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Apple being sued over iMessage bug resulting in undelivered text messages to Android users

messages

Following a report earlier this month that Apple started acknowledging a long-standing complaint over a common iMessage bug, Bloomberg (via BI) reports that a customer has filed a lawsuit against Apple and is seeking class action status with a San Jose court.

The problem exists with how Apple’s messaging app handles the switch from its iPhone to iPhone iMessaging platform to traditional SMS text messages when contacts switch to new devices. Apple automatically defaults to the less expensive iMessage to save users from paying for text messages, but if a contact happens to switch to another platform even temporarily— Android for example— the app sometimes does not automatically recognize and switch back to text messages. This leaves users on either end unaware that messages aren’t getting through, and there doesn’t seem to be an easy solution to get the messaging app to stop defaulting to iMessage. Some AppleCare employees are suggesting users not receiving messages ask contacts to delete and re-add them as a contact.

Apple does have a support page detailing the common solutions for deactivating iMessage when switching devices, but some users are reportedly still unable to fix the problem.

In the lawsuit filed against Apple, the consumer claimed she stopped receiving messages from iPhone users after switching to an Android device:

The text-messaging lawsuit, which seeks class-action status and undetermined damages, claims Apple failed to disclose that switching to a device other than one running on Apple’s iOS operating system would result in the interference. The suit is based on contractual interference and unfair competition laws.

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Comments

  1. Matt Mitchell - 10 years ago

    There’s quite a simple fix for this: don’t switch. ;)

    • Matt Mitchell - 10 years ago

    • rrobinson1216 - 10 years ago

      They are probably not suing for money. They are most likely trying to light a fire under Apple to come up with a solution for this problem. This has existed for years, and when I worked at the Genius Bar, they finally had a “deactivate number’ solution in their BOH support website for iCloud, however current employees tell me this doesn’t exist anymore. This does need a fix, because people could be missing very important information. If Apple’s only fix is to turn off iMessage before the fact, then it should prompt you to do so before you “Erase All Content and Settings” on a device.

      However, if any of you here actually ARE having the issue (I was for a few weeks lately after moving to my M8), if you can, change your Apple ID password. This forces what I would assume to be a reauthorization for a token, which won’t happen if you don’t turn it on on any other device. Give it a shot and see – After that, I started receiving messages much more consistently, and the other person did not have to hold down ‘send’ to force it to send as a text message instead of iMessage.

      • axecop - 10 years ago

        They’d be suing for money. People try to sue Apple all the time.

      • Great advice. I was gonna suggest the same. I switched from iOS to Android last year, but before I did, I deactivated iMessage from the phone as well as my iPad (for safe measure), and it’s been fine. I only sign into iMessage on my iPad when necessary. It’s been my experience that iMessage is more hassle than it’s worth, unless you’re somewhere with Wi-Fi, but no cellular connection.

    • rafalb177 - 10 years ago

      100% agree

  2. Ivan Remigio - 10 years ago

    To fix the issue go to Settings > General > Reset All Settings. That easy

    • thejuanald - 10 years ago

      That didn’t work for me. I had to turn iMessage off then wait a week for Apple servers to “refresh” (this explanation was from a support person from Apple that I was on the phone with). I switched on January 2nd or so and couldn’t receive texts from people with iPhones until the middle of February (I found out late January that I wasn’t actually receiving people’s texts and that they weren’t just ignoring me when I texted them).

      • geoffcalver - 10 years ago

        Same issue here. Turned off iMessage on all my Apple devices, deregistered my phone on Apple’s website and still can’t get texts from about half of my iPhone using friends and family. It sucks.

      • Jan Osorio - 10 years ago

        I did this after I had already switched carriers and activated my new galaxy S5. My Iphone4 was unlocked using a T-mobile carrier. I am now with Verizon and kept my old number. Text messaging was still going to my old phone for a while and not going to my new one. I turned off iMessage on my Iphone and that still didnt work. I called apple care and they wanted to charge me 20 bucks. So I used the Apple support chat and it was free and fast. Problem solved!!!

    • Ryan Hicke - 10 years ago

      Not possible when your old iPhone’s battery no longer charges and you can’t turn it on.

