iMessage - What a mess.

[splifingate]

this new carrier does not support iMessage

This Carrier (C) chooses to not support iMessage.

That's their prerogative.

I do not really know what your native language actually is (Dutch? Afrikaans? Spanish? English? Swahili?); but I know that--no matter the medium--we can always achieve some degree of mutually-satisfying communication. Through conversion, and translation.

If an individual finds themselves communicating entirely with those of their familial, natal, natural, societal-hapolal-clade, inter-personal communication revolves to a simplistic, mono-bloc(ian) pattern.

*record-scratch*

*cough*

I'm currently in the process of achieving State-Standards-Certification for Teaching, and--at this time--I am (attempting to visualize the concept of the replication of DNA) 🤷‍♂️

So, let me leave this with you:

"Find a Carrier that supports what you want to do."

 

[kevcube]

Maybe I'm missing something, but this has to be one of the most un-userfriendly message apps I've used.

Up until now my wife and I are still the only 2 people I know that use it, with each other. We both have lots of friends and family with iPhones yet we just use Whatsapp with everyone else, and it just works. The annoying AI thingy is a non-issue. I barely see it, and have never used it. It's not that hard to just ignore.

Here's my iMessage story.

So I recently decided to switch carriers, but kept the same number, and that's when the fun started. Turns out this new carrier does not support iMessage? They say they do, but they do not. I simply could not re-activate it, even after a week when it was working fine with my previous carrier. So I ported back to my old carrier and after a day it started working again. I then switched to eSIM, same number, same carrier, and iMessage freaked out, again. I also travel a lot and often switch sims, and while WA just keeps going with the same number, iMessage can't handle that.

I give up.

Carriers don’t dictate iMessage support. As long as you can receive an sms you can use iMessage. But yes, iMessage is one of the worst chat apps. I’m a telegram fan but WhatsApp works well too.

 

[kevcube]

That's not correct. You have to activate iMessage with your phone number via the carrier initially. If not set up properly on the carrier's end iMessage won't be usable via the phone number.

The activation is just an sms. Apple devices hide the sms, but the only way a carrier can not support iMessage is if they either block the sms or don’t support sms entirely. I don’t think there’s any carrier in the work doing the latter. The former would be a dumb anti consumer move, and also probably isn’t happening. I think op just configured something wrong and wants to complain.

Op follow this https://support.apple.com/en-us/108758

 

[AlaskaMoose]

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 have no idea which AI is used in WhatsApp, but it seems to be more accurate than AI in the iPhone. That aside, I can call friends and family overseas using WhatsApp, and don't have to pay international phone-call charges. I have only tried it via my network WiFi, however. But I do know that I can text family and friends overseas using WhatsApp, and the messages are encrypted regardless if they use iPhones or not. iMessage can only text to Android phones unencrypted. Not so with iMessage. Foreign students attending universities and other schools in the US, all have WhatsApp in their Android and iPhones for the reasons I mentioned above, specially because voice messages, texts, and calls back and forth (US/overseas).

I do use iMessage 99.9% of the time between from iPhone to iPhones, iPads, and Macs, and leave WhatsApp for texting and encrypted calls cross-platforms or Android devices.

 

[EuroChilli]

I think op just configured something wrong and wants to complain.

Op follow this https://support.apple.com/en-us/108758

You really think so? I wasn't born yesterday. I got my first cell phone in 1996, been using iPhone since 2012. I'm usually pretty good at this kind of stuff.

Let me summarise. So I port to another carrier, and the moment I activate the sim of the new carrier with my same old number, iMessage wants to send an sms to Apple. Why? I'm using the same number. But ok fine. Yet that sms never happens, and iMessage just sits in an endless activation loop.

I then port back to the previous carrier, and hey presto, iMessage works again. I then wanted to try my old carriers eSIM swap function, and for whatever strange reason iMessage wants to send another verification sms to Apple. Same number, same carrier, just another eSIM.

So this begs the question. Why oh why does Apple care when I change carriers or sims, while keeping the same number. What am I missing here?

 

[EuroChilli]

The activation is just an sms. Apple devices hide the sms, but the only way a carrier can not support iMessage is if they either block the sms or don’t support sms entirely. I don’t think there’s any carrier in the work doing the latter. The former would be a dumb anti consumer move, and also probably isn’t happening. I think op just configured something wrong and wants to complain.

Op follow this https://support.apple.com/en-us/108758

My educated guess is the new carrier is having problems with sending international sms, even though they say its allowed. I sent an sms to another local mobile number in Belgium and it worked. But iMessage sends its sms to +44 UK.

 

[EuroChilli]

Well well well...back at my old carrier iMessage has been refusing to re-activate on my usual number, for days, and for no obvious reason. So I requested another eSIM, and seconds after installation of the new eSIM iMessage activated on the number.

