iPhone 13 Messages - use phone# or email

[etaleb]

Guys - I travel a couple of times a year and use the local in-country SIM card. Then immediately people can't text me who only have my US number. I could not find a way in settings to include my US cell # as it didn't show up as an option

Having said that, is it better to simply convert completely to using email for outbound texts so that even when traveling, people can respond to me?

Thanks

 

[reppans]

Enable the wifi-calling feature (most service providers offer free) and you’ll be able to use your phone/text messaging normally as if you were home. Course, you must be on wifi for it to work, but between hotels, museums, restaurants, and cafes, it seems reasonably available to patrons.

This is also a great way to preserve battery at home, esp if you have a weak cellular signal - 1 active antenna is more efficient than 2.

 

[Mirage4455]

It depends, are u talking about SMS texts or iMessage? If it’s iMessage then yes, setting it up so that new conversations are sent from your email will mean that you can receive iMessages anywhere in the world. Only thing I’m not sure about is if you’re wanting to continue iMessages that were originally sent thru your phone number. Will they automatically continue being sent when out of the country once it’s only your email, that I’m not 100% sure about.

 

[BrianBaughn]

You can't control which…email address or telephone number…people are going to use to send you a message.

This is an annoying issue with traveling and Messages. On my last several trips we just stuck with our Xfinity Mobile SIMs, kept usage at a minimum and ate the extra charges. Last trip I tried taking an older iPhone with us to use with a local SIM as a wifi hotspot but iPhones seem to be terrible hotspots when it comes to connecting other iPhones.

If we had newer phones with eSIMs I'd switch to USMobile. Their service seems to be a LOT cheaper than Xfinity's when it comes to international travel…but requires an eSIM for that.

 

[Fred Zed]

But if

It depends, are u talking about SMS texts or iMessage? If it’s iMessage then yes, setting it up so that new conversations are sent from your email will mean that you can receive iMessages anywhere in the world. Only thing I’m not sure about is if you’re wanting to continue iMessages that were originally sent thru your phone number. Will they automatically continue being sent when out of the country once it’s only your email, that I’m not 100% sure about.

But if you use the local sim for data then the first sim will have Wi-Fi calling enabled thus making iMessages work even when technically one isn’t on Wi-Fi.

 

[Mirage4455]

But if

But if you use the local sim for data then the first sim will have Wi-Fi calling enabled thus making iMessages work even when technically one isn’t on Wi-Fi.

I don’t believe this to be the case. I have a US and Canadian line in my phone. I have iMessage set up so that new conversations are thru my email. I also have it set up to receive from both my Canadian number and email. When I’m in the US I turn off my Canadian line and so when I go to iMessage in settings i only have send and receive from my email and not my US number.

There are times when I use Wi-Fi calling while in the US as well, because my cabin doesn’t have good Verizon reception. Conversations I set up to start thru my email I always receive. When I cross back into Canada and turn on my Canadian number I will receive iMessages from whoever sent it to my Canadian number. So it appears that Wi-Fi calling doesn’t help. Of course if I leave my Canadian line on while in the US perhaps I would receive iMessages which were sent to my Canadian number, but I’d be dinged for roaming. Not sure if this all makes sense, but that’s my experience.

 

[Mirage4455]

But if

But if you use the local sim for data then the first sim will have Wi-Fi calling enabled thus making iMessages work even when technically one isn’t on Wi-Fi.

You can't control which…email address or telephone number…people are going to use to send you a message.

This is an annoying issue with traveling and Messages. On my last several trips we just stuck with our Xfinity Mobile SIMs, kept usage at a minimum and ate the extra charges. Last trip I tried taking an older iPhone with us to use with a local SIM as a wifi hotspot but iPhones seem to be terrible hotspots when it comes to connecting other iPhones.

If we had newer phones with eSIMs I'd switch to USMobile. Their service seems to be a LOT cheaper than Xfinity's when it comes to international travel…but requires an eSIM for that.

True, you can’t control which way people will send u an iMessage, phone number or email. But for most of my contacts I’ve had them put my email address in my contact info. It’s a hassle for sure.

I’ve actually deleted old iMessages with people who used my phone number and sent them new iMessages that use my email. A pain, but once done all future contacts with them run thru the email and therefore I receive them wherever I am in the world.

 

[ndouglas]

I love(d) the idea of an email being able to be used instead of a phone #, however it never worked. Weird how my phone still has that in the settings, “I can be reached for text messages at…” and then my phone # and several emails, never got to work reliably, don’t understand how that option is there still or how it is supposed to operate.

 

[Fred Zed]

True, you can’t control which way people will send u an iMessage, phone number or email. But for most of my contacts I’ve had them put my email address in my contact info. It’s a hassle for sure.

I’ve actually deleted old iMessages with people who used my phone number and sent them new iMessages that use my email. A pain, but once done all future contacts with them run thru the email and therefore I receive them wherever I am in the world.

I’ve set my iMessages for using just my cell number. I’ll be back in the UK next month and test my theory. Meaning utilizing the local second eSim for data on my USA line and see if it works for iMessages.

 

[Mirage4455]

I’ve set my iMessages for using just my cell number. I’ll be back in the UK next month and test my theory. Meaning utilizing the local second eSim for data on my USA line and see if it works for iMessages.

If you’re leaving your US line on while in the UK my guess is that it would work. I just don’t want to pay for roaming charges while away. In any case let me know how it goes.

 

[Fred Zed]

If you’re leaving your US line on while in the UK my guess is that it would work. I just don’t want to pay for roaming charges while away. In any case let me know how it goes.

That’s the beauty of the iPhone. The USA line doesn’t technically have roaming capabilities in the UK. However with Wi-Fi calling active it’ll still be able to receive 2FA and calls from the USA and I can also make calls back to the USA .

 

[Bento.Box]

I never use SMS.
Even more than 20 years ago, sending e-mails was cheaper than sending SMS in europe.

Usually I write e-mails or use messengers such as Threema, Telegram or Whatsapp (if need be). Although the account id is tied to a phone number, it just goes over the internet, without any problems.

The only issue is with services which use SMS for 2fa. Then you have to power down the phone, change sim, do the stuff, and change again.

 

[etaleb]

I'm traveling to Asia and here's the plan. Let me know if you think it'll work
1) disable roaming completely on my primary verizon line or maybe I'll just turn off cellular data to be doubly sure
2) get esim and use the data off that to receive imessages

Thanks