    • Michael Perry - 10 years ago

      Easy huh? Tell that to the people who it didn’t work for.

  3. Vipal Desai (@vipsd87) - 10 years ago

    So, they are suing Apple because they are too dumb to realize how to operate their phone?

    • Yohan Hong - 10 years ago

      You probably don’t even understand what the problem was here. Just shut up and move on.

    • Dave Jolley (@jolleyutah) - 10 years ago

      It’s not about failing to operate your phone correctly. It’s about Apple hijacking SMS communications. Case in point: My son had an iPhone 5. Set up to use iMessage. Worked perfectly. His iPhone died (simply could not be powered up at all) and a new research job made him better suited for Android. He doesn’t receive any text message from any Apple device that is on the iMessage system. It has been this way for weeks. He can’t ask everybody who might potentially text him to delete and re-add his contact. He is missing what could be vital communication. This isn’t because he is too “dumb”, (I would venture that he is every bit as intelligent and technically savvy as you) this is because Apple didn’t think their solution completely through. Now, I hope that whomever joins this class will not be awarded any money, but I do hope that it lights a fire under the Apple team to get this stupid oversight fixed.

      • Ivan Remigio - 10 years ago

        The solution is on the Apple Site. Some people would rather sue than actually fix their issue.

        -You can’t receive SMS on your non-Apple device when another person sends them using an iPhone.
        -You can’t send SMS to a non-Apple device because they send as an iMessage.

        “To deregister your phone number, tap Settings > Messages and turn iMessage off.

        If you can’t access your iPhone, you no longer have it, or you can’t deactivate iMessage after you try the above steps, please contact Apple Support.”

      • thejuanald - 10 years ago

        Ivan is correct, that is the fix, but what about those people that traded their phone in, or their phone dies, like Dave’s son? Having to contact Apple because they have an app that completely hijacks your SMS texting is not an acceptable fix. They need to either work with the wireless companies to have them deactivate it immediately when the phone is switched to another service, or Apple needs to come up with a solution on their end.

        I was able to fix it because I kept my 4S, but it still took about a week after that for Apple servers to register it and for me to finally be able to receive texts from people with an iPhone. That is also unacceptable.

      • Todd Martin - 10 years ago

        @Ivan Remingio That information is completely worthless for people who’s phones are lost or stolen or for the non-tech savy who trade their phones in at time of purchase for something else.

        So no, they wouldn’t “rather sure.” They’d rather Apple wasn’t fucking lazy and actually engineered a solution to the very real and obvious problem. People like you are why Apple has a reputation for attracting snobbish elitist pricks.

      • Ryan Hicke - 10 years ago

        @Ivan I found that info after my iPhone died. I called in the guy told me that he deleted my number out of the system but it still took my friend deleting me from his contact list and then creating a new contact to before I could receive messages from him.

      • I had this exact same situation. Several calls to Apple tech support, I did everything they recommended, and finally the only choice was to time out of their system.

        And so I thought this was finally resolved, and just 2 days ago I missed an important work-related text from a colleague. We were sitting at dinner the next night and he said “sorry I texted you so late…” I was confused, of course. Then we both looked at our phones. We could see his texts on his phone and nothing on mine.

        It has been crazy making and actually a serious issue in this case.

    • thejuanald - 10 years ago

      Get a load of the guy who’s too dumb to realize what the problem actually is!

    • geoffcalver - 10 years ago

      Dude. The problem is that even if you follow all steps you still run into issues. I deactivated iMessage on all my Apple devices (iphone, ipad, and macbook) and deregistered my phone on Apple’s website. Still I’m unable to receive text messages from about half of my iOS friends and family. That’s the issue here. They wouldn’t sue if the normal steps worked. They’re suing because even if you follow all steps, iPhones still don’t recognize that you no longer are reachable via iMessage. That’s a flaw.

      • musclecarlover07 - 10 years ago

        Wow, suing for this is just ridiculous. There is no ground what so ever to sue. People use for anything now a days.

