Apple Launches Web Tool to Deregister Phone Numbers from iMessage

[TechCritic]

Why do we need this ? I didn't think anyone would be foolish enough to want to switch to another brand after using an iPhone 6 or 6+ .

Those of us who have had the features you love on the iPhone 6 and 6+ for years already are currently enjoying the features you will get on the iPhone 7. We also enjoy a thing called freedom, and those of us who understand the concept do not consider "freedom from porn" a type of freedom, quite the opposite actually. See we can add new features to the products we already own at any time, while Apple will forcibly prevent you from doing so because they only make money when you buy new hardware.

 

[viacavour]

Do you have any knowledge of or experience with this problem? Since what you just said makes no sense.

"because SMS is off" being that the en-user is using a different phone and trying to receive SMS, it should be a given that SMS is turned on on their new phone.

Are you referring to the iPhone user sending the message to the ex-iPhone user and the "Send as SMS" option on the iPhone users phone? If so, realize that the majority of iPhone users have no idea what iMessage is. They don't know that they are sending iMessages to some people and SMS to others because it is all done through the same interface. You're suggesting that the ex-user should have to contact every one of their likely hundreds of contacts who may or may not have iPhones and tell them that they need to manually change a setting on their phone for a problem they aren't personally experiencing? Ridiculous

When Apple decided to build their service on top of someone else's service, and in this case the most mainstream service in existence, they accepted the responsibility of providing a clear and quick method of leaving their service. Asking hundreds of people to manually change a setting on their phone is quite obviously not that.

Yep, the Send as SMS option. It can incur carrier charges. Naturally the default is off.

The other alternative is to use a free cross platform messaging service.

My friends in Asia just got me to install WhatsApp. And that's it !

Even my parents know how to use WhatsApp and iMessage. Not sure what's so difficult.

 

[TechCritic]

Yep, the Send as SMS option. It can incur carrier charges. Naturally the default is off.

The other alternative is to use a free cross platform messaging service.

My friends in Asia just got me to install WhatsApp. And that's it !

Even my parents know how to use WhatsApp and iMessage. Not sure what's so difficult.

Seriously? You think it's reasonable that I should have to ask hundreds of people to manually change a setting on their phone to communicate with me? That includes people you don't know well. If someone doesn't change the settings they will be under the impression you are ignoring them, so you have to tell anyone who might message you even if it's very unlikely.

If Apple informed you before you started using the service that you would not be able to go back to using SMS with your phone number unless you contacted hundreds of people and got them to manually change a setting on their phone then they would be in the clear. They did not. Obviously because no one in their right mind (not no one lol, Apple users aren't independent thinkers) would start using the service knowing that.

Let's say you use WeChat to talk to everyone. You start using WhatsApp to talk to a few people and then you delete the app. If it was the same scenario as leaving iMessage, then you would stop receiving WeChat messages from any of your contacts who have Whatsapp installed on their phone, even if you never once talked to them using WhatsApp. Their phones think you have Whatsapp and without the users consent send a Whatsapp message through the WeChat app. Both you and the other party would never be informed that the WeChat (sent as Whatsapp) message was sent and failed.

That is not reasonable. That is interfering with another communication service without the users consent or knowledge.

 

[Lennholm]

Is people so dumb?

Anyway, since iMessage basically hijacks your phone number without asking or even informing the user it's perfectly feasable that many people send messages like they've always done without even realizing that they're using Apple's proprietary system.

 

[TechCritic]

And as far as carrier charges go, that problem is one of Apple's making. They could have made iMessage a separate app or interface, they chose not to. Even if you have "Send as SMS" off, your phone will still send paid SMS to numbers which have never been associated with an iPhone. You are not clearly informed of this before the message is sent. The average iPhone user does not know what the colors of the text bubbles mean either. Apple does not make any effort to inform the user which messages are free and which are paid when "Send as SMS" is off.

If "Send as SMS" being off meant the app wouldn't send SMS ever, that would be reasonable, but that's not the case. Upon iMessage failure, Apple could also prompt the person "The message failed, would you like to send as SMS." They chose not to do that. If "Send as SMS" is off, they could send a notification "The number you messaged is no longer associated with an iPhone..." Instead they chose to do nothing. Realistically this had nothing to do with preventing unexpected carrier charges.

