How to send a mass text without a group chat (iPhone and Mac)

You want to text 30 people. You do not want a 30-person group thread where everyone sees everyone's number and every "thumbs up" buzzes 29 phones. Here are the three ways to send one message to many people so each person gets their own text.

Why your iPhone makes a group chat

When you put more than one person in the "To" line of Messages, your iPhone treats it as a conversation, not a broadcast. Everyone sees the whole list, and every reply goes to everybody. There is no "send separately" button in Apple's Messages app.

You may have seen the tip to turn off Group Messaging in Settings. That switch only changes regular green texts (SMS). If the people on your list use iPhones, Messages still makes a blue iMessage group. So for most groups, it does not solve the problem.

Option 1: Copy and paste (free, slow)

1. Write your message once in the Notes app.
2. Copy it.
3. Open a new text to the first person, paste, change the name if you like, and send.
4. Repeat for everyone else.

This works and costs nothing. It takes about 20 to 30 seconds a person, so a list of 50 is roughly 20 minutes, every time.

Option 2: An Apple Shortcut (free, a little technical)

The Shortcuts app on your iPhone or Mac can loop through a list of contacts and send each one the same text. A basic version:

1. Open Shortcuts and make a new shortcut.
2. Add a Contacts action and pick the people on your list.
3. Add Repeat with Each.
4. Inside the repeat, add Send Message. Set the recipient to "Repeat Item" and type your message.
5. Turn off Show When Run on the Send Message action so it does not stop for every person.

The catch: you edit the shortcut every time the list changes, there is no record of who actually got the text, and a typo goes to everyone. It is a good fit if you text the same small list now and then.

Option 3: A texting service (paid monthly)

Services like SimpleTexting, Clearstream and EZ Texting send from their own phone number, usually for $25 to $39 or more a month. They are built for marketing lists of hundreds or thousands. The downside for a church, team or club is that the texts come from a number nobody has saved, so people skip them. See a side-by-side cost comparison.

Option 4: Bullhorn Text (Mac, one payment)

Bullhorn Text is the copy-and-paste method, done for you. You write the message once, type (name) where the first name goes, and click Send. Your Mac sends each person their own text through your Messages app, from your own number. Replies come back to you one on one, and History shows who it was delivered to.

Which one should you use?

• Under 10 people, once in a while: copy and paste.
• Same small list, comfortable with Shortcuts: build the shortcut.
• Thousands of strangers or a marketing list: a texting service (that is what they are for).
• 10 to 200 people who know you, every week, and you have a Mac: that is what Bullhorn Text is for.

Common questions