        I hope they lose and then owe a crap ton of court fees. The person should delete you as a contact and then re add you. If all else fells get a new number. Yes it may be a bit of inconvenience. But it will work.

      • geoffcalver - 10 years ago

        Ummm you can sue for more than just money. It’s a major issue with iMessage that has been unresolved for years and leads to people who leave iPhone not being able to receive text messages. That is worth suing over because it may finally bring Apple’s attention to the issue.

      • thejuanald - 10 years ago

        @musclecarlover07 are you insane? This is like buying a bicycle from one company and then deciding you want to get a bike from another company but the first company doesn’t allow you to put air in the tires of the new bike.

        And change your number? Are you mentally handicapped? We should have to change our phone numbers because apple messed up? This is absolutely insane talk.

    • Robert Ennis - 10 years ago

      No Vipal, they are not too dumb pal. This is a serious issue and it points to the arrogance of Apple, and I am a Mac user all the way. Think about it Vipal, buddy, Apple has made sure that people don’t switch or switch with ease.

    • Manish Ranjan - 10 years ago

      My my my! That was such a witty response! You must really be very smart??

  4. Robert Stukenbroeker - 10 years ago

    I am sure there is an explanation for this. If there is no active iMessage device and it never gets delivered, it will default to SMS. Unless that option is disabled on the senders phone.

    • Yohan Hong - 10 years ago

      I’m not aware of any recent iOS behaviors, but when I was using iOS4 few years back, this was a common problem and people had to switch off the iMessage on their phone before moving on to android or any other phones that does not support iMessage.

    • Ian Maffett - 10 years ago

      9/10 times it’s due to existing, ongoing conversations between iPhones and when one of the participants changes phones, the other still has the conversation open and the phone sure can’t tell the other person no longer uses an iPhone…
      If 10 people have iPhones with ongoing iMessage conversations and 1 person gets a different (non-iMessage) phone, the other 9 have to remove the ongoing conversation from their messages so it can start anew as an SMS conversation. Yes, you phone will default to SMS if need be, however, the recipient phone does not correlate – it still tries to reply as an iMessage unless cleared.

      • Michael Perry - 10 years ago

        This works SOME of the time. I’ve had many cases where even clearing and recreating the message thread doesn’t work.

    • thejuanald - 10 years ago

      That’s what I thought, but it doesn’t do that. I couldn’t receive texts from iPhones for around a month after switching to Android. Even after realizing the problem and doing the fix, it still took a week for it to finally work.

  5. Seriously? This really is a case of pekac in most cases. Disable iMessage on the device being used or remove the iPhone from your account. Admittedly it’s not as clear as it could be, but to sue over this? Come on.

    • geoffcalver - 10 years ago

      I recently switched to Android from an iPhone and deactivated iMessage on my iPhone, my mac, and my iPad. I also deregistered my phone on Apple’s website and contacted Apple. I still don’t receive texts from a good 50% of my friends who have iPhones. Simply put, they’re suing because even if you follow all the steps necessary it doesn’t resolve the issue fully. That’s a major problem, and it’s not because people just aren’t following directions.

      • Like I said, in most cases this is a PEKAC error.

      • Just out of interest, how do you “de-register” using apples website…??? I understand the settings and how they work, while in iOS, but never knew there was a website to de-register.

        I do know that when replacing an iPhone or iPad in any Apple store now, they turn off find my iPhone, before resetting the iPhone/iPad, this is because if it is not reset 1st, then it stays active on the network as being a registered phone for the purposes used when anything server related…

        Maybe this has something to do with it… I mean how many people activate all this shit and don’t turn it off when they get a new phone, now if replacing with a new iDevice, it is irrelevant, but any other device clearly is…

        The bigger picture could be amusing when the lock/wipe law comes in, and you haven’t deactivated on one device and try to activate on a different manufacturer… That could have some really funny results… Haha

    • thejuanald - 10 years ago

      Apple has sued over less! haha I’m being facetious here.

      What needs to happen is that Apple just needs to work with wireless companies to have them deactivate iMessage. When I switched and couldn’t receive texts, I found out what I needed to do, and it still took about a week or so after deactivating iMessage on the old phone and calling Apple support before I was able to actually receive messages. The support person said it would take some time for the servers to “refresh” and remove my phone from iMessage. That seems a little ridiculous.

