iMessage name@name.com

[Melodeath]

Ok I've been texting a friend lately and everything has been normal. Her phone number is in my phone as a contact and when she texts me it shows up as her name, and the messages are typically iMessages, with the occasional green "Sent as Text."

Then last night suddenly all our texts were green, and not iMessages. I figured it's because she is in a place with no WiFi.

Then I got a text from [her first name]@[her last name].com and it's all iMessages. This is a separate conversation thread than the contact for her phone number, but she says she is texting from her phone as usual.

Any ideas why this has happened? All my iMessages with other friends are working as normal, so I assume it's something with her phone, but it's annoying that this contact has suddenly become two contacts in my phone instead of one.

 

[lordofthereef]

Sounds like some settings changed on her end somehow; she isn't set to receive iMessage via phone number anymore.

 

[Melodeath]

Do you think if I add that email address to her normal contact entry in my phone, all of the new texts will merge to the previous message thread?

 

[AAPLinc]

Yes, this happened to me when I first got my 4S and started using iMessage. She has to set her phone to send/receive messages at her number and not her email address.

 

[Melodeath]

Ok so, under Settings>Messages>Receive At she has both her phone number and email listed. And under Caller ID the checkmark is next to her number, not her email. She has tried turning off iMessages, then turning it back on, and turning the phone off and on, but iMessages are still coming from her email to me and other people.

Anyone have any ideas?

 

[MacFan23]

Which thread are you responding to the name@name.com or the number?
Could it be as simple as you replying in the name@name.com thread?

 

[Melodeath]

Which thread are you responding to the name@name.com or the number?
Could it be as simple as you replying in the name@name.com thread?

When it's a text it comes through on the number and I reply there. When it's an iMessage it comes through as the email, and I reply to that thread instead.

Again, this only started a couple of nights ago. before, texts and iMessages were in the same thread.

 

[MacFan23]

When it's a text it comes through on the number and I reply there. When it's an iMessage it comes through as the email, and I reply to that thread instead.

Again, this only started a couple of nights ago. before, texts and iMessages were in the same thread.

How about if she goes to settings -> Messages and signs out?

 

[Melodeath]

How about if she goes to settings -> Messages and signs out?

Hmm, I am not seeing that option under Messages. Do you mean turning iMessage off then on? That requires a re-login.

 

[MacFan23]

Hmm, I am not seeing that option under Messages. Do you mean turning iMessage off then on? That requires a re-login.

I mean just leaving it off without signing into an Apple ID

 

[dccorona]

This is a known issue, it's got to do with the (bad) way apple handles email-based iMessages. They claim that will be fixed in iOS 6...you'll be able to bind a phone number to your apple account and set it as your primary ID, so it shows up as from your number even when sent from a mac, iPad, or iPod. Any message sent from any of your IDs or to any of your IDs will appear in the same thread in both your and the senders/receivers message box.

So they claim...I hope it works that seamlessly, as that's what I was envisioning/hoping for with the original iMessage

 

[Melodeath]

It's a known issue? It's just really odd this spontaneously started and no setting appears to have changed to cause it

 

[Melodeath]

Thought I'd update the thread and say that suddenly everything is back to normal. iMessages have started coming from her phone number again. She says she didn't do anything to the phone to fix it, so who knows what happened.

 

[MacFan23]

Thought I'd update the thread and say that suddenly everything is back to normal. iMessages have started coming from her phone number again. She says she didn't do anything to the phone to fix it, so who knows what happened.

Guess it was just some server side bug. I've had the "undelivered" one a couple of times now. Must be hard to manage that system with so many messages being sent a day.

 

[soLoredd]

You don't need WiFi to send iMessages from iPhone - it still works over cellular. Probably just a server issue.

Would be nice to have email and phone number as ONE, so I can move from my iPhone and iPad seamlessly. Hopefully iOS 6 fixes this.