iMessage certainly needs some work. I've had cases where they don't show up on all my devices, either at all or severely delayed. For about a month, every time I sent a photo, it would show up as undelivered, though the receiving party did get it. That problem seems to have correct itself as of about a couple weeks ago.
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Apple Customer Support Claims Apple Stymied by Phone-Switching iMessage Glitch
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A possible solution
Here's how I got my phone number to deregister from iMessage:
After I activated the SIM on my new non-Apple phone, I went to my iPhone 5S and changed the phone number under Settings-> Phone -> Phone Number. I changed it to a random phone number and then went to Messages, turned on iMessage and signed on via my Apple ID.
It should then show your 'fake' number you entered earlier and any email addresses associated to your Apple ID. After hitting next, I went to the 'addresses' in Messages option and found that my phone number was gone! I verified this by going on my iPad and trying to iMessage my phone number. It came up with '(9xx) XXX-XXX is not registered with iMessage'
So there ya go. If you still have your old device and it's old sim; give the above a shot. PM me if you have any questions.
Here's how I got my phone number to deregister from iMessage:
After I activated the SIM on my new non-Apple phone, I went to my iPhone 5S and changed the phone number under Settings-> Phone -> Phone Number. I changed it to a random phone number and then went to Messages, turned on iMessage and signed on via my Apple ID.
It should then show your 'fake' number you entered earlier and any email addresses associated to your Apple ID. After hitting next, I went to the 'addresses' in Messages option and found that my phone number was gone! I verified this by going on my iPad and trying to iMessage my phone number. It came up with '(9xx) XXX-XXX is not registered with iMessage'
So there ya go. If you still have your old device and it's old sim; give the above a shot. PM me if you have any questions.
I work for AppleCare and want to set the record straight on a couple things. First off, we will NEVER EVER charge anyone $19 for an iMessage Deactivation. This is a mandatory exception for anyone and if the advisor quoted in this article isn't aware of that then I'm pretty sure they don't work for AppleCare (a ton of people work for 3rd party call centers at the moment).
Secondly, the issue at hand is a result of how iMessage was designed. It's not that engineering has "no clue" on how to fix it, it's that in doing so, the entire schema would have to be redesigned which would undoubtably cause issues for the other 99% of people who aren't having this issue. The reason this is happening is because in iOS 6, iMessage associated your phone number with your Apple ID. That way, you could get messages on an iPhone but also on devices ONLY signed in with your Apple ID such as your iPad or Mac. Now when an iPhone user goes to start a text message thread with someone, their phone queries a server to see if that number is still a valid address for iMessages to be sent. If so, it turns blue. If not, it turns green and goes through as SMS. Now when you switch from an iPhone and DONT sign out of iMessage first, the server still thinks your number is a valid address for iMessages to be sent and thus, anyone with an iPhone is unable to reach you on an android because they would need to send the message as an SMS to do so.
This is fixed pretty simply on our end when someone calls AppleCare. We basically pull up the account and revoke the certificates for that phone number. This means that when someone goes to start a message thread and it queries that server, the server will return an invalid address response and the message will revert to SMS. Now this definitely fixes this "bug" however it might take up to 24 hours for some iPhone users to be able to reach the person because iOS doesn't always check that server after a message thread has begun. That's why we tell people, if they absolutely need an immediate fix, to tell those trying to reach them to delete the MESSAGE THREAD(not contact bc that makes absolutely no sense) and start a new one since every time you start a new thread, the phone WILL query that sever and realize it's either a valid address or it isn't.
This isn't a flaw, it's just how the system was designed. Could it be better? Absolutely! However, making claims that it's apple's attempt to "punish" those who switch to android is ludicrous. And the fact that the "advisor" allegedly stated that the customer should tell everyone to delete their contact listing a re-add it just tells me that this journalist isn't getting reliable sources. The call center employees might not know the technical reasons behind this issue, but they certainly follow the same procedure we do to resolve it. They would be fired pretty quickly otherwise. Hopefully this clarifies things a little bit.
