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Original poster
Apr 12, 2001
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imessage.jpg
There is a long-standing problem with lost iMessages for select users when they switch from an iPhone to another device. Apple allegedly is aware of the problem and not able to provide a fix, claims former Lifehacker editor-in-chief Adam Pash, whose iPhone was affected by this message delivery problem.

After disabling their iPhones, some users experience an issue where iMessages sent from other iPhone owners are routed to the now-disabled iPhone and not forwarded as a text message to the active phone. The recipient never receives the text message, creating a situation that is frustrating for both people involved in the conversation.

Pash spoke to Apple's customer support after he stopped receiving messages from iPhone-owning friends when he switched to an Android phone. The support personnel confirmed "this is a problem a lot of people are facing" and "added that engineering team is working on it but is apparently clueless as to how to fix it."
In the meantime, Apple has completely hijacked my text messaging and my phone number portability (portability between devices, not networks). No one can fix this but Apple because it's a problem at the device level, which means people in my position have no recourse but to wait for Apple to figure out what the problem is. But Apple isn't offering any public support on the issue that I've been able to find (and it's worth repeating that proper support is behind a $20 paywall for most people who've switched devices, who would also be the most commonly affected by this problem)
This issue with iMessage has been reported as far back as 2011, shortly after the messaging service debuted as a flagship feature of iOS 5. iPhone owners are advised to disable iMessages before they deactivate their phone in order to remove the device from Apple's system and allow messages to be forwarded properly as text messages to their new handset. This precautionary step of disabling iMessage apparently works for some, but not all iPhone owners who switch to another smartphone platform.

Article Link: Apple Customer Support Claims Apple Stymied by Phone-Switching iMessage Glitch
 

Lapidus

macrumors regular
May 14, 2012
202
174
Messages has been bugged since the beginning. I've had very much troubles with it so far. So frustrating every time.
 

Macwhich

macrumors newbie
Sep 17, 2013
7
0
Not sure if this would work, but what if the sender deleted all contact info, and put in the contact details again?

So the iPhone "forgets" that it was sending an iMessage?

Far from the perfect solution , but nice if it works :S Sucks for those who change anyways. :S
 

smithrh

macrumors 68030
Feb 28, 2009
2,722
1,730
While not exactly the same thing, I've had issues with iMessage where the messages wind up nowhere or on a random device.

It's not reliable, especially for people with more than 1 device.

It needs an overhaul before I trust it.
 

RyanFlynn

macrumors 6502
Nov 24, 2006
492
436
Los Angeles
Same thing happened to me

My wife and I are STILL not receiving messages from time to time. Apple really needs to work this out. We switch from iphone to android months ago.
 

ouimetnick

macrumors 68040
Aug 28, 2008
3,552
6,341
Beverly, Massachusetts
I like iMessage, but it is very unreliable. I have an iPhone 4s that I use as an iPod touch. no iMessages go to it, but if I start a conversation on it, it gets added to the existing conversations on my other devices, and from then on, if someone messages me, it arrives on all devices including the iPhone 4s.

But if I restore, or whatever, all my messages are erased. The thing sucks at keeping all the devices in sync.
 

Orlandoech

macrumors 68040
Jun 2, 2011
3,341
887
"It just works".... :rolleyes:


I've seen this happen in real time and is a PITA. the fact Apple can't fix it is ridiculous.
 

RedDawn

macrumors newbie
May 14, 2014
6
0
My brother and I had the same problem...

When my brother switched to the S4, we had the same exact issue. He didn't receive my "Merry Christmas!" There was a kerfuffle, and the we both realized that he wasn't receiving the messages because they were still attempting to be sent with iMessage. This at first seemed very difficult to overcome. I deleted the phone number and tried again, no luck. But when I deleted his contact completely and added it once again, the problem seemed resolved. It has not occurred since.

EDIT: I have not had any other issues with iMessage. I am, overall, very happy with its performance.
 
