Just wondering about the 'privacy' features of iMessage, especially when texting shops, businesses or adverts. Say there's a Marketplace listing and I texted the seller (who just so happens to use Apple). If I text him/her, will they see my iMessage email address? What if they added you as a contact or saved your number on their phone? It's especially concerning if your Apple ID/iMessage email address is 'firstname.lastname@icloud.com' or something revealing like that. I've had some experiences when I could see my colleague's iMessage address even though I haven't saved their contact on my phone - but asking here in case anyone can really confirm this and if there is a workaround, apart from, well, using a non-descript iCloud address? Thanks!
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Other Can you hide your Apple ID when sending iMessage SMS, etc?
- Thread starter thephantompain
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
Depends on what address you send it from. Settings --> Messages
I can send/receive iCloud messages from:
- My cellphone number
- My @iCloud.com email address
- My iCloud email address I use that is my personal email address.
The next part of the screen allows you to set a default "Start new conversations from"
So by sending an iMessage from your cellphone it depends on what you're sending from. Also, you can choose whether or not to share your name/photo with everyone or only people in your contacts (or on an ask basis).
My guess is whoever was texting you, texted you from their email address.
I can send/receive iCloud messages from:
- My cellphone number
- My @iCloud.com email address
- My iCloud email address I use that is my personal email address.
The next part of the screen allows you to set a default "Start new conversations from"
So by sending an iMessage from your cellphone it depends on what you're sending from. Also, you can choose whether or not to share your name/photo with everyone or only people in your contacts (or on an ask basis).
My guess is whoever was texting you, texted you from their email address.
I dont think there’s any “privacy” protection feature other than using a non-descriptive iCloud address if you dont want random people knowing your email address AND your phone number. “Hide your email” might work but that email is not supposed to work like that. The best bet would be using alias of your email address if that is possible.
I'm curious - To what? Allowing users to choose aliases? That would be abused. Text from: President of the United States or <your bank name goes here>.
To random generated numbers? That would just confuse people and make iMessages a mess.
Apple's relay system for Apple ID account signing would be my best guess as a possibility. Right now if you sign up for a service with your Apple ID and want to hide your email, apple will use something like: <randomnumbers/letters>@privaterelay.appleid.com - but again that'd still lead to a mess of iMessages if my inbox was full of those.
Having either a telephone number or an email seems pretty good to me. Anything else really comes with a Pandora's box of abuses/messes.
Is it AND? I always thought if I iMessaged someone from my cellphone number, that's all they could see. They don't get my iCloud email unless I iMessage them from it. (I don't know - I've always used my cellphone to send out iMessages).
I send and receive texts showing my phone number.. Even if someone got my AppleID email address good luck getting past my password. My 20 digit alphanumeric passcode would take multiple times longer than the human species has inhabited the Earth to crack.
People only see my phone number unless I'm in there contacts and then it's my name, never email used for AppleID. You can specify either email or phone number in settings.
I'm probably the odd man out here but I primarily use iMessage on my iPhone. I don't use it from my Mac at all.
I occasionally use it from my iPad but it's separated, here's how:
iPhone starts conversations from phone number only. But can receive from phone number, and 2 apple IDs
iPad can only start conversation from 2nd Apple ID.
So then all my phone texts don't ding my iPad, but facetime calls and iMessages surrounding the person I'm trying to iMessage don't go to my phone. Most of the time, these facetime calls are for a group - either family or friends - so I don't want my backchatter to be on the iPad, only my phone.
I've also had an instance where my gf had to get her phone fixed but needed a way to communicate. I gave her my iPad so we could communicate to each other without it being like I'm texting myself.
I occasionally use it from my iPad but it's separated, here's how:
iPhone starts conversations from phone number only. But can receive from phone number, and 2 apple IDs
iPad can only start conversation from 2nd Apple ID.
So then all my phone texts don't ding my iPad, but facetime calls and iMessages surrounding the person I'm trying to iMessage don't go to my phone. Most of the time, these facetime calls are for a group - either family or friends - so I don't want my backchatter to be on the iPad, only my phone.
I've also had an instance where my gf had to get her phone fixed but needed a way to communicate. I gave her my iPad so we could communicate to each other without it being like I'm texting myself.
No one can see your email if it’s toggled off for Send & receive.
There is no privacy concern there.
There is no privacy concern there.
Last edited:
Thanks. By name, you mean if I used my name in my email, and if I toggled it off for Send and Receive, then they wouldn't see my name if I iMessaged them? Got that.
But what happens if they saved my number and added it to their contacts? Will they see the name associated to my account (not my iMessage address which has my name, but the actual full name registered to my account)?
No, you can choose either your number or your email address to show. Your name will show up as it's written in their contacts. If they have your entire name that shows, if it's your first name only then that's what shows, if it's a nickname that shows etc...
Sorry for the typo in my OP, but Correct.
They only can see your name if you have ‘Share Name & Photo’ toggled on in settings. Even then they can only see what name you choose & cannot see your email.
If someone don’t want a random dude (a.k.a, stranger) to know both the usual email address and phone number, Apple does not provide any option to allow that. Hence why I suggest using an alias and register that as your iMessage account for some level of privacy.
Thanks all. I just remembered something which was one of the main reasons for this post in the first place. I might be pushing it, but here goes nothing:
What if you sent a txt message to someone prior to you having an Apple iPhone, but the user you texted kept your message on their iPhone. If you now join iPhone, will they be notified, or at the very least, know that you are now an iPhone user when they see that your message is now 'Blue' instead of 'Green'?
What if you sent a txt message to someone prior to you having an Apple iPhone, but the user you texted kept your message on their iPhone. If you now join iPhone, will they be notified, or at the very least, know that you are now an iPhone user when they see that your message is now 'Blue' instead of 'Green'?
I've dealt with family members and friends who have switched back and forth. It just switches from green to blue and blue to green. No notification. At least that's what it's done for me.
Is it possible to determine which id (mobile number or email address) an incoming iMessage was sent to?
For example, I have my mobile number and 3 email addresses set up in iMessage & I have recieved some junk messages but want to confirm whether they were sent to my mobile number or email address/& which one?
In the mail app it is possible to see sender and recipient email addresses in the header and hence determine if the email was forwarded from one of your alias accounts. However it seems this is not possible in iMessage and you can only see the senders id in an incoming iMessage.
Any help would be appreciated - thanks.
For example, I have my mobile number and 3 email addresses set up in iMessage & I have recieved some junk messages but want to confirm whether they were sent to my mobile number or email address/& which one?
In the mail app it is possible to see sender and recipient email addresses in the header and hence determine if the email was forwarded from one of your alias accounts. However it seems this is not possible in iMessage and you can only see the senders id in an incoming iMessage.
Any help would be appreciated - thanks.