Why are the message logs incomplete in my online account information?

[Wendielu]

I went back through my and my husbands text message history looking for a unique number. Mine seems to be complete, but his is FULL of holes. Please tell me he can't somehow hide his text message usage; that just makes me suspicious and sick.

[rcschnoor · Accepted solution]

Apple utilizes a system called iMessage which does not utilize the SMS/MMS system of cell phone providers and therefore will not show up in your texting logs. As long as iMessage is activated on an iPhone, it will use this system to any other iPhone which also has iMessage activated. The only way around this is to deactivate iMessage.

Messages to other devices, either iPhones without iMessage activated or non-iPhone devices, will show up in your texting logs as these messages will be sent via the SMS/MMS system.

If you want all of your messages to show up in your messaging logs, you will have to deactivate iMessage in the settings on each of your Apple devices.

[Wendielu]

Thank you; I had considered that, but for instance: there are plenty of times texts show between my H and I, which I know were sent iMessage. But not all. Additionally, they will show in my text history, but the corresponding info isn't in his text history.

(clearly we've had some "trust issues", which has prompted this concern.)

[Wendielu]

NM, you're right. The messages that do show between the two of us are photos, which probably had to go SMS/MMS.

thanks for the help. it's a crappy feeling, I wish no one ever had to go through it.

[rcschnoor]

Texting logs are not the way to work out "trust issues" as there are MANY ways to send/receive messages which do not utilize SMS/MMS, just a few of which are Facebook, Skype, Tango, Twitter, Instagram, etc... I'm sure there are MANY more available messaging apps which also do not use SMS/MMS and will not show up in your texting logs.

If a message is sent/received via SMS/MMS, it should show up in the texting logs of the account owner's MyVerizon account. Customers do not have the access needed to alter these texting logs. If it is not in the logs, the message was not sent/received as an SMS/MMS or there is a problem on Verizon's end.

[rcschnoor]

An easy way to check is the color of the bubble around the message.

Blue bubble = iMessage

Green bubble = SMS/MMS

[rcschnoor]

One last thing to point out is group messages. If at least ONE person in the list of recipients is not using iMessage, ALL recipients will receive the message as an SMS/MMS even if the sender and some of the recipients are using iMessage.