Texting an apology is never the best idea anyway, even without Apple messing it up.
And people have their own individual and transient needs. If a text message makes it easier to say you're sorry, then there's nothing wrong with it. Particular if that's already an accepted and normal way to communicate between the parties.
The problem wasn't that he sent it by text, the problem was that the relationship was too weak to withstand N hours of no communication. It was going to break anyway.