The rest of my phone service has otherwise been working, but for some reason iMessage didn't like the last eSIM profile, from the same carrier. This was maybe also the problem with the other carrier, but they still don't do eSIM, so requesting a physical swap would take days and not minutes.

With all this said, it would seem your choice of carrier can affect iMessage, which is not the case with Whatsapp.

+1 Whatsapp
-1 iMessage

 

[kevcube]

You really think so? I wasn't born yesterday. I got my first cell phone in 1996, been using iPhone since 2012. I'm usually pretty good at this kind of stuff.

Let me summarise. So I port to another carrier, and the moment I activate the sim of the new carrier with my same old number, iMessage wants to send an sms to Apple. Why? I'm using the same number. But ok fine. Yet that sms never happens, and iMessage just sits in an endless activation loop.

I then port back to the previous carrier, and hey presto, iMessage works again. I then wanted to try my old carriers eSIM swap function, and for whatever strange reason iMessage wants to send another verification sms to Apple. Same number, same carrier, just another eSIM.

So this begs the question. Why oh why does Apple care when I change carriers or sims, while keeping the same number. What am I missing here?

ok sorry - but I mean this one earnestly and inoffensively - have you tried turning the iPhone on and off again? I switched nation of residence recently, did a lot of carrier swapping, things were not working for a day or two but then started to again. and also are all the devices on your Apple ID up to date? maybe remove any old ones that could be keeping your ID in some weird state.

 

[generdude]

WhatsApp collects metadata from every single message and beams it up to Meta to be sold for advertising purposes. Have fun with that.

To clarify:
WhatsApp does not collect the content of your messages-those remain protected by end-to-end encryption, so neither WhatsApp nor Meta (its parent company) can read them. However, WhatsApp does collect a significant amount of metadata from your usage. Metadata includes information such as your phone number, IP address, who you contact, when you contact them, the frequency and duration of your activity, device information, and more.
This metadata is shared with Meta and can be combined with data from other Meta products (like Facebook and Instagram) to build detailed user profiles. Meta uses this information to improve its services and to personalize and target advertising across its platforms. While WhatsApp states it does not share your contacts or message content with Meta, the metadata alone is sufficient to infer much about your social interactions and interests.
In summary, while WhatsApp does not "beam up" the content of every message to Meta for advertising, it does collect and share extensive metadata, which Meta can use for advertising and other business purposes.

 

[TokyoKiller]

Well well well...back at my old carrier iMessage has been refusing to re-activate on my usual number, for days, and for no obvious reason. So I requested another eSIM, and seconds after installation of the new eSIM iMessage activated on the number.

The rest of my phone service has otherwise been working, but for some reason iMessage didn't like the last eSIM profile, from the same carrier. This was maybe also the problem with the other carrier, but they still don't do eSIM, so requesting a physical swap would take days and not minutes.

With all this said, it would seem your choice of carrier can affect iMessage, which is not the case with Whatsapp.

+1 Whatsapp
-1 iMessage

The choice of carrier will definitely be a factor. In Canada one of the new entrants ten years did not support iMessage and FaceTime so you could never use your phone umber for those services. I worked at Apple at the time and it was a common issue with that provider. Eventually, they signed a deal with Apple to start selling iPhones and from there on all features on the iPhone started working like they should.

Curious, could you share who the provider is that you tried?

 

[EuroChilli]

The choice of carrier will definitely be a factor. In Canada one of the new entrants ten years did not support iMessage and FaceTime so you could never use your phone umber for those services. I worked at Apple at the time and it was a common issue with that provider. Eventually, they signed a deal with Apple to start selling iPhones and from there on all features on the iPhone started working like they should.

Curious, could you share who the provider is that you tried?

Digi Belgium. But what is actually interesting is they have been operating very successfully in Spain, Portugal, Italy and Romania where they have their HQ. So they are not actually new to the telco game, think they were founded over 30 years ago. What I think is mostly part of the problem is they were awarded their MNO license to operate in Belgium but had to use it or lose it, or something to that effect. So they were not quite ready when they launched a week before Christmas '24, only 4.5 months ago. They got off to a very rough start. The sim card they send you needs the APN all that stuff to be manually configured. I thought to give them my support and went with them because they do need to succeed. The rest of the local market has been and still is a prime example of price gouging, of the highest order. Just look at what Telenet, Orange and Proximus charge, the other 3 MNOs.

I'm back at Base Company. Now works fine there, after swapping eSIMs. Think one eSIM installation could have gone bad. It happens. That could have also been a problem at Digi. A corrupted sim card.

It's been an interesting week.

 

[EuroChilli]

ok sorry - but I mean this one earnestly and inoffensively - have you tried turning the iPhone on and off again? I switched nation of residence recently, did a lot of carrier swapping, things were not working for a day or two but then started to again. and also are all the devices on your Apple ID up to date? maybe remove any old ones that could be keeping your ID in some weird state.

