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iMessage - What a mess.
- Thread starter EuroChilli
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Please curb your whataboutism, iMessage/iCloud doesn't get better because of Meta's policy.
An update:
So I'm back at my previous operator where iMessage was working perfectly. Yet 24 hrs later it is still refusing to re-activate with the same number? What's going on?
Jobs must be turning in his grave. It does not just work.
So I'm back at my previous operator where iMessage was working perfectly. Yet 24 hrs later it is still refusing to re-activate with the same number? What's going on?
Jobs must be turning in his grave. It does not just work.
Using Signal would be an improvement.
Unless you accidentally invite a pesky journalist to your military planning group chat, I guess.
I had the same problem recently (solution below). I switched carrier and then messages weren't going through or were going through, but I still got the red exclamation mark that they were not sent.
I think, it's got something to do with the temporary phone number I got at midnight for a short time before I got back my old number on the new carrier. And with the iPhone asking me if I wanted to use FaceTime with that new number.
I had to fiddle around quiet a bit before I got it to work again. Apple's documentation of what something "really" does can be quiet lacking at times. Not the carrier's fault, though. And imessage should work with all carriers, as long are you got data. It's just an IP-messenger on top of SMS - and that's what's making most of the problems with imessage in my experience (in contrary to WhatsApp that only uses your number as an identifier to sync your contacts and spy on you).
What worked for me:
Unfortunately this also deletes all your saved Wi-Fi passwords. But you can get them from another Apple device like an iPad if they are saved there
Also, don't forget to check/set your APN, etc., mobile network settings when switching to another carrier - although that wasn't the culprit in my situation.
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I think one of the problems with the new carrier was the sending of the verification sms. How that could be a problem I don't know. This carrier claimed sending international sms is allowed.
Perhaps iMessage can do what Whatsapp does, send an sms to the users number, not the other way around.
Strangely enough iMessage is now working with only my AppleID email, when it conked out completely with the other carrier. It didn't even work via email ID. My number did work with this carrier before, but I might just leave it for another day. There is currently only 1 tick next to my email. I told it to stop trying with my number.
As said, what also freaked iMessage out was swapping eSIMs with the same carrier and same number. Go figure.
What I have read is swapping carriers can and does cause issues with iMessage, but to varying degrees. Guess I'm not going to change carriers again in a hurry.
I've been at this for days now. Time to watch some mindless B-grade movies on Prime.
I remember a few months back I switched SIM cards with my sister, because she had a weird issue that her mobile speeds where basically never present but providing hotspot was perfectly fine. I’m on Telekom, she’s on Vodafone, we’re both in Germany.
I wanted to see if the SIM was somehow the issue after an iOS 18 beta fried my SIM and I got a little paranoid. The SIM wasn’t the problem.
Anyway, we both got the „this is your new number: …“ and the „new phone number registered with iMessage and FaceTime“ windows, but opening a YouTube video in Safari or doing a speed check didn’t trigger anything iMessage related for us, fortunately.
As someone else said iMessage is just a data app, so it just communicates with apple and with apple they just take your real money. Have fun with that. 🍿🙈
Have you tried deregistering your phone number from iMessage through Apple's website?
Follow these steps if you haven't already:
- Turn off iMessage & FaceTime on your iPhone in Settings.
- Remove your SIM card from your phone.
- Deregister the phone number on Apple's website here.
- Wait about 10 minutes.
- Reinsert SIM card into your phone.
- Once your cell service is back, go into settings and enable iMessage and FaceTime.
Thats the thing, the data part works, if you can send imessages over your email as an identifier, (as does whatsapp that only uses web-messaging). The Number/SMS part gets imessage confused (whatsapp doesn't have that part). I suggest trying resetting those network settings if you want your number to work again. I bet, "plain" sms - e.g. to an android user - still won't work until you do this.
Also, logging out of icloud and logging back in sometimes resolved imessage-bugs in the past.
Did you check her mobile network settings (apn, etc)? Under Einstellungen->Mobilfunk->Mobiles Datennetzwerk. You can usually google those settings specific to your carrier.
Klingt ziemlich danach, als ob da was faul wäre.
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While on the subject of annoyances in Messages.app, I've noticed that while I receive notifications for RCS/SMS, the app icon doesn't have any badges for those message threads.
I don’t think the average person is as compromised as Waltz-ing Mike. 😀
A certain journalist had his Signal messages read by US gov just before interviewing the Pootin so really, even Signal isn’t what it claims. Telegram secret chats might be better, maybe not.
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Well, there's always the possibility of compromising a phone via spyware, installing a keylogger or reading out the contents over usb with dedicated intelligence tools like pegasus if you're a target and not super-careful. e.g., using a data cable in a public charging spot on an airport is theoretically not the best idea if you're a spy. Reading out a not-so-encrypted time machine backup also works, as a chat scandal in my country proofed.
Use disappearing messages in signal for more security or a pigeon and one time pads. A messenger that's not as widely used as signal or telegram might also help.
