iMessage is an instant messaging service developed exclusively for Apple platforms. You can use iMessage to send text messages, videos, images, and documents. Like other instant messaging apps, texts or any other message usually appear under the sender’s name or phone number. Sometimes someone will send you a text on iMessage that appears like that message came from their email address, and you might wonder why that keeps happening.
So, why do people’s emails come up on iMessage? Email addresses appear on iMessage due to the fact that Apple uses Apple ID for user identification. This ID is typically an email address. When setting up iMessage, users can choose to be reachable at their phone number, their Apple ID email address, or both. If the recipient doesn’t have the sender’s phone number but does have their email, the message will show as coming from that email.
When chatting with someone on iMessage, the person’s name or phone number usually appears on the message thread. Sometimes the person’s email address will come up instead of their phone number or name.
iMessage is a great messaging application that lets you send unlimited messages to other iMessage users. An individual’s contact usually appears as their name to store their contact or phone number. However, sometimes a person’s contact will come up as their email address, and you might be asking yourself why is their email address showing.
People’s email addresses usually come up on iMessage because of a minor bug affecting iOS and OSX’s communication system. If an individual has not signed out of their iChat account, their email address will keep appearing in your iMessage.
It could also be caused by your Apple device settings if you used an email address to register on iMessage or iCloud. You can fix this issue by re-adding the email addresses to your contacts, asking the people whose email address appears in iMessage to sign off from their iChat account, or changing your device’s messaging settings.
The minor bug in the communication system usually happens if you incorrectly save someone’s contact or they have not signed out of their “@me” account in iChat. You should first check if you have saved the contacts correctly.
You might have saved their email address in the place of their name. If you have saved the contact correctly, ask the person whose email address comes up on iMessage to sign off from their iChat account.
If they have left their iChat on through OSX, when their Mac goes into sleep mode, the iChat username takes precedence. When they send you an iMessage using their iPhone or iPad, their email address will appear on the message thread instead of their name.
If the person whose email address appears on iMessage has signed out of their iChat account, but the issue is not yet resolved, check your message settings. The issue might be in your device and not the other devices. Go to your phone’s settings, scroll down and tap “Receive at.” Sign out of your Apple account and turn off your iMessage. Wait for a few minutes and turn it back on again.
Open settings again, tap on “iMessage,” and tap on “Send and Receive.” Check if there are any email addresses below your number. Go to your phone’s settings and open “Receive at” again. Turn off iMessage, wait for a few seconds, and turn it back on.
Go to the phone’s settings again and in the iMessage section, tap on “Send and Receive” and tap the phone number instead of the email address. Access your Apple account and sign in using your Apple credentials.
Why Do Names Come Up Red in iMessage?
iMessage enables you to communicate with other people using Apple devices and has enabled iMessage. To start a conversation on iMessage, you first need to save that person’s contact information on your device. When searching for contacts on iMessage, you might wonder why some names come up in red.
When a name appears in red in iMessage, it typically indicates a problem with sending the message to that contact. This could be due to the contact not having iMessage capability, the device being off, no internet connection, or the contact details being incorrect. It’s advised to verify the contact details and the recipient’s iMessage capability to resolve this.
The names are coming up in red on iMessage because they do not have an Apple device or have not enabled iMessage. iMessage is exclusive to the Apple platform; therefore, if someone does not have an Apple device, the red color is meant to notify you that you cannot communicate with them through iMessage.
However, this does not mean that iMessage cannot send text messages to contacts that come up in red. iMessage will still send the message to that particular contact as a normal text, but you have to enable this feature.
Apple Inc. developed and launched iMessage in 2011 as an instant messaging service for Apple platforms only, including macOS, iOS, iPadOS, and watches. You can only use iMessage to communicate with people using Apple products and have enabled iMessage.
For example, if your friend uses an Android or Microsoft Windows device, their contact will appear red on your iMessage. Since iMessage lacks compatibility with Android and Microsoft Windows, your friend cannot use iMessage unless they purchase an Apple device with a compatible platform.
However, iMessage can still send a text message to the name that comes up in red but as a normal text message. First, you need to enable the “Send as SMS” feature before you can use iMessage to send texts to persons without Apple devices or have disabled iMessage.
- Go to “Settings”
- Select “Messages” and
- Scroll down to “Send as SMS”
- Slide the toggle to the right to enable “Send as SMS”
To send a message to a person whose name appears in red, open their contact, type your message and press the “Send” icon. Quickly tap and hold the message bubble, and a menu with different sending options will pop up. Select “Send as Text Message,” and the recipient will receive the message as a text on their device.
If the person whose name appears red on your iMessage has an Apple device, ask them if they have disabled their iMessage. You can still send messages via iMessage but as normal text messages until they enable their iMessage.
However, if they enable their iMessage but still receive your messages as normal text, disable your device’s “Send as SMS” feature. You should also ensure that your device is connected to a working Wi-Fi network or has cellular data enabled.
What Are the Exclamation Marks on iMessage?
The Apple chat platform is one of the complete instant messaging services globally due to its huge features. It differs from normal texting; hence you might find the user interface quite different from other messaging services. When sending text messages on iMessage, you might see exclamation marks, and you might be wondering what they mean.
