Watch constantly switches to text messages.

[GadgetMomma]

I’ve had my series 4 (cellular) since the beginning of November. Prior to that I had the series 3, which was not cellular. Literally since the day I got the watch, I’ve had to unpair and repair it once a week (no joke) because texting on my watch stops using iMessage and switches over to text. I’ve tried every suggestion I can find to get it to switch back to iMessage without having to unpair and repair, and nothing works. Does anyone having any idea what’s causing this?

 

[doogald]

If I was to venture a guess, it would be that the watch is not getting internet connectivity via LTE for some reason and, when iMessage times out, it switches to SMS delivery fallback.

Probably the best way to get an answer is to book an appointment at the Genius Bar or call AppleCare to see if they can figure it out. It's hard to diagnose with limited tools and without seeing what is actually happening - something they should be able to do.

It might be fixable by the carrier but who knows?

 

[GadgetMomma]

If I was to venture a guess, it would be that the watch is not getting internet connectivity via LTE for some reason and, when iMessage times out, it switches to SMS delivery fallback.

Probably the best way to get an answer is to book an appointment at the Genius Bar or call AppleCare to see if they can figure it out. It's hard to diagnose with limited tools and without seeing what is actually happening - something they should be able to do.

It might be fixable by the carrier but who knows?

But it shouldn’t do that, should it, if it’s still connected to my phone and my phone is getting connectivity? It never once switched to text when I had the watch without LTE

 

[Just_Me_D]

But it shouldn’t do that, should it, if it’s still connected to my phone and my phone is getting connectivity? It never once switched to text when I had the watch without LTE

It depends. Are you trying to iMessage a non-Apple smartphone? If so, it will not work. The message will be sent as SMS.

 

[GadgetMomma]

It depends. Are you trying to iMessage a non-Apple smartphone? If so, it will not work. The message will be sent as SMS.

No, it’s with other iPhone users. If you look at my thread, the messages sent from my phone are blue and from my watch they’re green.

 

[doogald]

But it shouldn’t do that, should it, if it’s still connected to my phone and my phone is getting connectivity? It never once switched to text when I had the watch without LTE

Are you 100% sure that it is connected to the iPhone at the time that you send the message?

As I said before, there are no good diagnostics that any of us can suggest to you. My suggestion remains to go to the Apple Store to see if they can figure it out with their tools.

 

[GadgetMomma]

Are you 100% sure that it is connected to the iPhone at the time that you send the message?

As I said before, there are no good diagnostics that any of us can suggest to you. My suggestion remains to go to the Apple Store to see if they can figure it out with their tools.

I’m positive. I’ve checked everything over I can think of to check. I usually understand phone/tech things pretty well, so this has been frustrating. I’m about three hours from the nearest Apple store, so I will call Apple on Monday. Thank you for all your help.

 

[popkurn611]

I’m positive. I’ve checked everything over I can think of to check. I usually understand phone/tech things pretty well, so this has been frustrating. I’m about three hours from the nearest Apple store, so I will call Apple on Monday. Thank you for all your help.

I've had this happen to me several times since being on watch os 5. A factory reset does the job but man is it annoying!