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Those are good points. I’m recalling now that he also said he has to replace his phone every year or two because it gets really hot and slow, which I guess could indicate spyware.
The problem was apparently Lockdown’s installed profile. Reinstalling the app fixed the issue.
Interestingly not even a full restore after a factory reset fixed it.
Here in Canada I ported my number to other carriers maybe a dozen times in the past 10 years, and I've never had issues with iMessage, always keeping the same number.
I never thought carrier support was necessary, but it was an Apple thing.
I never thought carrier support was necessary, but it was an Apple thing.
Different design approaches and needs, I guess. Whatsapp comes as an app to your phone, message is an app on your phone. Messages evolved from putting messenger functionality on top of sms, whatsapp was a clone of the messenger-part of messages that became the defacto sms-replacement. Whatsapp has to use another app - sms within messages - to verify your identity. iMessage could do the same with sms, and it probably does in some form, but that "2FA" would still be within the same messages app that also does messaging from other accounts as identifiers. Sounds complicated to me.
If i'm not mistaken, all of this has gotten a little better over the last decades, but it still can be quite a mess from the user's perspective. Especially when switching carriers and using iMessages on multiple machines with multiple accounts (and on different OS-Versions).
I wouldn't contribute those problems to cheapo carriers, though. Often they are just renting the network from a big carrier anyway. I've switched quite often, and sometimes you don't even have to change your APN, etc. because they are from the same carrier you just "left". And sometimes the more expensive ones need some manual setup as well. (usually one should automatically get a message that installs carrier settings, but my milage has varied on this)
Only difference I noticed was that some didn't support the apple visual voice mail function that was a thing when iphones were still kids - but I guess, most of them did in the end. Does anyone still use that, anyway?
And you couldn't use your phone as a hotspot on every carrier - but that seems to have gone away as well.
I used to work for a major carrier. I can explain the source of iMessage problems. I am the furthest thing from an Apple apologist, but here is how it is set up.
The carriers feed Apple's system to tell it when to provision (activate) iMessage. This table sometimes gets corrupted, which is how the "switching between and Android and iPhone" page was created. It's an automatic system, but there is a lot of fallout.
In your case, it is likely the carrier's fault. Things I would want to know: do other people with iPhones on this carrier have any iMessage problems. It is unlikely anyone could have a cell phone company in 2025 and not support iMessage.
Phone activation systems used to be simple, but have become more complex with more servers (iMessage, controlled by Apple, eSIM, etc.)
The carriers feed Apple's system to tell it when to provision (activate) iMessage. This table sometimes gets corrupted, which is how the "switching between and Android and iPhone" page was created. It's an automatic system, but there is a lot of fallout.
In your case, it is likely the carrier's fault. Things I would want to know: do other people with iPhones on this carrier have any iMessage problems. It is unlikely anyone could have a cell phone company in 2025 and not support iMessage.
Phone activation systems used to be simple, but have become more complex with more servers (iMessage, controlled by Apple, eSIM, etc.)
Yes, I prefer using WhatsApp for texting family and friends who don't use the iPhone. Siri and iMessage are inferior to WhatsApp in other areas too: cross-platform encrypted messaging, and also the voice recognition (as when using the microphone to record a message). For example, lets say that I want to text an iMessage to a person named Cathryn: in this case I choose and tap the contact's name or Cathryn, then I tap the microphone and record the message, and say, "Cathryn I will be home in a few minutes."
For some reason the iMessage can't tell the difference between "Cathryn, or Katherine," and other versions of Cathryn
-all done right within the contact's name that I had tapped previously. Sometimes I have to spell the correct name more than once, like "C a t h r y n" but this does not make any sense to me.
Yes, quite a few other reports of iMessage problems on this carrier, thanks to reddit. However, they do still deserve a chance as the local market could use a shakeup. They are in fact a fully licensed MNO and are busy putting up their own entire network, 5G, fibre, the lot. They are in the meantime renting RAN from another MNO.
"It looks like the phone number you provided is not registered with iMessage. Please verify the number and try again."
I've had this number for 15 years, it's burned into my brain. I don't need to verify it.
But, I cant register this number with iMessage because it is not registered. Got it.
The boffins that program these systems must be really proud of themselves.
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Erm, I have had the opposite issue. Never s problem with iMessage, but many issues and annoyances with WhatsApp. It’s much easier to sync iMessage via iCloud and it supports phone numbers and email addresses, whereas WhatsApp is a mess if you get a new number for example.
I’ve generally never understood the appeal of WhatsApp.
I’ve generally never understood the appeal of WhatsApp.
I would troubleshoot with Apple Support.
The carrier doesn't contribute anything to iMessage except the data connection. Texts are sent and received through Apple's servers. The phone number is only the "username." This is why if one gets a new phone number, they need to un-register the old one from iMessage and Apple Account.
The carrier doesn't contribute anything to iMessage except the data connection. Texts are sent and received through Apple's servers. The phone number is only the "username." This is why if one gets a new phone number, they need to un-register the old one from iMessage and Apple Account.