Exclamation marks appearing in iMessage indicate that a message failed to send. A ‘Not Delivered’ notice usually accompanies this symbol. Reasons for this could be lack of internet connection, server issues, or iMessage being deactivated on the recipient’s device. Resending the message when connectivity is stable often resolves the issue.
When you successfully send a text, video, image, or file on iMessage, the text “Delivered” will appear under the message. When the message is not sent, the text “Not Delivered” will appear under the message, and the red “!” exclamation mark will also appear next to the failed message.
When you see the exclamation marks appear on your iMessage, there could be an issue with your internet connection, sending a message to a wrong contact, iMessage is down, and fault at the Apple servers, among others. Once you find the cause and fix it, you can resend the message or delete it.
When the exclamation marks appear next to your message, you can resend the message or delete it. Before you resend the message, first, you need to figure out why your iMessage is not sending the messages.
iMessage requires an internet connection to work; therefore, check if your Wi-Fi network is working properly or you have enabled cellular data. If your internet connection is working, check if iMessage is down. Go to Apple Systems Status Page to check if iMessage is one of the services that are down or going through maintenance. If it is down, you should wait until Apple fixes the issue.
You should also ensure that you have saved the contact you want to send an iMessage correctly. Ensure that your iOS is up to date, set your time zone to the correct time, and ensure your iMessage is set up correctly. If you have tried to fix iMessage and still see exclamation marks when you send messages, contact Apple support for help.
Once you have fixed the issue causing the exclamation marks on your iMessage, you can try to resend the message. To resend a message that has not been delivered on iMessage,
- Open the message thread that failed to send
- Tap on the red “!” exclamation mark next to the failed message
- Tap “Try again” to resend the message
And if everything is working properly, your message will be resent within a few seconds. When the message is sent, the exclamation mark and the “Not Delivered” text will disappear, and you will now see the text “Delivered” under your message.
Can You Use iMessage on a Plane?
People were instructed to turn off their phones during flights for some time. The rules have slightly changed, you can keep your phone on, but its use is somehow limited. If you take any of your Apple devices with iMessage on a flight, you might be wondering if you can use iMessage while on the plane.
iMessage can be used on a plane provided that in-flight Wi-Fi is available and the device is connected to it. However, text messages or calls generally can’t be made or received due to the restrictions on cellular services during flight. Remember that not all airlines offer in-flight Wi-Fi or allow it during all stages of flight.
You can use iMessage on a plane; however, you will have to use the plane’s Wi-Fi network instead of your cellular data. You cannot use your cellular data because you are required to put your phone on airplane mode whenever you board a plane. Airphone mode suspends the radio-frequency signal from your phone, hence you cannot use it to make calls, send SMS, or turn off your cellular data.
However, if the plane you are on has Wi-Fi, you can use the Wi-Fi network to send messages on your iMessage. However, you will only be able to communicate with people using Apple devices and have enabled iMessage.
After enabling “Airplane Mode” on your Apple device, turn on “Wi-Fi” and connect your phone to the Wi-Fi network available. Open iMessage, but when you try to send a message, an error message will appear asking you to “Turn Off Airplane Mode or Use Wi-Fi to Send and Receive Messages”. Tap on “Settings” and enable Wi-Fi.
Go back to iMessage and open the message thread you tried to send. Tap on the exclamation mark next to the failed message and select “Try Again.” Your message will be sent via Wi-Fi, and you can chat with other people via iMessage as you continue with your flight.
You should note that you cannot send SMS texts through iMessage when your device is in Airplane mode. Therefore, you can only message people using Apple devices and have iMessage enabled. You have to disable “Airplane Mode” before iMessage can send messages as SMS, and you can only disable “Airplane Mode” once you are off the plane.
Not all airlines offer inflight Wi-Fi; therefore, if you happen to be on board a flight that does not have Wi-Fi, you cannot use iMessage. If Wi-Fi is important to you, check whether the airline you want to use has equipped the plane you will be using with Wi-Fi booking the flight.
You should also check the rules of using the Wi-Fi network on the plane to avoid getting in trouble with the flight attendants. For example, some airlines that provide Wi-Fi require passengers to only use the Wi-Fi to send messages. You might not be allowed to use Wi-Fi to make voice calls.
Wrap Up
iMessage is an easy messaging service to use, and in case of any issues, you can easily fix most of these issues yourself without the help of experts. If some of your contacts’ email addresses appear in your iMessage instead of their names or phone numbers, you can fix the issue by changing your device’s message settings or asking your contacts to sign out of their iChat accounts.
Since iMessage is only available on Apple platforms, contacts will appear red if the person is not using an Apple device or has not enabled iMessage. However, you can still send them messages via iMessage by enabling your device’s “Send as SMS” feature. iMessage will notify you if your message is delivered, read on, and not delivered.
If your message is not delivered, the text “Not Delivered” will appear in red below the message, and a little red “!” exclamation mark will appear next to the message. You can tap on the exclamation mark to resend the message. Finally, you can use iMessage on a plane as long as that plane has a Wi-Fi network.
