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In recent updates they added RCS messaging. This made it so I couldn’t send messages to those on android products. I cannot remember how I turned it off, but I’ll get back to you this afternoon. Gotta go get my haircut.

I have rarely had to do a hard reset (maybe 2x since iphone1).
You can try to do a reboot, sometimes it’s can clean things up. But normally, especially after an update, google your symptom and you will find many many responses to fix your issue. Apple support usually has a few posts in the search to see what the support people have encountered. If this doesn’t work, call 800 apple support, they will have you up in no time. Since the new iPhone and update 18.x, I get the rcs + text msg I some recipients threads, always has worked.
Don’t be afraid to call Apple support if Google doesn’t find you a fix.

Always update to the latest fix as soon as you can. Before upgrading to a major release like 18.x from an earlier iOS release, do your homework to see what will change and especially what new features are included. For example 18.x and the new iPhones will get you toward Apple intelligence, which is something you will want to use when things get rolled out.

iphone messages
 

Go to setting and select apps, go to the Messages app and turn on send as a text.

OP has resolved their problem. Closing thread.