Secondly, the issue at hand is a result of how iMessage was designed. It's not that engineering has "no clue" on how to fix it, it's that in doing so, the entire schema would have to be redesigned which would undoubtably cause issues for the other 99% of people who aren't having this issue. The reason this is happening is because in iOS 6, iMessage associated your phone number with your Apple ID. That way, you could get messages on an iPhone but also on devices ONLY signed in with your Apple ID such as your iPad or Mac. Now when an iPhone user goes to start a text message thread with someone, their phone queries a server to see if that number is still a valid address for iMessages to be sent. If so, it turns blue. If not, it turns green and goes through as SMS. Now when you switch from an iPhone and DONT sign out of iMessage first, the server still thinks your number is a valid address for iMessages to be sent and thus, anyone with an iPhone is unable to reach you on an android because they would need to send the message as an SMS to do so.
This is fixed pretty simply on our end when someone calls AppleCare. We basically pull up the account and revoke the certificates for that phone number. This means that when someone goes to start a message thread and it queries that server, the server will return an invalid address response and the message will revert to SMS. Now this definitely fixes this "bug" however it might take up to 24 hours for some iPhone users to be able to reach the person because iOS doesn't always check that server after a message thread has begun. That's why we tell people, if they absolutely need an immediate fix, to tell those trying to reach them to delete the MESSAGE THREAD(not contact bc that makes absolutely no sense) and start a new one since every time you start a new thread, the phone WILL query that sever and realize it's either a valid address or it isn't.
This isn't a flaw, it's just how the system was designed. Could it be better? Absolutely! However, making claims that it's apple's attempt to "punish" those who switch to android is ludicrous. And the fact that the "advisor" allegedly stated that the customer should tell everyone to delete their contact listing a re-add it just tells me that this journalist isn't getting reliable sources. The call center employees might not know the technical reasons behind this issue, but they certainly follow the same procedure we do to resolve it. They would be fired pretty quickly otherwise. Hopefully this clarifies things a little bit.
This is the only thing I didn't try.... maybe next time
so I was wondering, because my brother in law made the switch to a GalaxyNote3 and at first our family had trouble sending him messages, for the first few days...
I had forgotten that he made the switch but on my iPhone I had iMessages sitting as Undelivered to him, so I simply tapped and held one of them and selected try sending as SMS soon after that the rest of the family was able to easily send him a standard SMS message without having to change anything on their side (or his).
another option that I don't think you tried (I looked through all your posts on this thread and didn't see your response maybe I missed it)
Text STOP to 48369
supposedly that's supposed to also de-register your Phone number but takes up to 24hrs.
This is unnecessary. Simply deleting the message thread and starting a new one will work. See my full post on page 10 of the comments for a FULL explanation as to what's causing this and how to easily fix it.
I was a victim of this. It lasted about 2 weeks after I switched to my GS4. I told my friends to disable iMessage, send me an sms, then re-enable, and most of the time that fixed it.
Good info. That said, it seems like simply disabling iMessage before switching doesn't seem to always work based on various reports from different people, which would be a problem. Also, something like his shouldn't require having to call in, especially these days, there really should be a way to control this online (like there is for Find My iPhone on icloud.com for example).
Not a bad idea, one I didn't try. Oh well, I just have my iPhone at the moment but if I want to try another android phone down the road (maybe nexus 6 or one+one?), I may have to give this a try if I have issues again.
you are correct, the only thing I didn't try at the time was calling into Apple. However, in looking at many Apple support forum posts, it seems like this was hit or miss as well. It makes sense that calling Apple to revoke iMessage certificates should do the trick, but again, not always the case. I will try this next time around. But as C DM points out, this shouldn't have to be done to disassociate ones phone number from iMessage. But at least it works for some (most?) people that have this issue.
this doesn't work. tried it. Plus, it seems that the person on the other end would have to do the same. So even though I had my wife and some family members also delete the current thread on their end, it still didn't do the trick and SHOULD NOT be required to disassociate my number with iMessage. The solution should not require me to message everyone on my contact list to turn on SMS (in iMessage settings, which is off by default) and delete their current thread with me.
agree on all accounts.