 

[coolfactor]

I'm going to do this just because I've run out of data for the month, and I'm getting messages through my iPad but not my phone. I'll turn it back on in a few days.

Just turn off iMessage from the iPhone. No need to de-register your number, is there? All messages will go to the iPad during the downtime.

 

[viizi]

Before fix, people pissed off, after fix, people pissed off. You guys like being pissed off?

 

[dannyyankou]

Just turn off iMessage from the iPhone. No need to de-register your number, is there? All messages will go to the iPad during the downtime.

It hasn't been working out that way. The messages would be sent to my iPad via iMessage, but they wouldn't relay to my iPhone which has iMessage turned off.

 

[TechCritic]

Before fix, people pissed off, after fix, people pissed off. You guys like being pissed off?

We would like Apple to be held accountable for its deliberately malicious actions that personally inconvenienced us. Not only has that not happened, but Apple waited until we were so pissed off that people filed a class action lawsuit to fix the problem.

 

[tennisproha]

iMessage is designed very well. It's purpose is to disrupt with encryption, any messaging that is Apple to Apple. Be it a hacker, a Govt. agency, or an Android user. The IFF just rated iMessage and Face Time the two most secure Mass Media Messaging apps in public use.

Apple knew exactly what they were doing. The Class Action Lawsuit was a slam dunk. Apple blinked. So what? It's the way it works in the Tech Industry. When it's Apple it's alway a BIG DEAL. Everyone else gets a " oops, that was a wild error."

Get used to it. Just read the GT contract (that Apple never really signed).
You thought SJ was a Hard Ass? Move over , because Tim will take your business and your 1st Born Child.

That's why you have choice. It's life. It's not changing. Assimilate, or move on.

I actually agree. I def have no idea how it works. (actually if you have a link that explain it, I'd love to read about it.) my issue it with the problems that arise when one party stops using iMessage. there's gotta be a solution to it. I figured apple should have an internal ID that links to the number or emails but I'd love to find out how it's actually designed.

 

[TechCritic]

I actually agree. I def have no idea how it works. (actually if you have a link that explain it, I'd love to read about it.) my issue it with the problems that arise when one party stops using iMessage. there's gotta be a solution to it. I figured apple should have an internal ID that links to the number or emails but I'd love to find out how it's actually designed.

There was no solution that's why Apple is being sued. The problem was supposed to work itself out with in 45 days with no way to expedite the process. Read my posts on this page for and the last one for an explanation of what the problem was. As far as reading about it, Apple is the least transparent consumer facing company in the world. There's some information out there about the public key encryption that iMessage uses released for obvious PR reasons, but otherwise you won't be able to find concrete answers about the inner workings of anything.

 

[jont-fu]

I'm going to do this just because I've run out of data for the month, and I'm getting messages through my iPad but not my phone. I'll turn it back on in a few days.

You can also disable iMessage from your phone:

Settings -> Messages -> iMessage

The SMS tool is just for those people who don't have access to an iPhone anymore.

 

[dannyyankou]

You can also disable iMessage from your phone:

Settings -> Messages -> iMessage

The SMS tool is just for those people who don't have access to an iPhone anymore.

I said this a couple posts up but I might as well repeat it.

I have iMessage turned off on my iPhone, but it's turned on my iPad and MacBook. Whenever an iMessage is delivered to me, my iPad and MacBook recieve it, but my iPhone can't because iMessage is turned off. As of now, my iPhone can only recieve iMessages over Wifi.

 

[TechCritic]

I said this a couple posts up but I might as well repeat it.

I have iMessage turned off on my iPhone, but it's turned on my iPad and MacBook. Whenever an iMessage is delivered to me, my iPad and MacBook recieve it, but my iPhone can't because iMessage is turned off. As of now, my iPhone can only recieve iMessages over Wifi.

To accomplish what you want to do, you would have to turn off iMessage on every Apple device associated with your account, and you should also use the tool. Turning off iMessage on every device didn't work in the past which is the reason they were sued and after three years decided to make a tool.

