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Apple Customer Support Claims Apple Stymied by Phone-Switching iMessage Glitch

BuckoWA said:
Or go to Settings >> Messages >> Send as SMS and enable on the iPhone side - which will send an SMS when iMessgae is not available. Annoying, but works for the iPhone sender.
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I figured this would be one of the issues (since it is off by default) but I wasn't about to send a text to all my iPhone friends to tell them to turn this setting on. Also, I have this setting turned on on my wife's iPhone but still would miss messages from her
 
Change your Apple ID Password!

By changing your apple id password automagically apple will require all your devices to re-enter the password for iMessage / iCloud. This will automagically unregister any non iOS device from the iMessage platform.

Hope this fix your problem.
 
co.ag.2005 said:
I'd be curious to know what you did. I tried to sim swap between my iPhone with a Nexus 5 (and even a Moto XS) (I wanted to use an iPhone or the N5/MotoX when I wanted with just the swap of a sim).
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So I started on an iPhone 5 - went to the HTC One in Feb 2013. Moved my iPhone 5 to my work line (from personal) and added the One to my personal line. I didn't wipe the iPhone or anything - just had AT&T do the line switch.

Then I went from the HTC One to the GS4 to the Nexus 5. Never had any issues receiving text messages. Upgraded my iPhone 5 to the 5S (still on the work line). Then in November 2013, moved my personal line from Nexus 5 to the iPhone 5C. Again, no issues.

Bought a Moto G and Lumia 520 toward the end of the year as well and sim swapped between the three (5C, G, and 520) - never wiped the iPhone or disabled anything as I switched. Messages always came through just fine to my knowledge.

Now I'm back on the iPhone full time. Could it be carrier related?
 
Scz said:
Usually when you sign in to something, you are expected to sign out when you’re done with it. And iMessage is completely different from any other messaging service prior to it in the fact that it does hijack your phone number to deflect special messages to it. So you'd think maybe there would be some extra steps involved in shutting it off before just blindly switching phones, but I guess no one else gets that.
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But a messaging service? This is the perils of being such a closed ecosystem; if I don't sign out of, let's say, yahoo messenger, I can easily log on from another device. And - I do not know the answer to this - but is it a separate step from logging out of your Apple ID on your device? For example, on Android, if I log out of my google account, it shuts off all services to that device through Google. The way it sounds here is like it's a two step process. Log out of your device AND log out of iMessage. Is that not the case?
 
Scz said:
Usually when you sign in to something, you are expected to sign out when you’re done with it. And iMessage is completely different from any other messaging service prior to it in the fact that it does hijack your phone number to deflect special messages to it. So you'd think maybe there would be some extra steps involved in shutting it off before just blindly switching phones, but I guess no one else gets that.
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I thought that if the iPhone is offline, the message is an SMS, am I'm wrong?
 
jrswizzle said:
So I started on an iPhone 5 - went to the HTC One in Feb 2013. Moved my iPhone 5 to my work line (from personal) and added the One to my personal line. I didn't wipe the iPhone or anything - just had AT&T do the line switch.

Then I went from the HTC One to the GS4 to the Nexus 5. Never had any issues receiving text messages. Upgraded my iPhone 5 to the 5S (still on the work line). Then in November 2013, moved my personal line from Nexus 5 to the iPhone 5C. Again, no issues.

Bought a Moto G and Lumia 520 toward the end of the year as well and sim swapped between the three (5C, G, and 520) - never wiped the iPhone or disabled anything as I switched. Messages always came through just fine to my knowledge.

Now I'm back on the iPhone full time. Could it be carrier related?
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I don't think it's carrier related. I'm on AT&T btw.

How long were you on your android then? Based on your timline, a good amount of time which probably allowed for your number to be disassociated from iMessage. I keep reading that it takes 45 days (or sometimes 30 days) for your number to get unregistered automatically by Apple. I never gave it that long as missing iMessages for that long of a time was unfathomable.
 
Like everything else Apple tries to do in the cloud or as a service, it's half-hearted, lazy, and doesn't work (or works just good enough).
 
co.ag.2005 said:
I don't think it's carrier related. I'm on AT&T btw.