You do realize that without "send as SMS" turned on, those iPhone users won't be able to send messages to ANYONE not using an iPhone suddenly right? Lol. It MUST send as SMS in order to send the message to a non-iPhone. So when it tries to send as iMessage and realizes that it isn't a valid address, you're basically telling it to give up at that point by not having that enabled. Also, you only have people delete the message thread AFTER dissociating it. And that's ONLY if they're still having difficulty texting you. Here's what I can, without a doubt, absolutely promise anyone with this issue. Call AppleCare, have them revoke the certs, and within no later than 48 hours this should be resolved. If it isn't, then we escalate directly to engineering. I've gotten this exact call hundreds(not an exaggeration) of times and never ONCE had to escalate this. Bottom line is this...without certificates, the entire system fails. If you don't have a valid cert, no Apple product is going to try to route a message to your phone number through iMessage. It's going to use SMS but if, and ONLY IF "send as SMS is enabled" which, by the way, is ON by default because that vast majority of phones on the planet require SMS to send and receive messages lol. It's rare that I see someone with that turned OFF!
oh! so the solution is to message everyone on my contact list and have them turn that ON ... gotcha
like I've said multiple times, this setting is turned off by default by Apple. I know because I've restored several iPhones lately and every time I go into that settings page it was turned off (I just restored my iPhone 5s to 7.1.1 and this was turned off by default). Was turned off on my wife's iPhone, was turned off on all my family member's iPhones, friends, etc. Many people out there have no clue to go into iMessage settings to turn it on... and guess what, even with this setting turned off, those people can still send SMS/MMS to numbers not associated with iMessage. GASP
someone can have iMessage activated and this setting turned off and they will still send SMS to phone numbers not associated with iMessage. My good friend has this turned off (again by default) and he still sends SMS/MMS to his non-iPhone friends.
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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
Neither of those things work.
http://support.apple.com/kb/TS5185
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http://support.apple.com/kb/TS5185
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Yes, you're ALWAYS supposed to erase your computing devices before you give/sell them to someone else. You want to be sure your data is all erased and that the system is in a known state for the next user (factory reset).
Apple has a well documented process for this that is mentioned in the user guides and published on their site:
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT5661
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WRONG! This is NOT a a solution!
CALL APPLECARE!
oh! so the solution is to message everyone on my contact list and have them turn that ON ... gotcha
like I've said multiple times, this setting is turned off by default by Apple. I know because I've restored several iPhones lately and every time I go into that settings page it was turned off (I just restored my iPhone 5s to 7.1.1 and this was turned off by default). Was turned off on my wife's iPhone, was turned off on all my family member's iPhones, friends, etc. Many people out there have no clue to go into iMessage settings to turn it on... and guess what, even with this setting turned off, those people can still send SMS/MMS to numbers not associated with iMessage. GASP
someone can have iMessage activated and this setting turned off and they will still send SMS to phone numbers not associated with iMessage. My good friend has this turned off (again by default) and he still sends SMS/MMS to his non-iPhone friends.
I hate to break it to ya, here's an excerpt from Apple's Developer portal:
"By default, the iPhone is set to automatically send the iMessage through SMS if the servers are down or it cant find a Wi-Fi connection. One can change this setting under Settings > Messages. Make sure that Send As SMS is turned off so that you arent charged if iMessage cant make the connection. Instead, it just simply wont send."
But I guess they're wrong as am I even though the people who wrote that and myself are VERY familiar with the inner-workings of iOS. Also, if by restore, you mean going into settings>General>Reset> Erase All Content and Settings...then you've never done an actual restore and I've seen settings carry over multiple times when everything is erased in this manner. If you aren't plugging into iTunes, and downloading fresh firmware, then there is a chance that bugs or settings will still be present even after removing all content. If you restore from ANY backup, then obviously the previous settings will be identical also.
I'm not saying that this isn't a problem still or an inconvenience for many. All I'm saying is that's its a little ridiculous to expect a phone to know when you sold it or got rid of it or no longer use it and sign you out of iMessage magically. If you don't sign out of FaceTime and iMessage, before getting rid of the phone, then the best bet is to have the certificates revoked and wait, at most, 24 hours.
by restore, I mean download a fresh copy of 7.1.1 via iTunes and restore (wipe clean) the phone... and NOT restoring a backup.
I guess my wife and I got a different build of 7.1.1 then the rest of the masses. Each phone I had to turn this on.... weird...