    • mikhailt - 10 years ago

      No, it isn’t a PEKAC problem. Dozens of folks have tried various of solutions suggested by Apple and it didn’t work. Many of the Apple’s techs admitted they don’t have a single solution for this and they’re still trying to figure this out even though this has been a problem for more than two years.

      Did Apple warn people that this would happen and did they tell people in advance what to do before switching away from iPhones?

      If Apple knew this problem existed for two years and have not warned people before they use iMessage, it is entirely their fault.

      • geoffcalver - 10 years ago

        @KevinHancox – to deregistered a device you log into the support section of Apple’s website and there is a profile/devices section where you can deregister a device.

      • geoffcalver - 10 years ago

        @KevinHancox – It’s supportprofile dot apple dot com.

    • roberthildenbrand - 10 years ago

      No one should have to do anything to receive text messages from another person. Free markets mean free to change phones without asking for Apples permission to receive text messages from those who had ever sent you a message in the past.

      • thejuanald - 10 years ago

        Thank you for this comment. So many people don’t seem to understand this. Some people are even suggesting changing phone numbers rather than have apple fix this issue. Jesus, the amount of delusion and fanboyism is insane

    • Ryan Hicke - 10 years ago

      Hey buddy. Fuck you.

    • Michael Aye (@michaelaye) - 10 years ago

      Do u you guys mean PEBKAC?

  6. Troy (@Bulldogger123) - 10 years ago

    Isn’t there a toggle in the message settings that lets you send over SMS if iMessage isn’t working already? Wouldn’t this correct the problem?

    • Robert Stukenbroeker - 10 years ago

      Yes on the senders phone.

      • Dave Jolley (@jolleyutah) - 10 years ago

        But it won’t be effective if the recipient has other devices associated with their iMessage account. Like an iPad and a MacBook. According to iMessage, the message was delivered. To the other Devices, just not to the phone.

      • geoffcalver - 10 years ago

        Actually, the problem even extends beyond this. I deactivated iMessage on my iphone, ipad, and macbook and still can’t receive texts from iOS users. I also deregistered my phone on Apple’s website. When you take all the recommended steps and still can’t get texts, it’s a huge problem.

    • Michael Perry - 10 years ago

      Yes there is toggle for this which is great… when it actually works. Many times disabling that toggles does nothing to fix the problem as it suppose to.

  7. Yohan Hong - 10 years ago

    I had the same issue few years back. I had to disable imessage on my iphone before making the switch

    • geoffcalver - 10 years ago

      Unfortunately that doesn’t resolve the issue. I’ve disabled on my iPhone, macbook, and iPad. I’ve also deregistered through Apple’s website and still about half of my friends and family using iPhones can’t get texts to send to me. There’s an inherent problem with iMessage if you follow all the steps and still have an issue.

  8. Ian Maffett - 10 years ago

    iMessage lets you send messages that don’t count against your carrier texting plan (free) which is all well and good while it works for you. If you change your phone, that’s your choice, but it simply has to be deactivated. This is well documented. (http://support.apple.com/kb/TS5185)
    If an existing iMessage using recipient has an ongoing conversation on their iPhone with a person who changes to another phone, they need to erase said conversation and start a new one – which will be an SMS conversation, rather than iMessage – and it’ll be fine. It really does make sense… it’s just not often thought about at first.
    We need to RTFM on some things before we go suing everyone over every little thing we don’t fully understand.

    • Michael Perry - 10 years ago

      In the IT shop I run we have some 15K iPhones that we manage and I can tell you from repeated and I mean REPEATED experience that simply turning off iMessage on the old device DOES NOT fix this problem. It does maybe about 50% of the time… the other 50% of the time when iMessage is turned off on the old the device and someone tries to send you a txt, it still defaults to iMessage. Additionally even if the person sending the message deletes the old conversation and with it all links to the previous iMessage, it still defaults to iMessage when they try to txt you again. This is a technical issue, not an issue of comprehension. Maybe if this was an experience of 1 time, it could be anecdotal and possibly an issue of not know the proper procedure however we’ve combed many KB articles from Apple and have spent much time on the phone with Apple support (as you can image when managing thousands of phones) and I can tell you this is a real technical issue that they need to fix.