How long were you on your android then? Based on your timline, a good amount of time which probably allowed for your number to be disassociated from iMessage. I keep reading that it takes 45 days (or sometimes 30 days) for your number to get unregistered automatically by Apple. I never gave it that long as missing iMessages for that long of a time was unfathomable.
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I was on Android for the better part of 2013, but never was without messages or a phone at all. Would SIM switch and use both the Moto G and 5C in the same day sometimes.
 
The only way I know of fixing the issue is both the sender and receiver deletes each others contacts information. Then re-add it.

My friends ran into this problem and it fixed it for the 3 of them. I then told them to stop wasting money on Android and stick with the iPhone :)
 
"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."
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Somehow this does not sound like something you'd hear from Apple support. :confused:

Not to say there isn't a problem, but it does not sound like a response from a knowledgeable support rep.
 
I get this constantly as well....

We use iMessages anyway, because our whole family has iOS devices and iCloud accounts. Generally, it works -- but there's a lot of hard-to-explain weirdness with the whole system.

For example, we've had times when someone's incoming messages come in as SMS, despite going from one iPhone to another iPhone, and no clear reason why it wasn't routed as data instead of a cellular SMS. (I suppose an intermittent loss of a good cellular data connection on either end could cause the system to elect to go SMS instead with it? But as far as both parties could tell, we had decent 4G reception.)

Other times, I've definitely seen the issue of outgoing iMessages going into a "black hole" -- never showing up on the destination user's device.

And lastly, an issue that's not so much a technical glitch or problem as a poor implementation decision on Apple's part .... The whole thing with people having multiple Apple IDs complicates this stuff needlessly. For example, I have an old Apple ID that's tied to the iOS App Store, and which I use exclusively on an iPad Air. It has a number of (somewhat expensive) app purchases tied to it, all related to music recording or creation software for iOS. Since I never do the music work on my iPhone, I use my other (newer) Apple ID for everything related to it. This means, unfortunately, some people out there get ahold of my wrong Apple ID to contact me over an iMessage chat, and my iPad (usually turned off or not with me) receives messages I really needed to get on the phone instead.


smithrh said:
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.
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Not sure if I'm answering right on this forum and I'm on my iPhone so I can't see my avatar plus I'm using safari so I hope this is right. Need to get home to my MacBook to see things better. At work. Anyway about the I devices you need to restart them all after you sign out from iMessage And FaceTime and your sim must be in the phone when you restart it so it will unregister from apples severs. Then move your SIM card to your new android phone start it up and send text messages to people you were having problems with. This should do it.
 
Doesn't his have to do with having your phone number associated with your iMessage "account", and nothing to do with the physical phone? I personally have my phone number as my main iMessage contact, so that when people with iPhones "text message" me, I receive the text on my iPad and computer, which is exactly what I want. If I were to destroy my iPhone, I would still want all those messages to be routed as iMessages so that I could receive them on my iPad and computer.

Presumable Apple just can't tell the difference between a destroyed phone and an Android phone (I won't make a joke). It's up to the users to re-configure their accounts and remove the phone number as the primary iMessage contact point. Admittedly, this isn't a "just works" solution, but unlike iMessage, traditional Text Messages have no receipt or way to identify the receiving device. Apple can't know the difference between a phone number that leads to an iPhone that's currently turned off, and one that is now attached to a different phone.

Or am I missing something?
 
jrswizzle said:
So I started on an iPhone 5 - went to the HTC One in Feb 2013. Moved my iPhone 5 to my work line (from personal) and added the One to my personal line. I didn't wipe the iPhone or anything - just had AT&T do the line switch.

Then I went from the HTC One to the GS4 to the Nexus 5. Never had any issues receiving text messages. Upgraded my iPhone 5 to the 5S (still on the work line). Then in November 2013, moved my personal line from Nexus 5 to the iPhone 5C. Again, no issues.

Bought a Moto G and Lumia 520 toward the end of the year as well and sim swapped between the three (5C, G, and 520) - never wiped the iPhone or disabled anything as I switched. Messages always came through just fine to my knowledge.

Now I'm back on the iPhone full time. Could it be carrier related?
Click to expand...

Wow.... lots of change. Why all the changes?
 
The problem...

