iPhone sending messages as email

[swampcritter2]

I have an android phone. My friend has an iPhone 14. His Message app is set to “Send as SMS.” But when he sends me a message, I receive an email. The return address on the email is his phone number ([email protected].) Why is this happening and how do we fix it?

[FuzzyLogic]

Is it possible they are sending to a number that doesn't accept SMS (such as a land line)? I can't think of any other reason why it would arrive as an email.

[swampcritter2]

The only number my friend has for me is my cellphone number. He doesn't have my land line number. I'm thinking that this problem must be caused by some settings or processes on the iPhone, because once the message is handed off to the carrier, there would be no way for the carrier to determine my email address.    

[Nighthawk]

Is it just limited to messages from your friend or other iPhone users also? Did you previously have an iPhone by any chance?

[swampcritter2]

He's the only person I know who uses an iPhone, and I may be the only person he knows who uses an android device! I need to confirm that, though. I've never owned an iPhone myself and it's extremely unlikely that I ever will  

[Nighthawk]

Have your friend create a totally separate message and manually type in your phone number directly and not use any existing saved contact info. There's a small chance the issue may be with how he has your contact details saved on his phone.

[swampcritter2]

Great idea, thanks very much. I might not be able to try it until after the holidays, though, because friend is non technical and I need to look over his shoulder. 

[TELUS_Support]

There's also a remote possibility they've configured iMessage to send from their Apple ID only which might affect how their devices sends to other devices.

On an iPhone tap on: Settings > Privacy and Security > Messages > Send & Receive > Check here to see what they've selected for "send to/from". If their phone number isn't selected, it makes sense they won't notice an issue messaging other iPhones and the issue you've described with your phone. 

[swampcritter2]

Thanks, I will check this out on friend's iPhone the next time I see him. 

[swampcritter2]

I've just returned from visiting another friend. I found that he recently received 2 emails in which the return address was in the format [email protected]. He assumed they were some kind of spam and filed them in the trash bin without opening them.

[Rocky3]

[email protected] sends email to text

You can send a text message to an email address with Messages by Google.

[swampcritter2]

I created a new message on my friend's iPhone and addressed it to my phone number. This time I received it as SMS. So the problem appears to be with the iPhone settings. However it's not my iPhone, and I didn't have time to delve further into exactly what would cause an iPhone to create an email which has a phone number as the "from" address.

[TELUS_Support]

You could always ask your friend to reach out here or with our Mobility team directly for further assistance.

[Rocky3]

google has a way search for 

text to email iphone

[swampcritter2]

I've found the problem. In his "Contacts," he has my "Phone" number. When I changed it to "Mobile," the problem went away and his messages  were sent as SMS. Apparently Contacts app defaults to Landline when creating phone number for contact?? 

[Dimo-X]

Wow, that's good to know! Now I know what to look for if that ever happens to me. Glad to hear it's been fixed too.