📶Physical SIM #3
This is the modified version of AirMessage's Method #1, reported to work for AT&T and Cricket users, may or may not work for other carriers.
Not sure if it works for other carriers such as Verizon, Redpocket or XFinity.
Please let me know if it does!
Steps:
Take out any SIM cards that are in your iPhone and disable iMessage
Take your inactive SIM and put it into your iPhone
Edit the Phone Number to be your main phone number with the plus and save it
Take out the inactive SIM card and replace it with the active SIM card and make sure it still matches your phone number
Enable iMessage and wait for the activation (may take a few minutes)
If a message pops up saying "Use your Apple ID for iMessage", go ahead and continue to sign in
On your Mac, make sure to accept the "new number" being added to your Apple ID
Turn on Airplane Mode
Turn your iPhone off and wait for a few seconds
Take out your active SIM and replace it with the inactive SIM
Power your iPhone back on and turn on Wi-Fi
Your number will be connected and work anywhere from 30 minutes to a few hours, this is normal. Keep Airplane Mode and Wi-Fi on.
Let your number de-register from iMessage by itself
When your number has been de-registered, go to Settings → Messages → Send and Receive. Your number should be grayed out and have a spinning loading symbol next to it. Keep the iPhone on this screen.
The OP kept their iPhone on that screen with the loading overnight. It may be different for everyone.
After leaving the iPhone on that screen for a uncertain amount of time, your number will now be able to be selected to use for iMessage.
You should now be able to use iMessage with your phone number without needing to turn off Airplane Mode or putting your active SIM back in.
Thank you for telling me about this method ☺️
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