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iPhone iMessage reverts to SMS

C

cschreppel

macrumors regular
Original poster
Jul 17, 2006
248
0
Boston, MA
My wife and I moved over from AT&T to Verizon with the iPhone 5 release (we both had the iPhone 4). While I have had zero issues with iMessage, her phone consistently reverts all iMessages (inbound and outbound) to standard SMS.

iMessages will work anywhere from 5 mins to 2 hours before defaulting to SMS.

I've tried the following:

- Toggle iMessage and FaceTime off and on
- Reset Network Connections
- Erase All Contents and Settings
- Restore from iCloud backup
- Restore from iTunes backup
- Setup as a new iPhone

I've also tried to remove variables by having her phone number be the only Send & Receive address.

No positive results thus far. I've been in touch with Apple Support about it and they've pushed this up to the Engineering Team for review.

In the meantime, is there anything else I could be missing? It's clearly narrowed down to either a server-side issue with Apple or it's the phone itself. Again, we're both on the same plan, network, etc.

Any thoughts would be appreciated.
 
Having the same issue since I got my phone. Also switched from ATT to VZW. I've searched around but it seems like not many people are having the issue.

I have trouble believing it's a hardware issue since my phone is otherwise working perfectly. And like your wife, iMessage does work sometimes... just not consistently.

If you find a resolution, be sure to post it.
 
A few more things... makes no difference whether it's WiFi or LTE or 3G. Also, I have a WiFi-only iPad 2 and iMessage is working fine on the iPad using the same WiFi network that it's *not* working on using the iPhone 5.
 
Yeah, my wife's iPad is running iMessage just fine. Granted, it's on iOS 5 since she uses it through work and they haven't cleared iOS 6 yet.
 
get both phones on WIFI and try it, if the problem still persists with both phones on WIFI then it's the iPhone problem and not the network. If it is the iPhone then Restore as NEW don't use backups.
 
Carlanga said:
get both phones on WIFI and try it, if the problem still persists with both phones on WIFI then it's the iPhone problem and not the network. If it is the iPhone then Restore as NEW don't use backups.
Click to expand...

Already did the Wifi test. Restored as a new phone was one of the first things I did.
 
cschreppel said:
Already did the Wifi test. Restored as a new phone was one of the first things I did.
Click to expand...

then try switching iPhones w/ apple IDs'. You take her ID on your phone and hers in yours and try it. If it still persists the same issue on the same phone then take it to the apple store for replacement, but if the other one that was working stops receiving then call apple to fix the apple id that is bad or create a new one.
 
Carlanga said:
then try switching iPhones w/ apple IDs'. You take her ID on your phone and hers in yours and try it. If it still persists the same issue on the same phone then take it to the apple store for replacement, but if the other one that was working stops receiving then call apple to fix the apple id that is bad or create a new one.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the response. We've tried that as well and the problem persists on her phone with my Apple ID. I've mentioned that to Apple, but they still wanted to check out a few things on their end.
 
cschreppel said:
Thanks for the response. We've tried that as well and the problem persists on her phone with my Apple ID. I've mentioned that to Apple, but they still wanted to check out a few things on their end.
Click to expand...

So you think it's the phone? What type of hardware problem could cause something like this? I feel like it has to be software or a problem on Apple's end with the iMessage system.
 
I'm honestly stumped at this point. Unless it's something with porting from AT&T to Verizon, I can only think that's it's something with the wireless chip in the phone that is malfunctioning when using the iMessage protocol.
 
cschreppel said:
I'm honestly stumped at this point. Unless it's something with porting from AT&T to Verizon, I can only think that's it's something with the wireless chip in the phone that is malfunctioning when using the iMessage protocol.
Click to expand...

The mystery is the intermittent nature of it. If it was an issue porting the number, I would assume the problem would be constant. And if it was a hardware problem I would assume the same thing.

I don't know much about the iMessage protocol, but it seems like the phone sends and receives a data packet when you start a text which tells it that the other person is on an iMessage-compatible device. Then it tries to send the iMessage but fails and reverts to SMS. But if other data (internet, email, etc) is working, why would it be a hardware issue with the phone? And again, why would it sometimes work?

That said, the fact that you got the same problem on her phone with your Apple ID certainly does point to the hardware. It just doesn't make sense.
 
Agreed. Just to clarify, iMessages never start working again on their own once they revert to SMS. They only start working if I do some sort of reset (either hard reset, network settings, or a restore).

Hoping to get a call back from Apple tomorrow.
 
Oh, that's interesting. The last few days I haven't done anything... not even powered down my phone, and iMessage comes and goes. I can't find any pattern or anything.
 
Same Problem ATT > Verizon Iphone 5 iOS6 Facetime & iMessage Problems

I have the exact same problem, and it is sporadic, but once it occurs I need to reset my phone (turning off works) for iMessage to start working again. I have problems receiving or sending facetime calls when this happens as well. I've tried, Wifi to Wifi, Wifi to LTE, LTE to LTE, and LTE to 3g. Horrible experience so far, I hope they fix this. I'm going to call Verizon today, then go to an apple store with 2 iphones to show them the problem. I'll post back if I find a fix.
 
anders5-eric said:
I have the exact same problem, and it is sporadic, but once it occurs I need to reset my phone (turning off works) for iMessage to start working again. I have problems receiving or sending facetime calls when this happens as well. I've tried, Wifi to Wifi, Wifi to LTE, LTE to LTE, and LTE to 3g. Horrible experience so far, I hope they fix this. I'm going to call Verizon today, then go to an apple store with 2 iphones to show them the problem. I'll post back if I find a fix.
Click to expand...

Please keep us posted! I'm giving Apple another call tomorrow if I don't hear from them today.
 
I upgraded the Verizon carrier settings yesterday and iMessages worked on LTE for a few hours after that. I got home and it was working on my wifi too, so I was hopeful. Then when I left the house and went back on LTE it started reverting to SMS again. Oh well.
 
kauffee said:
I upgraded the Verizon carrier settings yesterday and iMessages worked on LTE for a few hours after that. I got home and it was working on my wifi too, so I was hopeful. Then when I left the house and went back on LTE it started reverting to SMS again. Oh well.
Click to expand...

same here...
 
I posted an update here, which is a duplicate issue:
https://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?p=15944791&posted=1#post15944791

Still no solution after resetting network settings, and individually logging in and out of imessage and facetime. Next step per apple is to restore the phone from itunes, then go in for a replacement phone (have Genius bar appointment tomorrow night). From what I've read from others this will not work. This sounds like an Apple/Verizon software problem. If anybody has a case number from apple please post it, so we can all reference that case when calling.
 
Same here, went from AT&T iPhone 4 to Verizon iPhone 5 and iMessage intermittently reverts to SMS, when I know the other party is on a data network or wifi. Apple doesn't know anything about it.
 
Having the same problem, and replaced my iPhone 5 at Apple today. It worked fine for about 2 hours, then broke again. Definitely seems this isn't hardware related.
 
I had this same problem on my iphone 4 and i found the problem was with the "Send Read Receipts" setting. I turned it off and it fixed the problem for me.
 
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