Blue bubbles for iPhone contacts

Optional. Every text gets delivered without this. Turn it on if you'd like iPhone contacts to get blue iMessages and Android contacts to get green texts, the same way Messages does it.

← Back to Mac setup

Turn it on (about a minute)

1

Quit Text Your List

Click the Text Your List icon in the menu bar at the top of your screen and choose Quit. Your Mac only applies this setting when the app starts.

2

Open Full Disk Access

Open the Apple menu, then System Settings > Privacy & Security > Full Disk Access.

3

Add Text Your List

  1. Click the + button under the list. Your Mac may ask for your password or Touch ID.
  2. Click Applications on the left, choose Text Your List, and click Open.
  3. Make sure the switch next to Text Your List is on.
Already see Text Your List in the list? Turn its switch on. If it was already on, see "It still says Off" below.
4

Open Text Your List again and check

Go to Account Settings. Under Blue bubbles for iPhone contacts it should say On.

Good to know

Click any item to expand.

Why does this need Full Disk Access?

Your Mac already knows which of your contacts use iMessage. It keeps that in your Messages history. Apple keeps that history private, and Full Disk Access is the only way to let an app look at it. Text Your List checks it on your Mac to pick blue or green for each person.

Your messages and message history never leave your Mac. Apple doesn't let apps ask for this permission themselves, which is why it's a manual step.

Who gets blue and who gets green?
  • Blue: people your Messages history shows are on iMessage, for example anyone who has sent you an iMessage or whose last iMessage from you was delivered.
  • Green: Android phones, and anyone your Mac hasn't texted before. A new number starts green. Once they reply from an iPhone, they get blue from then on.
When in doubt, Text Your List sends a regular text, because it reaches every phone. A wrong guess the other way could mean someone never gets your message.
It still says Off
  1. Quit Text Your List (menu bar icon > Quit).
  2. In Full Disk Access, click Text Your List and press the − button to remove it.
  3. Add it again with +, choosing it from your Applications folder.
  4. Open Text Your List from Applications.

This fixes the most common cause: an older copy of the app was added to the list and the switch doesn't apply to the new one. Make sure you open Text Your List from Applications, not from the downloaded installer window.

How do I turn it off?

Turn off the switch next to Text Your List in Full Disk Access. Everyone will get regular green texts again, and nothing else changes.

Still stuck?

Email [email protected] and we'll sort it out with you.