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jrswizzle

macrumors 603
Aug 23, 2012
6,107
129
McKinney, TX
Weird - I wonder what the root cause is. I bounced between two iPhones and three Android phones last year and never lost any messages or had any issues.

Seems odd something so widespread/detrimental would be completely random. Will be interesting to see what the cause ends up being.
 

atticus27

macrumors regular
Feb 2, 2009
200
0
Pittsburgh, PA
I think hangouts is way better (and its great w/ integrated video chat built into the app). It's nice to see it put on flagship android phones as the default messaging app now.
Hopefully more people with iPhones will start to use it. It would be nice the have the majority of people (I know not sure if others feel the same way) on the same messaging app.
 

dr1ve0n

macrumors newbie
May 14, 2014
3
0
iMessage fix

I work at a cellphone store. These two things usually do the trick.

- apple.com/support/appleid to unregister phone

- Text STOP to 48369

Or it does fix itself after 45 days :(
 
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Lapidus

macrumors regular
May 14, 2012
202
174
And I have never had any trouble with it, not frustrating at all.

Are you saying it's my fault? Apple Care has called me every week for the last 2 months and they still didn't fix the fact that my AppleID can't receive messages on Mac OS X.
I mean.. what for a f*ckedup kind of bug is that?
 

smithrh

macrumors 68030
Feb 28, 2009
2,722
1,730
No, the user is just sating that they have not experienced any issues using iMessage. They didn't say anything about the problem being fictional.

They must be busy posting their non-issues for every issue that other people have.
 

Zerilos

macrumors 6502a
Dec 18, 2012
903
24
This happened to me after ios 7 was released. Was so bad I sold my iPhone and got a Note 3. That just made problem worse. A couple of months ago the problem went away. Intetestingly, I couldn't get I messages on my phone but they always showed up on my ipad.
 

suprakc

macrumors regular
Jun 15, 2013
110
3
Utah
(1) Well the first problem is android.

(I mean, don't whine at me for saying that - I had android for three years before making the miraculous switch to iPhone this year).

(2) The number must be specified as 'mobile' rather than 'iPhone' in whomever is sending the messages' iPhone... If that makes sense.

(3) cheers to the engineering team working on a resolution. I'm sure they'll have a fix in a month or two.
 

kaltsasa

macrumors 6502a
Jan 9, 2002
585
21
Kellogg IA
While not exactly the same thing, I've had issues with iMessage where the messages wind up nowhere or on a random device.

It's not reliable, especially for people with more than 1 device.

I've had this happen semi-often, though it's been less frequent since the update to iOS7. I would often come home to find that a message had arrived from my wife that was sitting on my iPad or home desktop but I'd never seen it on my iPhone or Work Desktop. It happened frequently when our phones/iPad were running iOS6 but I've seen it less frequently when our iDevices got the iOS 7 update.

Honestly almost anyone I care to text anymore is using hangounts on Android and iOS alike. If I could just get my wife and a couple other people to use hangouts I could probably never set fingers in the Messages app again.
 

smithrh

macrumors 68030
Feb 28, 2009
2,722
1,730
I've had this happen semi-often, though it's been less frequent since the update to iOS7. I would often come home to find that a message had arrived from my wife that was sitting on my iPad or home desktop but I'd never seen it on my iPhone or Work Desktop. It happened frequently when our phones/iPad were running iOS6 but I've seen it less frequently when our iDevices got the iOS 7 update.

I've had too many incidents of "why didn't you return my text" to trust it. Perhaps it is better, but until it's flawless, it's off.

While I've turned it off, people still apparently can send me messages and think I've gotten them, which I haven't.

Fun times.
 

Karma*Police

macrumors 68030
Jul 15, 2012
2,504
2,830
I upgrade two iPhones every year and never had this problem, but I can see how it can be very frustrating for those who experience it. Apple should make fixing this a priority for iOS 8 or sooner.
 
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