SMS messages don't propagate their read status

[donawalt]

Do others see this? Between my iPhone, iPad, and 2 Macs, whenever a SMS message of the type that's a non-phone number comes in (like 323-44, 100-22 - like FIs, utilities etc.), the iPhone forwards the message to all devices (per the setting being ON), but then no matter where I read it, the unread badge does not change on other devices. This includes SMS messages that are the 2FA messages as well as something like a charge being reported to a credit card.

It's been this way since v. 26.0 (I am on 26.1 on all devices now). I asked one of the AI engines to research this, this is what it came up with (below). Is this for real? Apple expects us to mark a message as read on every device? I am adaptable, how does Apple expect us to use this - some other configuration?

What the AI engine said:

Beginning with 26.0, Apple re-architected how Messages in iCloud handles SMS:

• Before 26:
  
  • Every SMS forwarded through your iPhone (via Text Message Forwarding) was logged in a single Messages database (chat.db) shared via iCloud.
  • The “read/unread” flag for those forwarded messages did sync reliably between devices.
• Since 26:
  
  • Apple moved SMS content handling into a more secure on-device subsystem integrated with the Passwords & Verification Codes framework and Transaction Detection (used by Wallet, Apple Cash, and now “Purchases & Bills” summaries).
  • That subsystem intentionally decoupled “transactional” or “verification” SMS threads — identified by short-codes, alphanumeric senders, or financial keywords — from the main iMessage sync process.
  • Result: content still syncs (so you see the same messages everywhere), but read/unread state is no longer propagated for these categories.

It’s a privacy and performance redesign: those messages are scanned locally by the OS for things like one-time codes, bill-due reminders, and receipts. They now live in a semi-sandboxed partition inside the Messages database, and only your “main device” (the iPhone) tracks their read state.

 

[BriceApp]

Mine update correctly across devices, but I also have “Screen Unknown Senders” disabled. During the iOS 26 betas, I had “Screen Unknown Senders” enabled and I did have weird read and delete syncs between devices with SMS messages.

 

[donawalt]

Thanks @BriceApp . Hmm. Something more must be going on here. I wish I could figure this out. I do not have screen unknown senders enabled, never had it enabled either.

 

[BriceApp]

This is a number of years old but might help.

SMS (green) message read status not synci… - Apple Community

discussions.apple.com

 

[donawalt]

Thank you @BriceApp !!! And thank you jefftb78 on the original post if you are around here. This appears to have worked! After I took the steps in his post, I have now had a credit card charge and a 2FA text message come in, both handled correctly! YAY!

To continue the tradition, I updated his instructions for today's devices/settings:

1. Under Apps/Messages/Send & Receive on iPhone, unselect your phone number as a place to send and receive iMessages. You should only have your Apple ID/email address selected.

2. Turn off Apps/Messages/iMessage slider for 5 - 10 seconds. Just long enough for us to be sure it registered everywhere.

3. Turn iMessage back on. At this point you should only have your email address as the sender/recipient of iMessages.

4. Wait until you get the pop-up notification that (paraphrased) “your Apple ID is now being used for iMessage on a new iPhone”.

5. After you get the notification that your your Apple ID is now being used for iMessage on a new iPhone, you can change the iMessage settings to allow your phone number to send/receive iMessages again. Just don’t unselect the email address and only leave the phone number.