What customers see when a business texts them on iMessage

What does the first message look like?

The first message from a ZeroSettle number arrives as an iMessage from a phone number, followed by your name-and-photo card, so the thread can show your brand instead of a bare number. ZeroSettle's homepage says customers see “Maybe: Your Company” and your photo even if they don't have you in their contacts; the exact display depends on their device and contact settings.

• Name: up to 64 characters. It becomes the contact's first name.
• Photo: a JPEG or PNG under 3 MB. Square and 600 px or larger looks best.
• When it is shared: with the first message of every conversation, and again with the next message after you change it.
• What the customer gets: “<name> shared a name and photo with you”, which they can save to your contact card.

The blue is on the customer's side: incoming texts are gray on iPhone, and the customer's replies go out as blue iMessage bubbles instead of green SMS, MMS or RCS ones (see blue vs green bubbles for business texting).

What do photos, voice messages and tapbacks look like?

Photos, voice messages, tapbacks and the typing bubble from a ZeroSettle number use Messages' native bubbles, the same ones friends send. Each is one API call; what an iMessage API can send has the full formats.

• Photos: a JPEG, PNG or GIF up to 2048 px on the long edge goes out exactly as sent, and a GIF keeps its animation. HEIC, WebP, TIFF, BMP and anything larger are re-encoded to JPEG, which strips EXIF and GPS data.
• Replies first: photos and voice messages go only to someone who has replied to your number; otherwise the API answers 403 attachment_before_reply, so a first message is always text.
• Voice messages: Messages has no caption on a voice bubble, so send words as a second message.
• Tapbacks: the ones the customer sends reach your code as reaction.received.
• Typing: only in an existing conversation; otherwise 409 no_conversation, because “a ‘…’ is not a way to probe a number.” When the customer types, your code gets typing.started and typing.stopped on the live stream, and on the webhook if you opt in with "typing_events": true.

Why isn't the link tappable?

A link in a first message isn't tappable because the customer's iPhone won't open links from an unknown sender. ZeroSettle's docs explain:

An iPhone won't open links from an unknown sender. Until the recipient replies to your number or saves it as a contact, a link in your text shows as plain text they can't tap. The recipient's phone does this, so no sender can avoid it.

ZeroSettle iMessage API docs, “Links in a first message”

Apple's iPhone User Guide gives the customer's fix for a link they can't open: mark the sender as known or add them to Contacts. ZeroSettle still sends a text or caption with a link to someone who has never texted the line, and returns warning.code: "link_not_tappable" in the response so your code can tell.

The send-a-message docs recommend two patterns:

1. Let them text first. A prefilled sms: link makes your number a known sender from the first message, and every link after that works.
2. If you text first, “open with plain text that asks for a reply (‘Reply YES for your link’) and send the link once they answer.”

After a reply, links in texts and photo captions are tappable. Don't promise customers a preview card: the ZeroSettle console shows rich previews for URLs, but that is your view of the thread, not theirs. More in why links in a first iMessage aren't tappable.

Will the customer even get a notification?

Not always. On iOS 26, a customer with Screen Unknown Senders turned on gets texts from unknown numbers in a separate list, with no notification unless they have allowed notifications for that kind of text, so a cold first text from a ZeroSettle number may never be seen.

• Who has it on: anyone who had the older unknown-sender filter turned on, according to ZeroSettle's docs, and anyone who switches it on under Manage Filtering in Messages.
• How a sender gets out: the customer taps Mark as Known or adds the number to Contacts. Until then, Apple's guide says, later messages are filtered too.
• What your code can tell: not whether it was seen. ZeroSettle reports message.sent (the message left the line) and message.failed, never delivered or read status.
• How to avoid it: let the customer text first, which also keeps them outside the new-contact limit. See getting customers to text you first.

What don't customers see?

Customers don't see a verification badge on a ZeroSettle thread, and people without iMessage don't see the message at all.

No verification badge

The name and photo are the ones the business set and shared through Share Name and Photo; nothing marks them as checked by Apple. In Apple Messages for Business, by contrast, Apple's Messages for Business FAQ says a business is identified by a Business ID that Apple assigns during registration, and customers can only reach businesses Apple has approved. ZeroSettle is not Messages for Business, and ZeroSettle's terms state that it is not affiliated with Apple. See Apple Messages for Business vs an iMessage number, and for the customer's view, a business texted me on iMessage: is it legit?

Nothing, if they don't use iMessage

“The address must be on someone's iMessage; there is no SMS or email fallback,” say ZeroSettle's docs. When an iPhone user texts someone without an Apple device, the message goes as SMS, MMS or RCS in a green bubble (Apple's page on green messages). A ZeroSettle number has no such fallback, so Android users receive nothing. SMS fallback for non-Apple phones and group chats are on ZeroSettle's roadmap, and video, files and text effects can't be sent yet.

How do you make the first message count?

Set the name and photo before the first send, say who you are, let customers text first where you can, and hold links until they reply.

1. Set the card first, with the call below or in the console.
2. Check it on your own iPhone. Text yourself from the line. Deleting that conversation and texting again presents the name and photo afresh, as a new customer sees them.
3. Offer a text-first button or QR code that opens Messages with sms:+18055550100&body=… prefilled (see the customer support docs). On Android it opens the SMS app, so keep email or chat for those visitors.
4. If you text first, have consent. The person gave you their number for this purpose (keep the record), the first message says who you are, and nothing promotional goes out before 8 am or after 9 pm in their time zone. Consent rules vary by place and purpose; this isn't legal advice.
5. Ask for a reply, then send the link.
6. Honor STOP immediately. ZeroSettle enforces it too, across every number on your account.

# Set the name and photo customers see. Run once before the first send.
import base64, os, requests

BASE = "https://portal.zerosettle.io"
TOKEN = os.environ["ZEROSETTLE_TOKEN"]

with open("logo.png", "rb") as f:          # JPEG or PNG under 3 MB
    photo = base64.b64encode(f.read()).decode()

r = requests.put(f"{BASE}/api/imessage/profile",
                 headers={"Authorization": f"Bearer {TOKEN}"},
                 json={"name": "Tidewater Bikes", "image_b64": photo},
                 timeout=60)
print(r.status_code, r.json().get("status"))  # 200 profile_set

For the wording of that first text, see how to write a first iMessage customers reply to.

What does ZeroSettle cost?

ZeroSettle Pro is $49 a month for one number; Growth, for several numbers working as one, is from $599/mo. The plans also differ in how many new contacts each number can start a conversation with.

The day runs 3 AM to 3 AM Eastern. Anyone who texted your number first is never limited, and messages with them are unlimited.

Both are billed monthly with a 30-day money-back guarantee on the subscription. See ZeroSettle plans and pricing, the ZeroSettle iMessage API docs and more explainers on how ZeroSettle works, or get a number.