Text messages going to wrong iPhone

[rexone]

Okay, I totally get that Apple wants us to adopt the continuity & hand-off thing but for those of us that don't like it it's forced adoption is seriously frakin' annoying.
Within our family we have 2 x iPhones, 1 x iPad & 2 x iMac sharing the same Apple account.
We do this as it's the only way that we can keep calendars, address books etc synced.
I just got around to updating one of the iPhones (phone B) & now it is receiving all of the text messages for the other iPhone (phone A).

So to explain;
- Someone directly texts phone A. Phone B receives the text phone A does not.
- If phone B tries to send a text to phone A it is received on phone B.

Really, really useful stuff Apple. Thanks.

What stupid setting has been switched on by default on the recently updated iPhone & how do I turn it off???

Honestly Apple all this stuff is really cool & funky & seamless but will you stop it all being switched on by default & then being so hard to work out & to turn off!!!!!

 

[KALLT]

Simple: don't share accounts. Accounts have always been intended for personal use only and it's a can of worms to manage it that way, not to mention a serious security risk. When you insist to share them regardless: it's your problem. If you must share certain data with others: use separate accounts just for that purpose. You can use your own account for iMessage and FaceTime, there is no need to use the same Apple ID. Best way to do this: Everyone uses their own Apple ID for iCloud, iTunes and iMessage/FaceTime. You create a separate iCloud account for syncing contacts and calendars that you share with each other.

 

[rexone]

Simple: don't share accounts. Accounts have always been intended for personal use only. You create a separate iCloud account for syncing contacts and calendars that you share with each other.

Yeah, thanks for that & quite aware of the limitations.
As I said we had no problem until I updated yesterday. Worked flawlessly.
And really... there is no 'security risk' in making an address book available between family members.
And not to mention that we have about 8 different calendars. To set them all up across multiple devices to share would be seriously painful & annoying.

Like I said... we had no problem until I updated yesterday so if someone could suggest what Apple has switched on that wasn't previously on that would be helpful.
Particularly what is causing all text messages to divert to 'Phone B'

 

[KALLT]

Yeah, thanks for that & quite aware of the limitations.
As I said we had no problem until I updated yesterday. Worked flawlessly.
And really... there is no 'security risk' in making an address book available between family members.
And not to mention that we have about 8 different calendars. To set them all up across multiple devices to share would be seriously painful & annoying.

Like I said... we had no problem until I updated yesterday so if someone could suggest what Apple has switched on that wasn't previously on that would be helpful.
Particularly what is causing all text messages to divert to 'Phone B'

It doesn't matter that you had no problems yesterday, what matters is that you have them now and will likely encounter similar ones in the future as long as the premise of 1 account = 1 person stands. This problem is of your own making and can be avoided easily. There is absolutely no need for doing this anymore. Just set up separate iCloud accounts for each person/device, use them for iCloud and iMessage/FaceTime and use a separate account just for the things you cannot share otherwise, like Contacts. Calendars can be shared with iCloud calendar sharing.

The security risk isn't just about making an address book available to multiple people, the risk is that you are sharing an account that can expose a lot of your data to other people if it is ever compromised. Not just your contacts and address book, but also – as you now see – your private SMS and iMessages, Find My iPhone, iCloud Keychain, your Safari browsing history and so forth. It's not necessary to take that risk anymore.

Particularly what is causing all text messages to divert to 'Phone B'

Have you checked Messages settings, in particular iMessage? SMS messages don't 'divert', they are simply copied to all of your devices that are signed in with the same Apple ID under iMessage settings. Check the device to which your phone number belongs and make sure that Handoff is not enabled (for other devices).

 

[AZhappyjack]

Okay, I totally get that Apple wants us to adopt the continuity & hand-off thing but for those of us that don't like it it's forced adoption is seriously frakin' annoying.
Within our family we have 2 x iPhones, 1 x iPad & 2 x iMac sharing the same Apple account.
We do this as it's the only way that we can keep calendars, address books etc synced.
I just got around to updating one of the iPhones (phone B) & now it is receiving all of the text messages for the other iPhone (phone A).

So to explain;
- Someone directly texts phone A. Phone B receives the text phone A does not.
- If phone B tries to send a text to phone A it is received on phone B.

Really, really useful stuff Apple. Thanks.

What stupid setting has been switched on by default on the recently updated iPhone & how do I turn it off???

Honestly Apple all this stuff is really cool & funky & seamless but will you stop it all being switched on by default & then being so hard to work out & to turn off!!!!!

When in doubt, blame Apple.

Don't share accounts. One AppleID to be shared across all for iTunes purchases (or use family sharing).

Each user should get their own AppleID for FaceTime/iMessage use. Don't share this ID. And don't share contacts across users.

Sharing calendars is not an issue, but sharing a single set of contacts IS a problem and could very easily result in the behavior that you are seeing.

Handoff and Continuity are NOT forced on you (or any user). The settings are right there in plain sight to turn those features off if you don't want to use them. But you have to flip the switch.

 

[XTheLancerX]

I agree with the others. Don't share accounts. You can do it but you have to scour through all the settings and fine pick everything to get stuff to work right. Can't you invite others to your calendar events and when you make a new contact, just send the contact via iMessage and save it directly to the other device? You can use iCloud photo sharing to post new photos to share with others.

ANYWAY. I have the actual fix for your problem, not just complaining about your setup for once.

Go to iPhone A (the one that is relaying the messages), go into settings, messages, text message forwarding, and flip the switch off for all undesired devices.

 

[Steve28]

I'm not trying to pile on, but they way you do this correctly is using the family sharing. Each person has their own iTunes account... On your phone you add them to the "family" this automatically sets up shared calendars, contacts, etc. Even purchases are shared from the iTunes Store.

If you actually intend them all to be identical, then you can signed them into the same accounts (I have an iPhone and iPad this way) in that case both receive everything, but both also send texts as me, so that only works if you are the sole user)

 

[cas85]

I'm not trying to pile on, but they way you do this correctly is using the family sharing. Each person has their own iTunes account... On your phone you add them to the "family" this automatically sets up shared calendars, contacts, etc. Even purchases are shared from the iTunes Store.

If you actually intend them all to be identical, then you can signed them into the same accounts (I have an iPhone and iPad this way) in that case both receive everything, but both also send texts as me, so that only works if you are the sole user)

Exactly this. Calendars and contacts can stay synced without text message problems OP is having.

 

[KALLT]

I'm not trying to pile on, but they way you do this correctly is using the family sharing. Each person has their own iTunes account... On your phone you add them to the "family" this automatically sets up shared calendars, contacts, etc. Even purchases are shared from the iTunes Store.

Family sharing also shares contacts? I didn't know that.

 

[AZhappyjack]

Family sharing also shares contacts? I didn't know that.

I don't believe so. If it does, it's a new development/addition.

 

[Armen]

Within our family we have 2 x iPhones, 1 x iPad & 2 x iMac sharing the same Apple account.

You need to setup Family sharing and assign unique Apple ID's for family members. Don't blame Apple because you decided to setup your Apple accounts incorrectly.