      • geoffcalver - 10 years ago

        Agree 100% with you. I recently switched to Android from iOS and I deregistered my phone on Apple’s website, turned off iMessage on my iphone, ipad, and macbook pro and STILL have about 50% of texts not coming through from iPhone users. It’s totally random. Some people’s phone have no issues texting me and some are unable to text me at all.

        It’s irritating reading so many people saying “just turn it off” and “just follow the steps on Apple’s website.” It doesn’t work even if you follow all steps.

    • thejuanald - 10 years ago

      Yeah, this isn’t an issue that the end user should have to worry about. A person shouldn’t have to worry that the company they previously used is going to prevent you from doing things with the new company that you’ve chosen.

      What needs to happen is that Apple just needs to work with wireless companies to have them deactivate iMessage. When I switched and couldn’t receive texts, I found out what I needed to do, and it still took about a week or so after deactivating iMessage on the old phone and calling Apple support before I was able to actually receive messages. The support person said it would take some time for the servers to “refresh” and remove my phone from iMessage. That seems a little ridiculous.

    • roberthildenbrand - 10 years ago

      Um no. Apple needs to learn to code their programs to be part of the free market. That means if I buy a Droid, my friends who have Iphones, do not have to do anything what so ever. That is free market capitalism, and if Apple doesn’t desire to be sued over this, then they must comply or face suit for building a monopoly and unfair business practices.

  9. Anton Teodorsson - 10 years ago

    I had this issue and it’s ennoying as sh*t!
    I couldn’t figure out how to fix it..

    After I updated to the newest iOS the message issue was gone and taken care of.

  10. Tim Jr. - 10 years ago

    Oh course.. we sue for everything now.. quickest way to make a buck.. Why is this news?

    • mikhailt - 10 years ago

      In this case, I actually agree with the lawsuit.

      Apple has not provided a simple and clear solution on how to fix this problem they caused.

      This isn’t caused by any of their customers nor should the customers spend hours trying to figure out how to fix this.

      All of the suggestions provided by Apple doesn’t work 100% of the times.

      To the eyes of customers, they’re hijacking their SMS capability, and they are, simple as that.

      • “This isn’t caused by any of their customers …” I think this here is my favorite line. You are right. They are no longer Apple’s customers.

      • mikhailt - 10 years ago

        Oh, so you’re saying it is perfectly legal for Apple to hijack people’s SMS because they are no longer using an iPhone and therefore, they’re no longer Apple customers?

        What if they’re still using Macs or iPads?

        In fact, if this is intentionally done, then Apple should be bought up on anti-competition violations across the globe.

        What if it is the other way around, what if you’re switching to an iPhone but you can’t get your messages because Android is still routing it to an existing SMS app you no longer uses?

  11. Ray Wolf - 10 years ago

    If people are suing for not receiving text messages then any CDMA based cellular companies should have been sued numerous times. I can’t even remember the amount of times I either 1) don’t get a message from a CDMA customer 2) my message is not received by them or 3) I get 20 duplicate SMS messages from their device. I don’t know how many people remember this but Nextel used to have horrific SMS issues since they used data switches as opposed to cellular (Granted they were iDEN but still relevant). They were never sued. People are too heavily relying on technology these days. If it’s important, you call the person on the phone.

    • ianmaffett - 10 years ago

      No kidding, right? Imagine if we still had to get new numbers to get a new phone or carrier… that would resolve this. Let’s just go back to that. People are way too spoiled with what is available today.
      Some companies that we thrive on, like it or not, wouldn’t be here today if suing them was such an easy option in the past.

    • thejuanald - 10 years ago

      There is a difference between network errors and a company engineering something in such a way that the customer can’t receive texts because they switched to a competing device.

  12. Sooooooo…. is every tech company that has bugs in their software going to get sued now? Did ANY sue M$…ever… Over bugs? Some people just have no business and will claw to grab on to any easy money they can get their hands on.