... is that people are foolish enough to switch from iOS to anything else. Those same people aren't even smart enough to disable iMessage from the phone they leave. If you don't deactivate your iMessage from your phone and then sell it, guess what will happen? Your buyer gets all your iMessages. NOT smart at all. I've switched my phone twice from Apple to Apple and my girlfriend's iphone twice as well. We NEVER receive iMessages on our old phones--only on the new ones because I always disable iMessages from the old iPhones before activating it on a different iPhone. No problem whatsoever.
 
My wife and I just swapped devices - neither of us have received a misdirected message. (She had an iPhone 4, I had an iPhone 4S - I got a 5C through work, but still need to have a personal phone, so we swapped the 4 and 4S, since for 'performance' things, I now use the 5C - I only use my personal iPhone for personal calls and text/iMessages.)

We both had iMessage set up to our iCloud accounts and our phone numbers.

We both get a dozen or so iMessages a day (friends/family who also own iPhones/iPads.)

The process we both used:
1. Turn off "Find my iPhone" in iCloud settings.
2. Full local backup to computer via iTunes (separate computers.)
3. On-device "Erase settings and content"
4. Swap SIMs (Both phones were originally-AT&T-locked, both since unlocked and on T-Mobile.)
5. Plug in to opposite computers.
6. Restore from just-made backup in iTunes.

For people experiencing problems, I'm betting that the old owner never did "Turn off 'Find my iPhone' in iCloud settings" step. It seems like THAT is the step that firmly disconnects the phone from Apple's linking.
 
Popeye206 said:
Somehow this does not sound like something you'd hear from Apple support. :confused:

Not to say there isn't a problem, but it does not sound like a response from a knowledgeable support rep.
Click to expand...

It's a quote from Adam Pash's blog, paraphrasing (and likely embellishing) an AppleCare rep's statement. But several news outlets are quoting the AppleCare rep as saying it, not attributing it clearly to Pash.
 
Oletros said:
I thought that if the iPhone is offline, the message is an SMS, am I'm wrong?
Click to expand...

nope. the message hangs out in what some has referred to as "iMessage Purgatory"

jrswizzle said:
I was on Android for the better part of 2013, but never was without messages or a phone at all. Would SIM switch and use both the Moto G and 5C in the same day sometimes.
Click to expand...

hmm...with iMessage still activated on the iPhone?
 
Npalamidis said:
By changing your apple id password automagically apple will require all your devices to re-enter the password for iMessage / iCloud. This will automagically unregister any non iOS device from the iMessage platform.

Hope this fix your problem.
Click to expand...

This is the answer. A friend had the same issue and it solved his problem immediately.
 
zeromeus said:
... is that people are foolish enough to switch from iOS to anything else. Those same people aren't even smart enough to disable iMessage from the phone they leave. If you don't deactivate your iMessage from your phone and then sell it, guess what will happen? Your buyer gets all your iMessages. NOT smart at all. I've switched my phone twice from Apple to Apple and my girlfriend's iphone twice as well. We NEVER receive iMessages on our old phones--only on the new ones because I always disable iMessages from the old iPhones before activating it on a different iPhone. No problem whatsoever.
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really? I like phones. I like tech. doesn't make me foolish. I quite liked the Nexus 5 but like jrswizzle, I'm ultimately an iOS guy. And I'm also quite tech savvy with an ability to problem shoot lots of things... this iMessage issue is real, whether you want to admit it or not (see my other posts, I always disabled iMessage on my phone as well as removed my phone number from iMessages and FaceTime on all my Apple devices before putting the sim in an android phone).

EDIT: it also seems you have read the thread either before commenting... to catch you up to speed

https://forums.macrumors.com/posts/19106158/
 
If someone sends me an iMessage from their iPhone to mine while i'm abroad i do not receive anything because i turn off data roaming.
My girlfriend lives in Ireland (and i'm in Scotland). When she is in Ireland i can send her a 'text message' and it'll automatically change to an iMessage and a blue bubble is seen in the message page. If she then flies over to Scotland and i send her another 'text message' she receives nothing. Obviously her data roaming is automatically turned off, therefore no mobile data can get to her phone.
It just seems a bit stupid to me that in order to receive an iMessage, there isn't a signal type check sent to your phone, allowing the iMessage server to decide to send the message over the phone network or the data network.
This is how i initially thought iMessages worked, but obviously it doesn't
 
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