iMessage is sometimes slow to update

[iMas70]

I've noticed iMessage on my iMac is sometimes slow to update. For example, I sent a message a few days ago then wondered why the person didn't reply, I looked at my phone 40 minutes later to find she replied a few minutes after I sent it. Another time I sent someone a message and didn't see a reply until I looked at my phone 15 minutes later. But... then there are times when I can have a texting conversation with someone and it will update without a problem. I haven't found a pattern for when it lags. Sometimes it does and sometimes it doesn't. I've noticed this happening over the last few weeks. It was fine before that. Has anyone else experienced this?

 

[Floris]

I dramatically improved responsiveness with Apple's iMsg on high sierra on my new iMac from 2017 by making sure the dns is not my ISP's dns

I noticed poor performance and had dnsCrypt installed (of course) and went to console log, i had slow moving dns requests each time i opened imsg, .. when i moved to a more local and open dns service the response was near instant and when i get msgs now, they show up on imsg on imac, before they do on the ipad, the ipad was always second.

 

[jk73]

There's no reason it should lag other than a poor/inconsistent internet connection. Have you tried logging in and out of iCloud and/or Messages on the offending device? Do you have an enormous Messages archive? Anecdotally, mine seems snappier after having cleared a lot of old discussions.

 

[iMas70]

Yes, I've logged in and out to see if that would help. I haven't really seen much of a difference. I've been paying attention to it over the last few days. Some messages will show on my iMac about 15 minutes after I get them on the phone/iPad. I can be using my computer when that happens or it can be asleep. Other things it works fine. I had a long text conversation with someone a few nights ago. The only thing that I can think of changing doing that period is I upgraded my modem/router and got new service.

 

[iMas70]

I've been paying attention to how this is (or isn't) working. I've been texting with a friend this morning. I sent a text from my computer then heard my phone ding when I received a reply. I didn't see the reply on my computer. I replied there because it was faster. The other message came through after I sent that and everything fell into place. This has happened a few times with a couple of people this morning. I forced closed the app a couple of times. That doesn't help.

 

[jk73]

As you probably know, you're supposed to get the reply on the last device used, so it appears something has gone wrong when it comes to iCloud. Have you tried logging out of iCloud on all devices, waiting a few minutes, and then logging back in on all devices?

 

[iMas70]

I usually receive replies on all of my devices. I'll try logging out of everything to see if that works. But first, I sign onto my Mac mini to see how my conversations are working on that.