How To Get Texts From Another Iphone

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One of the advantages of Apple's iMessage system is the ability to see and respond to iPhone texts across multiple Apple devices. AppleInsider shows you how to set up the feature and get messaging on your iPad, Mac and more.

Go into the Settings app on your iPhone, then scroll down until you find Messages. Assuming iMessage is on — which it presumably will be — the next step is to go into Text Message Forwarding.

Here you should see compatible devices signed into the same Apple ID, and you can toggle them on and off at will. This includes Macs and iPads, which of course don't normally handle SMS messages.

Next, go back up a level in Messages, then select Send & Receive. Be sure to set your phone number as both an origin and destination, rather than just an email address. You may have to add an email address to "You can be reached by iMessage at" in order to see "Start new conversations from" appear.

If you have an iPad, find the same Send & Receive menu within the Settings app, and make sure the information matches what was selected on your iPhone.

Mac owners should launch the Messages app itself, open up Preferences, and hit the Accounts tab. As long as you're signed into the proper Apple ID, the only thing needed here is to once again make sure origins and destinations are the same as above.

Be warned that while you might like the idea of receiving texts across multiple devices, there are potential problems.

On a basic level, if all of your devices are in the same room or house, several simultaneous notifications can create a cacophony. You might also prefer answering on a specific device, and/or want others to be distraction-free. Then there's the matter of privacy, since an iPad sitting on the couch might expose an otherwise private iPhone conversation.