One guy in this thread said he tried the tool and it didn't work. Like before, there might still be some waiting period for the changes to take effect. It could be hours, days, or weeks like before. The problem is that you must have iMessage off everywhere during that waiting period, so you will be missing messages. There was no way to switch off iMessage and immediately start receiving SMS, missing messages was basically a necessity. I don't know about now, but if you don't want to miss texts without knowing it, it's probably not a good idea to try using the tool. Maybe next time you find yourself in this situation, there will be information out there about how quickly the changes take effect.

 

[terraphantm]

This was not the first resolution. People dealing with this obviously had a working cell phone (where else would they expect to be receiving SMS?), which means this issue has and had been resolved through calling AppleCare.

All this tool is is a faster solution than calling AppleCare. Please stop spreading misinformation that it "took 3 years."

Calling Apple Care didn't always work. My friend switched to a Galaxy S5 about 6 months ago, and despite calling Apple 3 or 4 times, other iOS devices kept seeing his number as an iMessage number. It only stopped doing that a couple weeks ago

 

[Tumbleweed666]

This tool is not overdue, it is NOT even required!

Is people so dumb? How hard is it to disabling iMessage before transfering the sims. Common sense people.

Talking of dumb, what about people who come up with simplistic solutions that don't work if a phone is stolen or lost

 

[TechCritic]

I said this a couple posts up but I might as well repeat it.

I have iMessage turned off on my iPhone, but it's turned on my iPad and MacBook. Whenever an iMessage is delivered to me, my iPad and MacBook recieve it, but my iPhone can't because iMessage is turned off. As of now, my iPhone can only recieve iMessages over Wifi.

This is probably beyond your skill set being that your asking this here (not an insult, just stating it as a matter of fact), but a workaround would be writing a script to pull the iMessages from you Mac and text them to you via a free Google Voice number. You could also include the callers name and number with the text so you'd know who it's coming from. I doubt Apple allows any other services to natively integrate with iMessage, but the easiest way to do something like this if you don't have any coding skills would be with something like IFTTT. Being that Apple probably doesn't allow for any sort of IFTTT integration, you'd probably have to get more creative.

 

[H2SO4]

Yep, the Send as SMS option. It can incur carrier charges. Naturally the default is off.

The other alternative is to use a free cross platform messaging service.

My friends in Asia just got me to install WhatsApp. And that's it !

Even my parents know how to use WhatsApp and iMessage. Not sure what's so difficult.

No, the default should be on. Are you being obtuse deliberatley?

Look, when I take out a new contract. The carrier says to me;
Sir, this will cost you £X.00 per month. Included in that cost are 500 minutes of talktime a 2GB data allowance and a number of text messages.

YOU ARE ABLE TO SEND TEXTS RIGHT AWAY.

You know from day one that you will be using your allowance or incur charges when you exceed it.

He doesn’t say it includes iMessage. Does he? It’s down to YOU to get a cross platform app or turn on iMessage. You people are too used to what you think is free or what should be free and think you’re entitlred to it.

The defence of Apple is just tremendous. Reminds me of the posts when iOS first came out and people championed the lack of MMS.
iMessage is a great service, yes.
Opting in is nice and easy, yes.
Opting out should be also. What happens if I lose my phone and cannot switch it off?

----------

And as far as carrier charges go, that problem is one of Apple's making. They could have made iMessage a separate app or interface, they chose not to. Even if you have "Send as SMS" off, your phone will still send paid SMS to numbers which have never been associated with an iPhone. You are not clearly informed of this before the message is sent. The average iPhone user does not know what the colors of the text bubbles mean either. Apple does not make any effort to inform the user which messages are free and which are paid when "Send as SMS" is off.

If "Send as SMS" being off meant the app wouldn't send SMS ever, that would be reasonable, but that's not the case. Upon iMessage failure, Apple could also prompt the person "The message failed, would you like to send as SMS." They chose not to do that. If "Send as SMS" is off, they could send a notification "The number you messaged is no longer associated with an iPhone..." Instead they chose to do nothing. Realistically this had nothing to do with preventing unexpected carrier charges.

This, this guy, (or gal), sees it. Why can nobody else?

