Although text messages stopped, almost a decade ago, from being the main means of communication between users, in favor of WhatsApp and the rest of the messaging applications that have been reaching the market such as Telegram, Viber, Line ... Apple allows the users receive SMS on iPad.
But in addition, Apple also allows send and receive SMS from a Mac, as long as both the iPad and the Mac are associated with an iPhone, otherwise this option is not available. If you want to know how to send and receive SMS on your iPad or Mac I invite you to keep reading.
The option to sync messages between multiple iOS devices is available from iOS version 11.4, iPadOS version 13 and from macOS 10.13.5. If any of your devices is not managed by any of these versions, you will not be able to use the function that allows you to send and receive SMS from the iPad or Mac.
But if our iPhone is not managed by iOS 11.4 or later, we can forget about this optionSince the iPhone is the device through which we can synchronize messages with other Apple devices, it does not matter if we have an iPad or Mac managed by a version of their operating system compatible with this function.
Send and receive SMS on iPad or Mac
Activate iMessage
Through the Messages application of our iPhone, we can send both SMS and MMS, but also we can use other Apple devices associated with the same ID, to send and receive both SMS and MMS and messages through Apple's message platform called iMessage.
This platform is only compatible with other iPhones and, for now, Apple's plans do not go through opening up to Android. Through iMessage we can send any type of file, be it photos, videos or any type of file. This platform shows us whether the message has been received or if it has been read in the same way as WhatsApp or Telegram.
Messages that are sent through iMessage displayed in blue speech bubbles to distinguish them from SMS and MMS displayed in green speech bubbles.
For all messages, whether SMS, MMS or iMessage are displayed on all devices associated with the same ID, the first thing we must do is access the Settings of our iPhone, the messages section and activate the iMessage box.
Enable syncing between devices
To synchronize all the messages they receive, whatever their type, between all the devices, we must go to options of our account on the iPhone (first option shown in the Settings menu), click on iCloud and activate the Messages box.
At that time, all the messages that we have stored on our mobile device, will be uploaded to the Apple cloud, iCloud, and will be downloaded to all devices associated with the same ID.
Also, if we receive a new SMS or MMS on our iPhone, it will be displayed on all devices associated with the same ID. By activating this option, all the messages we receive, regardless of whether they are SMS, MMS or iMessage they will sync with all devices.
Options to configure within the Messages application
Once we have activated iMessage and we have activated the synchronization of iCloud with the messages, we go to the Messages menu within Settings of our iPhone to configure the operation of the application.
Once we configure how we want the Messages application to work on the iPhone, all the changes and / or modifications that we make, will sync automatically via iCloud With all other devices, you don't need to access the Messages application settings on the iPad or Mac.
Which account to use to send and receive messages
When sending messages through iMessage (Apple's messaging platform), we do not need to reveal our phone numberInstead, we can use the email associated with the Apple account as the sender by hiding the phone number.
This option is available within the menu Send and receive. Within this menu, we can select whether we want to use our phone number for iMessage or only the email address associated with our account.
If we don't want to use our phone number, both iMessage and FaceTime will stop working. If we do not want to delete our iMessage account, in the section Start new conversations from we select our email account associated with our Apple ID.
Only from this moment on, the new iMessages that we send they use our Apple ID instead of our phone number.
Send and receive messages from other devices
Within the SMS forwarding option, Apple allows us to send text messages from the iPhone can be sent and received from other devices associated with the same Apple ID.
Within this menu, all devices associated with our account that we can activate to not only receive text messages, but also to send them as if we were doing it directly from our iPhone.
Keep messages
If you want to keep all the text messages and iMessages that they receive on your iPhone and that they synchronize through iCloud with all the devices associated with the same Apple ID, you must select the option Always within the Keep messages menu.
If not, Apple will take care of deleting the oldest messages when they have after 30 days or 1 year, depending on the option we select.
Unless you use iMessage like WhasApp, it never hurts have the Always option activated, since you never know when it may not be useful to access the conversation history and / or the text messages that we have received.
Rest of options
The rest of the options offered by the configuration options of the Messages application are focused asGet the most out of Apple's messaging platform, iMessage, so unless we use it, it is not necessary to modify any of the options that are displayed.
It is possible to receive SMS from an Android smartphone on the iPad
If you have an Android smartphone and an iPad, you cannot receive the SMS you receive on your smartphone on the iPadas this feature is only available on iOS. As I have explained above, to be able to enjoy this function it is necessary to have an iPhone, since it is the device where the messages are centralized.