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2018: iMessage app messages can only be sent over iMessage

An imessage_app part was sent while SMS or RCS was explicitly requested.

iMessage app messages can only be sent over iMessage. The request included an imessage_app part while explicitly requesting SMS or RCS. This is an HTTP 409 error.

  • Omit preferred_service — it defaults to iMessage for app parts — or set it to iMessage
  • iMessage app parts never fall back to SMS/RCS. If the recipient isn’t reachable over iMessage, the send instead fails asynchronously with a message.failed webhook carrying code 4005
  • Check iMessage capability before sending