 

[Tech198]

ya, sue em for being incompetent...


Instead of doing something straight-foward Apple does this deliberately, the decides its better to release a tool to you must use in addition just to remove something that should of been part of iMessage in the first place.

Talk about going round the houses.

But then again.. it's no no surprise either.... After all, Apple's always "thought differently" from the beginning anyway.

Give users the option in iMessage and ask them "Do you want to disassociate this device from this phone number ?" on a "disassociate/re-associate" button..

How hard is that ?

 

[TechCritic]

No, the default should be on. Are you being obtuse deliberatley?

Look, when I take out a new contract. The carrier says to me;
Sir, this will cost you £X.00 per month. Included in that cost are 500 minutes of talktime a 2GB data allowance and a number of text messages.

YOU ARE ABLE TO SEND TEXTS RIGHT AWAY.

You know from day one that you will be using your allowance or incur charges when you exceed it.

He doesn’t say it includes iMessage. Does he? It’s down to YOU to get a cross platform app or turn on iMessage. You people are too used to what you think is free or what should be free and think you’re entitlred to it.

The defence of Apple is just tremendous. Reminds me of the posts when iOS first came out and people championed the lack of MMS.
iMessage is a great service, yes.
Opting in is nice and easy, yes.
Opting out should be also. What happens if I lose my phone and cannot switch it off?

----------



This, this guy, (or gal), sees it. Why can nobody else?

Thanks man. This article came up in my RSS feed, and it was a huge problem for me 6 months ago, otherwise I would never be on any Apple propaganda site. I think that guy realized that his logic blinders which have helped him "win" many arguments in the past are outgunned here.

Apple truly is a cult...

 

[Yumbo]

I have a different problem. I am unable to authenticate my iCloud keychain because I cancelled my original contract and switched to a GoPhone plan, pay-per-month, changing my phone number. The iCloud Keychain Authenticate wants to send a text message to my old phone number, which I cannot receive.

Therefore, I have been unable to authenticate my iCloud keychain on my iPhone since upgrading to iOS 8 because the thing wants to use my old phone number.

Call AppleCare.
Anyone else could also call previously for iMessage deregistration.

 

[Medic311]

This should have been done from day 1
Please tell me this wasn't included as a "new feature"

 

[vmachiel]

All this complaining.. It's here now who cares

 

[H2SO4]

Thanks man. This article came up in my RSS feed, and it was a huge problem for me 6 months ago, otherwise I would never be on any Apple propaganda site. I think that guy realized that his logic blinders which have helped him "win" many arguments in the past are outgunned here.

Apple truly is a cult...

Trouble is all of us here love Apple products, (well the vast majority I suspect anyway).
Some of us take it too far and it mean that when you have a problem you are hounded by the zealots and alienated until you can provide chapter and verse.
When a Windows OS exhibits a problem it’s because the OS is poor. When it’s Apple it’s user error.

I do not like Apple as a company, (if that makes sense), but I like the OS, (not iOS really), and hardware to the point where I will recommend it. But with caveats. Over the years though because I’ve been forced to use Windows at work I’ve realised that it is a very solid OS indeed and is more configurable than the Mac OS. It’s just not nicer that’s all.

Go to the official forums, some of the people there are destroyed by some of the long time posters.
This one is hilarious and shows the attitude of Apple fanatics.

 

[iamkarlp]

Call AppleCare.
Anyone else could also call previously for iMessage deregistration.

Indeed. Ran into this problem with a client about 7 months ago. 5 minutes on the phone with apple and I was set. iPhones which hadn't communicated with that user before worked instantly. iPhones wich had communicated previously and/or had existing contact cards required either a reboot, deleting the text conversation and starting a new one, or waiting a few days.

Should you have to pick up the phone? No, the tool is something which should have been there from the start, but at least the process they did have was practically painless.

Also, I think this touches on why it doesn't default to FaceTime audio. Loosing access to text messages is a minor annoyance with no significant legal consequences. Voice calls is a whole different ball of wax.

I don't think it was intentional however. I honestly think it was an oversight which they moved quickly to correct with a phone solution once they became aware of it. The web tool is just another front of support now.

Nonetheless, more options are great!

Karl P