    • mikhailt - 10 years ago

      You do understand that the those affected customers are no longer using any of Apple’s software and hardware?

      They’re using Android or Windows Phones and still cannot get SMS because of a massive bug on Apple’s servers, which Apple admitted a few times via various tech chats.

      • iJonni - 10 years ago

        Let’s get this straight. Apple has not admitted to anything. Some random AppleCare service reps admitted to it and have been quoted. Apple as a corporate company has not issued any statement, knowledge base article or anything that would imply fault. Does the issue exist? Yes. Seemingly so but not for everyone. Does that make it a bug? Yes. Can you be sued for bugs? Sure you can. Will you win? Not that I’m aware of…

      • mikhailt - 10 years ago

        http://9to5mac.com/2014/05/14/apple-reportedly-acknowledges-hijacked-text-message-problem/

        Legally, Apple tech reps speak for Apple. What they say can be used against Apple, simple as that. That’s why every company specifically train their reps not to admit to anything specifically.

        This isn’t a simple bug, this is people losing SMS because Apple’s services cannot remove the cell phone numbers from iMessage servers.

        It is not about money, it is about getting Apple to admit there is a problem and to warn people in advance before they start using iMessage. If Apple has to get fined for not doing this, I’m all for it.

      • ianmaffett - 10 years ago

        iJonni – Right, Advisors might have empathized with this issue to assist in its resolution.
        mikhailt – Wrong. Advisors are not bound or bonded and have no legal training – they’re techs. Corp legal info comes from said corps legal team. Always. It’s why they exist and why Advisors don’t make a lawyer’s salary. The fact that a media hound calls in to discuss the issue to gain info on it means nothing.

    • Dave Jolley (@jolleyutah) - 10 years ago

      It’s not always about the money. Sometimes bringing a suit is the only way to get big corporations to pay attention to the average consumer. I, for one, will gladly join the class if they get approval to move as a class. Not because I want money. But because part of the prayer for relief is a mandatory injunction forcing Apple to address the issue. If a couple thousand people join a class action law-suit and Apple is faced with the expense of defending (maybe even losing) they will likely start working on a fix. That simply is not possible with a friendly phone call or chat session with Apple support.

    • roberthildenbrand - 10 years ago

      People have had this problem sense ios 4, Apple has had more than enough time to fix the bug and didn’t.

      • ianmaffett - 10 years ago

        iMessage requires iOS5+ per the Wiki page… prior would have been purely SMS / carrier comms.

      • geoffcalver - 10 years ago

        Either way, it’s been an issue since Apple introduced imessage and is definitely an Apple issue since following all steps on Apple’s website still does not resolve the problem.

  13. Apple doesn’t “hijack your SMS”, it’s the Messages app on iOS that first looks up your phone number to see if you’ve got it associated with iMessage, and if it is, then the Message App never even attempts to send an SMS, it just delivers the message to Apple’s iMessage servers. The message doesn’t technically go into a void, it gets pushed out to all your other Apple devices, iPod touch, Mac, iPads, etc that are logged into to iMessage with the same Apple ID.

    Apple should make a webapp (part of the iCloud web apps, maybe?) that lets you A) View your iMessage conversations, so you can see them even if you don’t own any other Apple devices and your iPhone got lost, stolen or broken. And B) that let’s you unregister your phone number from iMessage. Again, in the case that you don’t own any other Apple devices, but need to manage those settings after your iPhone left your sphere of control.

    • mikhailt - 10 years ago

      Exactly and if this lawsuit force Apple to provide such a web app, I’m all for it.

      By the way, plenty of folks have de-registered all of their Apple devices and it still didn’t work.

      I just don’t think Apple doing nothing for two years since this problem was reported is acceptable.

  14. From the comments on here, lots of people have never tried to switch OS’s. You could gain a lot of perspective either changing or reaffirming your belief’s about an OS. iOS is far from perfect and so is Android. But this issue isn’t that easy a fix. It took me a solid week after switching to get my iMessage to turn off completely and that was last year when there where no written articles about it.. Mind you I have a Mac, various iPhone’s and an iPad so I have lots of experience with iOS/OS X

  15. Taste_of_Apple - 10 years ago

    Aside from obviously sticking with the iPhone, you could always turn iMessages off in settings before switching over and in most cases it should work.

