Can you imessage without service? What you should know

On ios, one of the best features you get on using the iPhone or the iPad is the imessage.

You can send messages, pictures, files, videos, etc using the imessage just like when you’re using any of the instant messaging apps like whatsapp, telegram, Facebook messenger, etc.

The question we have for today;

Can you imessage without service?

The straight answer is no. You cannot imessage without a service because the imessage requires a Wi-Fi or a cellular data in order to send messages from one ios user to another. 

By looking at the question above, it is a newbie question so I will further explain more on using the imessage on your iPhone or iPad to send messages, files or videos, etc.

Can you imessage without service?

There’s no way you can use an imessage without a phone service because the imessage requires internet connection in order to work or send messages from one user to another.

can you imessage without service

The phone service I’m talking about is the Wi-Fi or the cellular data.

So it is either you have a Wi-Fi or a cellular data on your iPhone or iPad for the Imessage to work.

I want you to know that imessage works similar like instant messaging apps like whatsapp, Facebook messenger, Skype, telegram, viber, etc.

Without internet connection you cannot use whatsapp, Facebook and it’s messenger app, Skype, viber and telegram, etc. This is the same way the ios imessage works, you must have either a working Wi-Fi or a cellular data plan on your ios device.

Let me move a bit from ios to android.

On android phones, we have the RCS chat feature which works exactly like the imessage. It is new and many android users are yet to understand the feature and it is not available worldwide or on all cellular network.

Now to use the RCS chat feature on an android phone, the user must have a working internet connectivity on it’s Android phone.

This is the same way the imessage works.

So trying to understand if you can send iMessage without cell service, the answer is simply no because the imessage requires the cell service like the cellular data or a Wi-Fi.

If you don’t have internet connection on your ios device, the message will be sent as a text message using the send as sms feature. 


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Can you use imessage without cellular data?

The answer is yes. You can imessage without a cellular data as long as you have a working Wi-Fi connection on your ios device, you’re good to go.

can you imessage without phone service

The imessage works with two things;

The Wi-Fi or the cellular data.

If you don’t have a cellular data on your iPhone or iPad, then you only have the option of using a Wi-Fi to send an imessage.

However, if there’s no cellular data and Wi-Fi, then forget using the imessage because you message will be sent as a text message and this requires the use of the cellular network service.

You must have a texting plan or an airtime to send a message using the send as sms on your ios device.

This all goes down to the topic of the post, can you imessage without service. The service here is the Wi-Fi or a cellular data, with any of the two options, you can enjoy the imessage on your iPhone, ipad or the ipod.

Remember, when the imessage turns green, it simply means the message was sent as text message and not the imessage. The major causes of this happening is the imessage not being available because there’s no Wi-Fi or a cellular data. 

However, there are other causes of the imessage sending a green message.

This includes the recipient not having the imessage or the imessage not being available on the recipient phone, or the sender’s phone.

Once you sent a message and it shows green instead of blue, it simply means the message was sent as text message and not as an imessage.

Before sending an imessage you have to make sure you enabled the imessage on your ios device.

This is how you can go about it.

How to enable the imessage

To enable the imessage on iPhone or iPad, kindly open the settings and scroll down to messages, tap on messages to open and you will see the imessage. If the imessage is disabled, toggle on the button to enable the imessage on your iPhone or iPad.

Having done that, you can now send an imessage to a fellow ios user.

Remember, you must have internet connection on your ios device to send an imessage else you should enable sends as sms feature and send your text message using the cellular network service.

Why is iMessage better than text message?

Imessage is better than text message because imessage is cost effective compared to text messages, and imessage let’s you know when the recipient has read your sent message.

The truth is, there’s no way you can compare imessage and text message, the only problem with imessage is that the recipient must have and enable the imessage on it’s phone in order to receive an imessage.

This is where the text message flaws the imessage.

With imessage, you will know when someone is typing to you just like on whatsapp, you will know when someone read your sent messages, you can send files, videos and pictures of high quality and it will not compress them.

One major advantage of using the imessage over whatsapp and other instant messaging apps.

You don’t need a sim card to send an imessage but you must use a sim card to send a text message through the cellular network service.

Sending an international text message is very costly, this is where the imessage comes to the rescue especially if you don’t fancy using whatsapp and co. 

With imessage, you can send messages anywhere in the world including countries like China where whatsapp is banned. As long as you know the recipient has an imessage and is using it, simply send an imessage to the person and he or she will receive the message.


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Using an imessage is one of the most cost effective way of sending a message, but it requires internet connection before it can work on any device. With this, I come to the conclusion of this post on can you imessage without service, I’m open to your questions and suggestions.

About Kennedy

I'm Amaechi Uchenna by name, a mobile tech enthusiast who love writing articles about tips and tutorials especially relating to gadgets.

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