give Touch ID more information about your finger patterns, resulting in a faster scan.

Blue or green messages?

If you own an iPhone, you may have noticed something odd in the Messages app: some messages are blue and some are green. What’s the deal with that?

Short answer: blue ones have been sent or received using Apple’s iMessage technology, while green ones are “traditional” text messages exchanged via Short Messaging Service, or SMS.

To find out what those green or blue messages mean to you (and your phone bill) check out this post from CNET’s Rick Broida.

For more iPhone tips, go to CNET.com.

First published on July 24, 2015 / 11:38 AM

By default, the iPhone’s Messages app shows you the date and time for the first message on any given day, but not for every message sent and received. However, the exact time each message was sent is hidden–but there’s an easy way to show all the exact timestamps.

In the screenshot below, notice the date and time at the top of a group of messages. But, there are no times on the individual messages.

RELATED: How to Prevent People from Knowing You’ve Read Their iMessage

You might also see a Read message at the bottom of the latest message with a time (if it’s from the current day), a day of the week (if it’s from the last week), or a date (if it’s from before the last week).

NOTE: By default, when someone with an iOS device sends you a message, they know when you have read their message. They will see a Read message below the message you sent. However, you can prevent people from knowing you’ve read their messages when using iMessage in iOS.

To see the exact time each message was sent, swipe left on the screen and hold your finger there. While your finger is still pressing on the screen, all the exact times the messages were sent display on the right side of the screen, as shown below. When you take your finger off the screen, the times are hidden again.

RELATED: Why Are Some iMessages Green and Some Blue on My iPhone?

Blue text messages are ones sent through the iMessage system (between iPhones). If you have friends or family with a phone other than an iPhone, such as an Android phone or a Windows phone, the messages they send you will be green, indicating that they are SMS messages, not iMessage messages. This trick works for both types of messages.

Whether you’re a lawyer building a case for a client (or an overbearing friend building a case against another friend), the hidden iMessage time stamp feature gives you the information you need.

Here’s everything you need to know about iMessages vs. SMS messages

If you’re an iPhone user, you may have noticed that some of your text bubbles are blue, while others are green. There’s actually a reason for this: blue bubbles are iMessages and green ones are regular SMS messages. Here’s an example of what they look like.

So, what’s the big deal? Is Apple just trying to make everything in the world begin with an “i”? Well, maybe. But there actually are some real differences between iMessages and SMS messages. We’ll go over those differences here, and help you configure your iPhone for optimal messaging.

What are the two types of messages?

Let’s start with some basic definitions of iMessages vs. SMS messages.

• SMS message: SMS stands for Short Message Service. This is one of the original forms of text message technology, and is still the most widely used today. It allows you to send up to 160 characters in a single message and uses just a cell phone network (no data) to send the message.
• iMessage: An iMessage is a type of text message that can only be sent from an Apple device to another Apple device, like an iPhone or an iPad. An iMessage can include standard text like an SMS message, but also photos, videos, and other add-ons like GIFs. iMessages require an internet connection (either through Wi-Fi or a data plan) and are automatically encrypted.

Data use for iMessages

One of the biggest differences between iMessages and regular SMS messages is that iMessages require the internet to use. That means if you don’t have a data plan, you won’t be able to use iMessage unless you’re connected to a Wi-Fi network.

Unless you’ve got an unlimited data plan, this can be a bit of a problem. You want to save that pricey mobile data for more important things, like watching Youtube videos and playing PUBG Mobile.

Fortunately, iMessages don’t use a ton of data. For example, this is a screenshot of how much data I used sending and receiving iMessages over the last two months.

276 MB of data won’t make a huge dent in your mobile data cache, even if you’re on a super-cheap data plan.

What are the advantages of iMessages?

The question remains:

Are iMessages just glorified text messages?

The answer is yes, but that’s a good thing. Here are a few things that make iMessages better than standard SMS messages.

• Encryption: iMessages have end-to-end encryption built in. That means you can send messages without fear of your information being snatched out of the air by hackers and other miscreants. (You should consider adding extra security with a VPN).
• Device syncing: You can read and send iMessages on your Apple computer, your Macbook, your iPad, or any other Apple device. Isn’t it lovely when your world is in sync?
• Stickers and effects: The standard emojis are so early aughts. It’s time to up your game. iMessage allows you to send stickers and effects, like exploding confetti when you send “Congratulations.”
• Read receipts: One of the most useful features of iMessages is the read receipts. When you send an iMessage successfully you’ll see a little text saying Delivered below the message. When the recipient has seen the message, it will change to Read. So you don’t have to sit around anxiously wondering if your partner saw your very important message about picking up more hot sauce at the grocery store.
• Live typing: Much like the read receipts, iMessage lets you see when the other person is typing with a little “…” symbol at the bottom of the message history. Just chill, they’re drafting out the perfect response to your “whaddup.”

Which is better for you?

Most iPhone users will want to use iMessages, so long as they have a good plan that can handle the data usage. The only reason to use SMS instead of iMessage is if you’re chatting with people who don’t have Apple devices, or if you don’t have any data on your phone.

Yes, you can! It’s sort of a complicated process, but we tried a new app called AirMessage that actually works like a charm. You need an Apple computer to make the magic work, but currently we are successfully sending and receiving iMessages from an Android phone.

How to manage your iMessage settings on your iPhone

If you want to turn off iMessage for whatever reason, you can do it in your iPhone settings.

To turn iMessages on/off just:

1. Go to your Settings app.
2. Click on the Messages menu.
3. Toggle the iMessage option off. It will look like this when it is deactivated.