Is there a way to completely disable iMessage and use normal texting?

It's crazy that I have unlimited texting and I can't use it.

I have an iphone 5s and if cellular isn't on then I can't receive or send picture messages! I don't leave cellular switched on if I'm at home with wifi, which really means I can't send/receive pictures while at home. It's ridiculous. I wish I could ditch iMessage completely and just have normal texting. Is that possible? Is there a way I can get back to sending and receiving picture messages without using cellular data?

Accepted answers

Tidbits

You need cellular data on to send and receive MMS. They do not count towards your data limits. MMS works a little different than SMS in that regard.

All comments

deloused

Yes just turn iMessage off in your settings icon under messaging.

mattattack

Yes just turn iMessage off in your settings icon under messaging.

I did that. There was no change, I still can't send or receive picture messages without cellular data being turned on. That must mean my phone is still using imessage even if it says it's not, right?

Tidbits

You need cellular data on to send and receive MMS. They do not count towards your data limits. MMS works a little different than SMS in that regard.

mattattack

Tidbits wrote:

You need cellular data on to send and receive MMS. They do not count towards your data limits. MMS works a little different than SMS in that regard.

Well that's kind of nuts. I didn't need "cellular data" to receive pics on my non-smart phones. I've been trying to keep a tight leash on my data usage with all these new data hog apps (looking at you Facebook), so this makes things really inconvenient. If I switch to a Galaxy s5 can I shut off data completely and still receive picture messages?

mattattack

Thanks guys.

Lots of good info here.

I know about turning the facebook app to wifi, etc. I'm more worried about the apps I normally don't think about, doing something unexpectedly crazy. Like some new game downloading/uploading a crap load of data because I forget to click a single button in the settings menu. That's why I keep cellular off unless I need it.

It's just disappointing that while it's off I can't get voice messages (due to iOS8's visual voice mail) or picture messages.

It seems strange that imessage can handle standard text over wifi but a picture over wifi is just too complicated. But whatever.

rcschnoor

mattattack wrote:

It seems strange that imessage can handle standard text over wifi but a picture over wifi is just too complicated. But whatever.

For what it is worth, the iPhone can send iMessages over wifi with/without photos attached. It is when iMessage is not available and the message is sent as MMS that cellular data is required. Unfortunately, iMessages are only available to iPhones(with iMessage enabled) and if you are sending to a phone which is NOT an iPhone or the iPhone you are sending to does not have iMessage enabled your message will be sent as an SMS/MMS and different protocols are required.

mattattack

rcschnoor wrote:

mattattack wrote:

It seems strange that imessage can handle standard text over wifi but a picture over wifi is just too complicated. But whatever.

For what it is worth, the iPhone can send iMessages over wifi with/without photos attached. It is when iMessage is not available and the message is sent as MMS that cellular data is required. Unfortunately, iMessages are only available to iPhones(with iMessage enabled) and if you are sending to a phone which is NOT an iPhone or the iPhone you are sending to does not have iMessage enabled your message will be sent as an SMS/MMS and different protocols are required.

Nope, I tried sending a picture through imessage to my cousin's iphone. It would NOT send until I turned cellular on. I tried ....... oh.... as I'm typing this I realized she once told me she keeps imessage turned off. I guess I should retype this paragraph but I'm lazy. Well, that's good to know. Atleast I can send pictures to other iphone users if their imessage is turned on. That's something... I guess.

rcschnoor

Yes, not all iPhone users like to use iMessage as it uses data instead of the included unlimited SMS/MMS on Verizon's More Everything plan. Why pay for data usage if SMS/MMS is free?

Of course, when I was using an iPhone, I had iMessage disabled because I liked the streamlined texting available with Verizon Message+ where I could access my messages on my phone/computer/tablet, which would not be available via iMessage.

Some like to use iMessage, others do not. It is all about personal preference and not everyone has the same reasons.

An easy way to tell would be the color of the bubble around the message. If it is a blue bubble, it is an iMessage. If it is a green bubble, it is an SMS/MMS message.:smileyhappy:

Tidbits

SMS is sent over the voice channel instead of the data channel. MMS is too large to go over the same channel. Be glad they haven't fully converted (yet). IMS will handle all of it over data whether if it is calls, and text(SMS/MMS). This will happen when they retire their CDMA network.

Weth

What you are saying is not how iMessage works. You do not need cellular data to send any iMessages if you are connected to WIFI. If you are not able, then something is up, but it is not that iMessage cannot do that, in fact it works great. Does you cousin have iMessage on and when you send you cousin a message is the bubble blue or green? If itis blue, it makes no sense that cellular data needs to be on if you have a wifi connection. Did you reboot the phone?