    • geoffcalver - 10 years ago

      Like numerous people have said, this is why Apple is being sued. Taking the steps on their website does not result in iMessage deactivating. I recently switched and turned off iMessage on all my devices (iPhone, iPad, and Macbook) and deregistered my phone via their website and still am not receiving texts from half of my friends on iPhones. That’s the problem – Apple clearly doesn’t have a way to completely turn off iMessage so users end up following the steps and somehow still don’t receive texts.

  16. roberthildenbrand - 10 years ago

    I find it strange that this problem which some say has existed sense iOS 4, is now becoming a major issue. Does this mean that people are beginning to make a switch from iOS 7 to Android or other and only now encountering this problem in enough numbers to make it news worthy?

    Either way, it is Apples responsibility to both its existing costumers and to those who are unfairly affected by this bug to fix it on their end. If need be, to rewrite the way Imessage works, so to automatically identify if the phone number is still an iOS device or something else and send the message with the appropriate code.

    If I were Android, I would back this suit by suing Apple for unfair business practices and damaging profits by trapping from freely leaving Apple’s products. Apple doesn’t own your phone number.

  17. rrobinson1216 - 10 years ago

    Posting this again because I did not mean to reply to a specific comment on this.

    They are probably not suing for money. They are most likely trying to light a fire under Apple to come up with a solution for this problem. This has existed for years, and when I worked at the Genius Bar, they finally had a “deactivate number’ solution in their BOH support website for iCloud, however current employees tell me this doesn’t exist anymore. This does need a fix, because people could be missing very important information. If Apple’s only fix is to turn off iMessage before the fact, then it should prompt you to do so before you “Erase All Content and Settings” on a device.

    However, if any of you here actually ARE having the issue (I was for a few weeks lately after moving to my M8), if you can, change your Apple ID password. This forces what I would assume to be a reauthorization for a token, which won’t happen if you don’t turn it on on any other device. Give it a shot and see – After that, I started receiving messages much more consistently, and the other person did not have to hold down ‘send’ to force it to send as a text message instead of iMessage.

  18. I really don’t see blaming Apple for this. It is the carriers way of keeping the device information for their customers accounts. My friend has a blackberry and he gave me his number. It showed up as iMessage but my friend never had an iPhone before. When i texted my friends number of which i verified in many different ways, someone else had answered the text messages. So really its both the user and the the carrier’s fault here. Aslo i have never had a problem with this and nor have anybody that i know with an iPhone or that has switched from an iPhone to another platform phone.

    • thejuanald - 10 years ago

      No it’s not the carriers. It’s apple routing all messages to iPhone users through imessage servers. It actually goes around carriers and removes them from the equation.

      You obviously don’t understand the issue, so please don’t spout your ignorance.

  19. daitenshe - 10 years ago

    It probably won’t be a fix for everyone but if you go to

    Settings> General> messages

    And make sure “Send as SMS” is turned on it should fix the problem for many people. I’ve had a few people I’ve helped by doing that

  20. patstar5 - 10 years ago

    I had this problem when I switched to android last month, had to turn off imessage on my ipad and mac and that fixed it. Now. .. I hope the rumour of itunes for android is true.

    • patstar5 - 10 years ago

      Apparently turning off imessages on ipad and mac does not work. I didn’t receive any texts from my mom today until just now brcause she resent them as texts. This is ridiculous, what happens when the text is something urgent and the person does not receive it?

  21. Jeff Trigger - 10 years ago

    I see a bigger problem in reading the comments. Most people are complaining that the iPhone 5 is dying. My iPhone 5 did the same thing. I switched to Samsung S5. I haven’t noticed a problem, but then again, a lot of my friends have left iPhone as well. Either because they hated iOS 7 or the phone quit working.

  22. drtyrell969 - 10 years ago

    Yeah, WHERE DO I SIGN UP????????????

  23. Black and Grey Boutique - 10 years ago

    Had the same problem and the only thing that solved the problem was changing my phone number.