EDIT: after doing some digging, it looks like this setting was turned on by default on iOS 6 and below... but on iOS 7, it is turned off by default
one source I found, even thought it's one of the betas:
http://appadvice.com/appnn/2013/07/the-appadvice-ios-7-quick-pick-three-new-changes-found-in-beta-4
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1642306/
http://ios.wonderhowto.com/how-to/fix-delayed-imessages-text-messages-after-upgrading-ios-7-0148663/
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I hope you realize that the "Send as SMS" option is only in the case of iMessage failure when sending an iMessage to begin with--when you are texting someone who doesn't use iMessage (let's say somone on an Android phone and who doesn't have another Apple device with iMessage) the phone should already know not to even try sending an iMessage from the beginning and just go with SMS right away, that setting would have no relation to that. The issue is identifying who can or can't support iMessage from the beginning, not resending something as an SMS after pointlessly trying to send an iMessage first when the recipient no longer supports it.
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Interesting documentation there, so if there's no WiFi connection it will automatically send an iMessage as SMS? What about a cellular data connection? Seems like it will send an iMessage through that just fine when there's no WiFi. Already seems like the documentation is off.
As for disabling iMessage, seems like based on Apple's information at http://support.apple.com/kb/HT5661 simply wiping your phone should disable that, yet based on plenty reports, given that most people (at least here) certainly wipe their phones before switching to another phone, that doesn't seem to do the trick. So, again, it doesn't seem as much of a problem of people not doing something, but with Apple not handling something right based on how they themselves say its supposed to work.
Texting Stop to 48369 really works
I had this issue lingering for so longer when I got my Nexus 5 with group texts specifically. I had unregistered my phone form AppleID, had friends delete text chains, everything.
Texting stop to 48369 takes you off the imessage/icloud distribution list. It will say so in the text you receive back. It will work, and I now receive all group texts from friends with iphones. I'm not even sure any of the other methods out there actually work.
I had this issue lingering for so longer when I got my Nexus 5 with group texts specifically. I had unregistered my phone form AppleID, had friends delete text chains, everything.
Texting stop to 48369 takes you off the imessage/icloud distribution list. It will say so in the text you receive back. It will work, and I now receive all group texts from friends with iphones. I'm not even sure any of the other methods out there actually work.
I have an iPhone, iPad, and a MacBook Pro. When I receive a message from the Messages program, it goes to only one of these three devices seemingly completely at random. No matter what system I sent the message from, any response I get will go to one of them randomly, even within the same conversation.
Probably just a matter of time before it does. I get that it is a large undertaking on their part to get this fixed but reading the article, this issue has been known since 2011 so knowing that it's sad on Apple's part that they haven't figured this out. On another website the poster stated that the Apple rep had little sympathy and told him to just get a new number from his carrier; that is the lamest excuse I've heard. There are so many accounts associated with your phone number these days that it's impossible to remember them all and make the necessary changes. Others saying I should have known to log out of iMessage and all that other stuff... sorry I guess I didn't get the memo from Apple regarding this being an issue, besides I've never had to worry about anything in the past when switching phones. I just hope they somehow get this issue figured out because they are causing some major headaches for folks. Im pretty much done with Apple after this experience (may sound extreme but its been a bad enough experience for me) and I doubt Im the only one.
google hangouts to end them all?
Wildfire, no. It'll never do that unless MMS / rich media messaging is seamless across all carriers, the app is completely stable, and it becomes the natural thing for the "Hangouts" app to sit along side the other marquee apps on the iPhone dock (because it'll *never* get text message integration with the native iPhone messages app). That's an uphill battle.
How do I know? Did anyone notice that Google's app is called "Hangouts?"
But it has potential. ;-)
Wildfire, no. It'll never do that unless MMS / rich media messaging is seamless across all carriers, the app is completely stable, and it becomes the natural thing for the "Hangouts" app to sit along side the other marquee apps on the iPhone dock (because it'll *never* get text message integration with the native iPhone messages app). That's an uphill battle.
How do I know? Did anyone notice that Google's app is called "Hangouts?"
But it has potential. ;-)
How did you conclude that 99% of the people who left the iPhone are not having an issue?