How to send text to multiple contacts without group message on iphone

Group messaging is a useful tool for business owners, especially if they need to disseminate data quickly to team members who may not be centrally located in an office. A text message distribution list is an easy way to send a message that is distributed immediately to all recipients. To send group messages, the iPhone's group message setting must be enabled. You can send three types of group messages that might alter some of the recipient's received data. Understand these groups types when creating an iPhone distribution list.

Types of Group Messages

There are three types of group messages that you can create and use on your iPhone: group iMessage, group MMS, and group SMS. Using iMessage is received as an iMessage unless the recipient is not using an iPhone. If the recipients use an Android device, the message is received as either an MMS or SMS text depending on their phone settings.

A group Message is protected with encryption, making it a safer message to send for work-related information. This group type sends the most dynamic messages with effects, animations and bubbles along with standard text and image data transfer. This group style also allows you to share a location if you need to get people to a specific place for a meeting or event. It is indicated by a blue bubble when you send a text.

The Group MMS has a green text bubble when you send the message. It goes through a carrier such as Verizon or AT&T instead of Apple. Everyone can send and receive photos, see group responses and mute notifications. The Group SMS also appears in green bubble texts that are sent via carriers and not Apple. This simple text system doesn't support photos, images or any other animation or graphic.

Enable Messaging Settings

Before you can send a group text, check to see if your phone settings are properly enabled. Download the latest version of iOS for your phone. Tap the "Settings" icon and scroll down and tap "Messages." The iPhone 7, 8 and X have a list of features to enable. The first is iMessage. Make sure iMessage, MMS Messaging and Group Messaging are enabled; otherwise, the message defaults to the limited Group SMS messaging. Once you make the changes, close out of the Settings app.

Send Group Text Message

Open the Message app. In the top right corner is a paper and pencil icon. Select this to start a new text message, enter the name or phone number of each recipient or add them using the + icon locating recipients via your contacts. Once you have everyone listed in the address bar, you are ready to send a message to the group. Type your message and send as you would any other text.

Responding in iOS 10 allows you to double-tap on a specific text reply from someone in the group and reply to that specific message to keep thoughts organized. You can also name the group to locate it easily in your message list or search bar. While in the message, tap the information icon to see the list of all the contacts who are sent the message.

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This is for all those times you wanted to send the same message out to multiple people at once, quickly. Although texting multiple people at once may seem trivial to many, it can be perplexing to figure out the first time and there are tricks based on the type of phone you use.

Things You Should Know

• Make sure the group members want to be in a group text before you add them.
• Ensure that you have group messaging enabled on an iPhone.
• Since group messaging can be unwieldy on some phones, try using a third-party app like WhatsApp or GroupMe.

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   Decide if you want to send individual messages or group messages. iPhones have the nice feature of being able to send "Group Messages" or individual text messages to multiple people. A group message allows you to send messages to multiple people at once. It sets up a "group chat". This means that if someone you messaged replies, they will be replying to the whole group. The whole group will also be able to see other members. This works using iMessage and thus will only work if all people in the group have iPhones.

   •  Individual messages are good when you want to send the same message to multiple people (e.g. "Happy Thanksgiving!" or "Remember the meeting at 6") without starting a group chat and therefore causing people to see all the message receivers and get replies from them.

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   Turn "Group Messaging" on or off. This should be on if you want to send a group message and off if you wish to send individual messages.

   • This setting can be accessed by first tapping on the "Settings" icon on your home screen.
   • Scroll down and tap on the "Messaging" option.
   • Scroll down to the "Group Messaging" option and turn it on or off as desired.

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   Enter the people you wish to include in the group message. To do this, first open a new message. Then enter all of the names or phone numbers of people you wish to message. In more detail:

   • Click the "Messages" icon on your home screen.
   • Start a new message by clicking the new message icon which is a pad and pen, in the upper right corner of the Messages screen.
   • Your cursor will automatically be in the "To:" line of the message. Either type names of people in your contacts and select them from the options that will show up or directly enter their numbers here. The cursor should remain in this section until you choose to move on to the message section.

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   Enter your message and hit send. Recall that the message is entered in the bar or space at the bottom of the message screen. Once you top on it, your keyboard should pop up and allow you to type any message you desire.

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   Set up a "Group Contact".

   • Go into contacts and his the "Groups" tab or button.
   • Click the icon to create a new group.
   • Give the group a useful name.
   • Add members to the group.

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   Start a new message.

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   Add your contact group to the message. The contact group can now be selected directly from contacts to be the recipient of your message.

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   Type your message and send!

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   Start a new message.

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   Add your first contact, either by typing in the name and selecting from your contacts or directly typing in the number, and then hit enter.

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   Add the next contact. The problem with old phones is that after entering the first person you would like to send the message to, they often take you directly to the space where you type the message content. This may make it seem as if you cannot add another contact-but that is incorrect!

   • Hit the up arrow to return to the list of contacts receiving the text message. Now you can ad more contacts to the list. This list is typically a number list of names or numbers, so you should see your first contact in the "1." space and type the next one in the "2." space.

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   Type your message and hit send!

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   If you would like to send and receive messages from a collective group of people (who will also see each other and all messages) you may consider setting up a group messaging system through an app or website.

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   Choose an app or website. There are many to choose from, such as GroupMe. This one allows you to send SMS text messages to the group, not just messages over the internet.

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   Set-up and Download. Do as instructed.

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   Start sending group messages!

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• It is possible to set up a contact group for iPhones, similar to the Android group, through the iCloud

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