Can iPhones text other non-iPhones?

I'm planning on buying an iPhone soon to upgrade (my last one is starting to die out on me) and I was wondering if iPhones could text other non-iPhones (such as basic phones and Androids). I have Virgin Mobile so I have a prepaid text/call/data plan. Will I be able to use iMessage or will I need to download apps to text people?

Yes…

Yes you can text other people on iMessages. The only thing you can't do is FaceTime with them. You can only FaceTime with another iPhone user. But besides that you can call and text anybody even if they don't have an iPhone

IPhones send regular texts like any other phone. So yes, you can text any phone. In addition, it can send iMessages, however those are only for Apple products and are used to "text" without actually needing a text plan.

Of course it can.

Yes they can.

iPhone's work just as any other phone does when it comes to calling and texting. IMessage will work just fine, the only thing that will not work is Facetime as that is an Apple feature only.

If you use any third party apps like BBM or Viber not all of them will work for other phones, but those two and most others will work if they are out on Android as well as iPhone.

Sorry… I'm usually very professional when answering on here but I really do have to laugh at this question! I'll leave you guessing on wether or not you can text non iPhones.

Actually, they are wrong. You absolutely can't use iMessage to send text messages to other non-I devices. You can send regular text just not iMessages text.