How do you know if someone has blocked you on iMessage? Read on to find out!
iMessage doesn’t indicate if someone blocked you, but there are two basic signs to look out for. The first is to check if your messages are saying “Delivered,” and the second indication is a green message bubble. Neither of these is conclusive, but you can use them to eliminate possibilities.
Most messaging apps, including iMessage, don’t offer an easy way to see if someone blocked you. This is to try and soften the blow for the person who’s been blocked, though the success of this attempt varies. But through a process of elimination, you will be able to know beyond a reasonable doubt if someone blocked you on iMessage, and this involves a few separate tests or checks.
Test 1: Are Your iMessage Bubbles Blue Or Green?
iMessage is one central messaging app that can send and receive both unencrypted SMSs and encrypted iMessage messages.
If a message is sent to an account that is linked to an Apple ID or iCloud account and used on an Apple device, the message will automatically be sent via iMessage. Otherwise, or if the message does not deliver over iMessage, it will be sent unencrypted.
An iMessage chat with blue bubbles indicates that it is an encrypted iMessage conversation. Messages that are surrounded by blue are encrypted and sent over iMessage, using either mobile data or WiFi. Green bubbles indicate unencrypted SMS or MMS messages sent over a regular mobile connection using mobile airtime.
When you use iMessage to send a message to a user that’s not on Apple, you will see that the message bubbles are green, meaning that your message wasn’t sent over an encrypted iMessage connection since other phones (like Android) phones don’t support iMessage at all and are unable to receive encrypted (blue bubble) messages.
When you send an iMessage to another Apple user, the message should be blue in the beginning. But if it turns green after a while, there is a chance that they blocked you.
Note that this is not conclusive since it could also turn green if the message is undeliverable due to a bad network, no data, a switched-off phone, or any number of other possible reasons.
The green message bubbles are an indication that you might be blocked, but it should never be taken as conclusive proof by itself.
Test 2: Are Your iMessage Messages Saying “Delivered”?
iMessage has a built-in function showing when your recipient’s device received a message and when the recipient read it.
Whenever you send a message on iMessage, you should see the word “Delivered” appear below the message after a few seconds. Once the person reads your message, this word will change to “Read.”
If you sent multiple messages, one after another, the word “Delivered” will only appear below the last message in the stack.
Whenever someone blocks you on iMessage, your messages won’t deliver to their devices. This means that your phone won’t show the “Delivered” message at all.
Again, as with the blue and green bubbles, this is not conclusive proof that they blocked you. Your message could be undeliverable for various reasons, including poor mobile signal, no data, no WiFi, a phone that’s turned off, etc.
Test 3: Can You Still Call Their iPhone?
Whenever someone blocks you on iMessage, your number is blocked everywhere. Not only won’t they receive any of your messages on iMessage, but your calls won’t go through either.
This means that you can try calling them, and if your call goes through and they answer, you know that they didn’t block you.
However, if your call doesn’t go through, there’s still no guarantee of them blocking you since poor network connections can also cause this.
The Process Of Elimination: Find Out If You’re Blocked On iMessage
The only perfectly practical way to determine if someone blocked you on iMessage is to combine the tests mentioned above in a creative way.
It requires another Apple device that’s linked to a different Apple ID. Maybe you can ask a close family member or a trusted friend to help. Here’s what you do:
- Send an iMessage from your phone to someone who also uses iPhone but who didn’t block you. If they receive the message, that means that your iMessage is working correctly, so there is no problem on your side, causing your messages to be undeliverable.
- After doing this, confirm by sending an iMessage to the number of the person suspected to have blocked you. If it is still undeliverable, that means it wasn’t a temporary network problem.
- Now ask the other person to send a message or make a call to the person you suspect blocked you. If the message is delivered or the call goes through, it means that there is no network problem on the recipient’s side, and you can now be sure that they blocked you.
What Should You Do If Someone Blocked You?
It hurts knowing that someone blocked you, regardless of the reasons. But how you handle the block makes a considerable difference.
Some people will be offended and start attacking or harassing the person in other ways. This is harmful behavior that could lead to more hurt and pain on both sides. Even worse, you could eventually be arrested for this kind of behavior.
On the other hand, if you handle the situation in a mature way and without any hatred or hard feelings, not taking offense but allowing the person to deal with the situation in their own way, the chances of saving a potentially good relationship improve.
Sometimes, people block others out of spite or to “make them see what they’re missing.” It’s similar to a temper tantrum in a 5-year-old.
That’s not the only reason why you may be blocked, but if it is, the best option by far is to keep your distance and maintain silence. Maturity will always outlast childish behavior if childishness on their end was what led to them blocking you in the first place.
Conclusion
Getting blocked is never a nice feeling. Whether it’s a broken romance or a hurt friendship, it always means that someone doesn’t want to hear from you.
But as you can see, you can’t always assume that you’ve been blocked simply because someone is not receiving your messages.