iMessage Delivery When Not Connected to Wi-Fi

[gcyrust1531]

So, here is my question. My friend has an iPhone 6S on T-Mobile, but their account is currently suspended for non-payment. As a result, they can only use the device for iMessages when they are connected to Wi-Fi. Keep that in mind, their account is suspended so text messages will not default to SMS since her carrier has suspended the account. When I send texts to their phone number it immediately says "delivered", but I know they have not received them because once again they can only send and receive when connected over Wi-Fi and they do not have continuous access to a Wi-Fi connection. So, several questions.

1. I assume my phone says delivered because the iMessage has been accepted by the Apple server but not neccesarily actually appearing on the recipient's device yet?
2. How long will Apple attempt to deliver the iMessage while their phone is not connected?
3. If Apple will attempt to deliver indefinitely then I assume the message will appear once the device connects to Wi-Fi regardless of how long they were not connected?
4. If the Apple server does delete the message since it could not be delivered will I get a notice back saying undeliverable?

Again, keep in mind, their is no carrier option for delivery of their texts.

Thanks.

 

[pigoo3]

Remember. It's always possible for a person with a fully functioning cell phone & cell phone account:

- To have their cellphone turned off completely.
- To be in airplane mode while on a 16 hour flight from the United States to Asia.
- Battery could be dead…and it be a while before the battery is charged.

And when the phone is turned back on…receive all messages & calls. Thus if you send this person a message…and they are not connected to WiFi for a while. All messages sent (and not yet received) should be fine.

Of course you could experiment to verify things. Send this person a "test message"…and see if they get it (maybe send it when you know that they won't be signed on via WiFi). If they get it when they sign into WiFi the next time…then you know that if you send something important…they will receive those messages too.

- Nick

p.s. As far as the specific Apple questions. I have no idea. Sorry.

p.p.s. Here's an Apple document with some additional iMessage info:

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204065

 

[gcyrust1531]

So, I contacted Apple chat and answered some of my questions.

1. The delivered message simply means the Apple server has accepted the message. It does not necessarily mean the message has actually been delivered to the device.

2. It is not public information, and the Apple rep couldn't tell me, how long Apple attempts to actually deliver messages to devices accepted by their server.

3. I guess this depends on the official answer to previous question. Keep in mind, this is different than traditional SMS messages.

4. According to Apple, there would be NO error message if the message was not actually delivered.

 

[badshoehabit]

Suggest you both download WhatsApp which enables text (and pictures) over wifi and shows when a) a message has been delivered (one tick in the message box) then b) read (two ticks). It's a free app, works on Apple and Android phones between devices anywhere in the world, no charge.

 

[Raz0rEdge]

Or just pay the bill to use the phone..I dunno, just a thought.