Can send iMessages from my phone number from MAC and iPad but not iPhone w\o ATT SIM?

[shenan1982]

I'm interested in sending iMessages from my iPhone while I'm abroad, but from my AT&T phone number, not the foreign SIM card's number. Seems when I put the SIM in, it doesn't allow me to send from my phone number on my ATT account.

This seems odd since during this time I can still send\receive iMessages from my Mac using Messages and my ATT phone number, as well as with my iPad, sending and receiving via my ATT phone number.

Is this even possible?

 

[verwon]

Odd, it should be, as long as the number is still active.

I have all 3 of my iPhones on active lines, right now, but set them all up to use my main number for iMessage, so it doesn't confuse people, when I send from a different toy.

 

[shenan1982]

Odd, it should be, as long as the number is still active.

I have all 3 of my iPhones on active lines, right now, but set them all up to use my main number for iMessage, so it doesn't confuse people, when I send from a different toy.

So you're saying if I were to put an active t-mobile sim into my phone, I should still be able to send an iMessage from that iPhone with my ATT's number and people won't see it coming from the t-mobile number?

 

[Gutwrench]

My wife is in China with her regular AT&T iPhone 5 and an unlocked AT&T 4S. While there she uses her 4S (which she has on her Apple account) with a Chinese phone number and SIM card. We send iMessages (with photos too) back and forth from the United States no differently. When she returns to the US she switches off the 4S and turns on her 5.

(Apple products have been such a godsend to us. We've bought both her parents and her brother's family all iPhones. We also gave her mom an iMac and dad a new iPad. Everyone can easily stay in touch with each other email, iMessages, and FaceTime despite the distance and time difference. Thank you Apple!)

 

[verwon]

So you're saying if I were to put an active t-mobile sim into my phone, I should still be able to send an iMessage from that iPhone with my ATT's number and people won't see it coming from the t-mobile number?

It's worked for me without any problems, all 3 of mine have different numbers, but I have iMessage set on all of them to only start conversations from my main personal number. I was checking with a friend the other day and he said that everything he gets from me, via iMessage, is from my main line, regardless of which one I'm using.

 

[shenan1982]

My wife is in China with her regular AT&T iPhone 5 and an unlocked AT&T 4S. While there she uses her 4S (which she has on her Apple account) with a Chinese phone number and SIM card. We send iMessages (with photos too) back and forth from the United States no differently. When she returns to the US she switches off the 4S and turns on her 5.

(Apple products have been such a godsend to us. We've bought both her parents and her brother's family all iPhones. We also gave her mom an iMac and dad a new iPad. Everyone can easily stay in touch with each other email, iMessages, and FaceTime despite the distance and time difference. Thank you Apple!)

But is she using SEND FROM her phone number or AppleID? If AppleID that makes complete sense. If it's showing as coming from her (ATT) phone number even when she's in China, that's what I'm hoping to accomplish. Tho I suppose there's no way to tell if it's really delivering to her phone number unless you send a message to the number and it delivers as a new message (as existing convos can often be hard to tell if it's going to her email\appleid or phone number).

Yes, I agree, isn't it amazing how iMessage has revolutionized even the most advanced forms of communication? I remember when to send a photo to China you'd have to air mail it and it takes 2 weeks, or even when email came out it'd take a couple hours for someone to check their email. Now you can send a photo and it's delivered in full quality in a second. Love it for communicating regardless of geography!

 

[verwon]

But is she using SEND FROM her phone number or AppleID? If AppleID that makes complete sense. If it's showing as coming from her (ATT) phone number even when she's in China, that's what I'm hoping to accomplish. Tho I suppose there's no way to tell if it's really delivering to her phone number unless you send a message to the number and it delivers as a new message (as existing convos can often be hard to tell if it's going to her email\appleid or phone number).

Yes, I agree, isn't it amazing how iMessage has revolutionized even the most advanced forms of communication? I remember when to send a photo to China you'd have to air mail it and it takes 2 weeks, or even when email came out it'd take a couple hours for someone to check their email. Now you can send a photo and it's delivered in full quality in a second. Love it for communicating regardless of geography!

Actually, you can tell which they're sending from by tapping on their contact at the top, then the blue i for information, the originating source will be highlighted in blue in their contact card.

 

[shenan1982]

Actually, you can tell which they're sending from by tapping on their contact at the top, then the blue i for information, the originating source will be highlighted in blue in their contact card.

Now THAT is some good, useful information. Thanks for sharing. I didn't know it worked that easily.

 

[verwon]

Now THAT is some good, useful information. Thanks for sharing. I didn't know it worked that easily.

Very welcome!

ETA: Highlighting was the wrong word… the contact source will actually just be in blue text. For instance, my son's card lists both his phone numbers, the one he sent from will be in blue text, while his other one and his email address will be in black.

 

[Gutwrench]

But is she using SEND FROM her phone number or AppleID? If AppleID that makes complete sense. If it's showing as coming from her (ATT) phone number even when she's in China, that's what I'm hoping to accomplish. Tho I suppose there's no way to tell if it's really delivering to her phone number unless you send a message to the number and it delivers as a new message (as existing convos can often be hard to tell if it's going to her email\appleid or phone number).

Yes, I agree, isn't it amazing how iMessage has revolutionized even the most advanced forms of communication? I remember when to send a photo to China you'd have to air mail it and it takes 2 weeks, or even when email came out it'd take a couple hours for someone to check their email. Now you can send a photo and it's delivered in full quality in a second. Love it for communicating regardless of geography!

In my contacts I have her .mac, .me, .iCloud, local U.S. phone number, and her China phone number. All have the iMessage bubble next to them and I can tap any of them to send her an iMessage and it appears on her iPhone 5, 4S, and Air. I assume this is so because she has all her devices associated to her Apple ID. It doesn't matter if she's on a wifi connection at family, restaurant, or club, or if she's walking down the street using her 4S.

Here's a photo she sent from her 4S yesterday via iMessage as she made a quick trip to the market (not on wifi), sorry for the blurry quality...I hope this has been some help.

 

[shenan1982]

In my contacts I have her .mac, .me, .iCloud, local U.S. phone number, and her China phone number. All have the iMessage bubble next to them and I can tap any of them to send her an iMessage and it appears on her iPhone 5, 4S, and Air. I assume this is so because she has all her devices associated to her Apple ID. It doesn't matter if she's on a wifi connection at family, restaurant, or club, or if she's walking down the street using her 4S.

Here's a photo she sent from her 4S yesterday via iMessage as she made a quick trip to the market (not on wifi), sorry for the blurry quality...I hope this has been some help.

Brilliant, thanks! Now just tell her to hold steady for the next pic, hehe

 

[shenan1982]

Unfortunately it doesn't work. If I hot-swap the sim from my AT&T to a T-Mobile Sim, the network connect, then it shows "Send From" and I select my AT&T number. When I try to send a new iMessage it fails. I then turn off then back on iMessage using the toggle, and the AT&T number disappears.

This is precisely as I though, so unless someone knows a workaround, it's not possible to replace the sim with a different carriers' sim and then initiate a new conversation from a different iMessage phone number.

Very weird, since I can initiate a conversation from either phone number on the computer, ehh?