    • Jan Osorio - 10 years ago

      No need to change the number. I did this after I had already switched carriers and activated my new galaxy S5. My Iphone4 was unlocked using a T-mobile carrier. I am now with Verizon and kept my old number. Text messaging was still going to my old phone for a while and not going to my new one. I turned off iMessage on my Iphone and that still didnt work. I called apple care and they wanted to charge me 20 bucks. So I used the Apple support chat and it was free and fast. Problem solved!!!

  24. Anyone saying that it’s an “easy fix” and listing off some random solutions you found through a google search: on behalf of all of us who have actually experienced this problem, no. No, you cannot just deregister your phone online. No, you can’t just turn off imessaging on your iPhone. No, you cannot get friends to re-make your contact number. No, you can’t text STOP to the number they give you. I’ve done all of this. I’ve resetted my entire iPhone, deleted back-ups off of iTunes, changed my Apple ID and Apple ID password, etc etc etc.

    I phoned future shop and I have to go in to get an entirely new SIM card. I have to pay. I have a galaxy S4 and I hate it with a burning fucking passion, but since I can’t afford to go back to an iPhone again, this is what I have to do.

    • Jan Osorio - 10 years ago

      I did this after I had already switched carriers and activated my new galaxy S5. My Iphone4 was unlocked using a T-mobile carrier. I am now with Verizon and kept my old number. Text messaging was still going to my old phone for a while and not going to my new one. I turned off iMessage on my Iphone and that still didnt work. I called apple care and they wanted to charge me 20 bucks. So I used the Apple support chat and it was free and fast. Problem solved!!!

  25. Ivan Ski - 10 years ago

    Simple solution, Apple should release iMessage for Android.

  26. k m (@nyctenor) - 10 years ago

    All these people who say the fix is EZ, ‘just do this’ – yet some of us have done all the things they say, and have been having problems for a year. i worked for Apple for 2 years so don’t call me stupid about these things!
    the only sure solution is to change your phone number
    please stop calling people stupid or implying that we do not know how to use our phones.
    YOU DO NOT FULLY UNDERSTAND THE ISSUE YOURSELVES!

  27. rwtd - 10 years ago

    Samsung had a support page explaining how to properly deactivate iMessage *before* switching devices. If one switches devices before they properly disable iMessage, and they still have working access to their old iPhone, they can have their carrier temporarily register their number back to the iPhone, then they can go in, enable with iMessage again, then disable it, then testing to make sure messages are sent and received as SMS/MMS before porting their number back to their non-iOS device.

  28. Jan Osorio - 10 years ago

    Hi there, I also had recently switch from an Iphone to and Android phone and had the same problem. I used the Apple Support Chat and they got my messaging working again. You have to know your Iphone number, serial number and have a working email associated with your apple account. it took less than 5 minutes for the tech to remove my number from the apple servers/iMessage. Everything is working fine now. So happy!

  29. Alex Litvin - 10 years ago

    Hey Jordan! I’ve tried every solution under the sun, and I’ve had my S5 for like 2-3 months now and I still can’t receive txts from iPhone users. Can I join this lawsuit or what? I know I know, getting a galaxy phone was stupid… but what’s done is done. I’ll wait until my contract is over to buy a different phone.

  30. 19simmi22 - 9 years ago

    I downloaded the OSX a few days ago. I have had nothing but failed messages Siri won’t listen especially when I ask it to text for me while driving. And it is very irritating because you don’t know if they receive the message or not. And while I’m driving I don’t want to have an argument with Siri the fact that they won’t do what I tell it to do like text something simple. I have to pull over to the side of the road to get it to understand me for some reason everything has gotten way too sensitive

    • rwtd - 9 years ago

      Holy sh!t! Lemme get this right, you’re trying to use Siri on OSX while driving? SMH!!!

Author

Avatar for Jordan Kahn Jordan Kahn

Jordan writes about all things Apple as Senior Editor of 9to5Mac, & contributes to 9to5Google, 9to5Toys, & Electrek.co. He also co-authors 9to5Mac’s Logic Pros series.