Come on, do you really think I didn't try all that? Got my first computer in 1984. I kinda know my way around these kinds of things, and that includes keeping things up to date ;-)

I've travelled a lot and bought pre-paid sims in many countries, popped them in and instantly been able to activate iMessage with the new number. So when simply switching home carriers with the same number it should also just work, right? Well it didn't, while following the exact same process I've been following with iMessage for over 10 years now.

It was also a problem with the esim from my old provider when I ported back to them, so I got another one, as stated already. Problem solved. But I'm still miffed with Apple for not picking this up. "Sorry, there is a problem with your sim, please get another one" Instead of "There was an error, please try again, and again, and again, and again....."

 

[amancalledsun]

Welcome to the internet at large, where 'privacy' is but a farce.

You want total privacy? Stay off the internet.

Why are people ok with this, though? Privacy is a basic human right and should be protected, much like freedom of speech, personal autonomy, etc. People choose to be ok with it and let companies like Meta abuse it for profit.

 

[Lynxpoint]

I think I live in my own special universe... almost.

iMessage is my public messenger platform, and never has any issues, but I really want to ditch things tied to my phone number, because once some unscrupulous entity gets their hands on it... well... who wants spam calls and texts? I love icloud's hide my email address for this reason. We need an easy solution like this for phone numbers.

So, my solution is my known contacts all use Garmin Messenger with me... the only weakness in this solution is I can't access GM on the Mac. I can live with that though.

 

[AL2TEACH]

Whew and Holy 💩
I went crazy looking for the difference between iMessage and Messages app and found it.

 

[JapanApple]

Never have or had problems or issues with iMessage.

 

[WilliApple]

Your iMessage may be turned off.

 

[EuroChilli]

Never have or had problems or issues with iMessage.

That's quite possible, if you've never changed carriers or sim cards/esims. But, yes I have change sims and carriers before with no issues.

In this case it was changing to a new carrier that still hasn't been able to set up the ability to send international sms. I'm now 99% sure that was the problem. Not sure about you guys over in the US, but the iMessage activation sms sent from either Africa or Europe needs to go to UK +44. In many case carriers won't actually charge you for this, it doesn't even show up on your bill. This new carrier I tried (Digi Belgium) will charge you €0,07, but they can't even do that right now, for whatever reason.

 

[EuroChilli]

Your iMessage may be turned off.

Well no, it was me trying to turn it on and activate it on my usual number. The verification sms was not being sent by the carrier who I am no longer with. It now works again with my old carrier.

 

[JapanApple]

Your iMessage may be turned off.

That's quite possible, if you've never changed carriers or sim cards/esims. But, yes I have change sims and carriers before with no issues.

In this case it was changing to a new carrier that still hasn't been able to set up the ability to send international sms. I'm now 99% sure that was the problem. Not sure about you guys over in the US, but the iMessage activation sms sent from either Africa or Europe needs to go to UK +44. In many case carriers won't actually charge you for this, it doesn't even show up on your bill. This new carrier I tried (Digi Belgium) will charge you €0,07, but they can't even do that right now, for whatever reason.

Well using different countries.I can say there been no issues or problems. So yes it’s possible no problems.

 

[EuroChilli]

Whew and Holy 💩
I went crazy looking for the difference between iMessage and Messages app and found it.

You didn't know there is a difference? But yes, iMessage is an Apple only service that operates inside the Messages app, along with MMS, SMS and RCS.

 

[EuroChilli]

Well using different countries.I can say there been no issues or problems. So yes it’s possible no problems.

I also haven't had problems using iMessage in more countries than I can count around the world over the last 10 years, until now.

 

[EuroChilli]

Why are people ok with this, though? Privacy is a basic human right and should be protected, much like freedom of speech, personal autonomy, etc. People choose to be ok with it and let companies like Meta abuse it for profit.

I can't say I'm ok with it, but how else are we to pay for these 'free' services?

 

[Alpha Centauri]

I'm not sure what's going on but would be guessing it's a carrier issue? My number and email address is tied to the iCloud account, I have switched sims/ sims multiple times, also using local overseas providers. Now every single time I activate a phone line I have the message coming up, asking if I want to use Messages and FaceTime for that particular number.

The biggest gripe I have with Messages is that one particular recipient (if I leave a voice message), has to quickly press "keep" or my Vox disappears from their phone but remains on mine. All settings are checked to keep messages "forever" on both ends, both phones are on the latest iOS...no idea what's happening.

 

[kevcube]

The biggest gripe I have with Messages is that one particular recipient (if I leave a voice message), has to quickly press "keep" or my Vox disappears from their phone but remains on mine

The default setting is to erase them after two minutes. They can change this in settings. I have no idea who thought it was a smart default..