MMS not sending is a data problem before it is a texting problem. A picture message, or MMS, travels over mobile data. A plain text, or SMS, does not. Apple states the difference exactly: “To send a message as iMessage, RCS, or MMS, you need a cellular data or Wi-Fi connection. To send an SMS message, you need cellular network connection.”
So if texts go through and pictures do not, look at data first.
On an iPhone
From Apple’s support page on messages that will not send.
- Check your network connection.
- If the message shows a red exclamation point, tap it, then tap Try Again.
- Go to Settings, tap Apps, tap Messages, and turn on Send as Text Message.
- Restart the phone.
- Check with your carrier that the type of message you are sending is supported.
Group messages are a special case. Apple says that if you do not see an option for Send as Text Message or Group Messaging, “then your carrier might not support this feature.”
Size matters too. “If you use SMS or MMS messaging to send photos or videos, your carrier may set size limits for attachments.” A long video can fail where a photo succeeds.
On an Android phone
From Google Messages Help, under “Fix problems sending MMS messages”.
- Make sure you have a data connection.
- In your phone’s settings, reset your APN settings to default.
- Make sure MMS mass text is turned off. In Messages, tap your profile picture, then Messages settings, Advanced, Group messaging, and choose the group MMS option.
- Check that Google Messages is your default texting app.
Google adds two checks that catch people out. If you have a SIM card, make sure it is seated properly. And “If you’re switching from an iPhone, make sure you’ve deactivated iMessage for your number”, or messages from iPhone owners keep going to a phone you no longer use.
The APN and picture messages
The APN, or access point name, is the group of settings a phone uses to reach
its carrier. Three of its lines exist only for picture messages: the MMSC,
the MMS proxy and the MMS port. A fourth, APN type, has to include mms.
That is why this fault has such a recognisable shape on a phone you brought from another carrier. The web works, because the main APN is right, and pictures fail, because the MMS lines are empty or still point at the old carrier.
Check them against your carrier’s own values in APN settings. The fields are explained in what is an APN.
On an iPhone with a Tracfone-family brand such as Total Wireless, the fix is the carrier update. Total Wireless’s own instructions for an iPhone that cannot “send pictures via text messages” are to install the latest carrier bundle, after which the letters TFW appear by the signal bars. More on that in what TFW means.
If data itself is not working, start with mobile data not working.