While Apple has promised an upcoming fix for its iMessaging issues, there are some steps you can take yourself to prevent your iMessages from getting lost.
This issue has received a lot of attention recently in the media, and Apple even faces a lawsuit over lost iMessages. More specifically, the company's iMessaging system fails to deliver messages to former iPhone users who switched to another platform.
The issue has come to such extent that a former iPhone user filed a lawsuit against Apple for interfering with text message delivery to her new, non-iPhone device. California resident Adrienne Moore, who now uses a Samsung phone, sued Apple earlier this week because the iPhone maker failed to inform its users of this problem, Bloomberg reported.
For those unfamiliar with the process, iMessaging allows iPhone users to send text messages to other iOS devices via Apple's servers, thus bypassing text messaging charges. At the same time, this also means that those texts are no longer sent as normal text messages, and this affects users who choose to ditch iOS. More specifically, once an iPhone user switches to an Android or Windows Phone-based device, the number previously recognized as an iPhone (if kept) no longer receives texts from other iPhones.
Apple, on its part, said that it recently fixed a bug on the server-side of its iMessaging system, and is working on additional fixes that will arrive via future software updates. Until the company makes everything right for all iPhone users, be they current or former, there are a few steps you can take to avoid having your messages lost.
If you ditched your old iPhone in favor of a new phone running Android or Windows Phone, it's likely that some of the text messages your iPhone friends sent were not delivered. This occurs because Apple's servers may register your phone number as still linked to iMessaging, thus failing to route the message as a normal text through a carrier network for delivery to a non-iOS device.
While there's no guarantee that these steps will work for everyone, here are your options for minimizing the risk of not receiving texts sent from iOS to non-iOS devices, as listed by The Telegraph:
- Before you stop using your iPhone and start using a phone running a different platform, make sure to deactivate iMessage. To do so, access the iPhone's Settings, select Messages, and turn off the iMessage setting. This will allow the iPhone to send messages as regular text messages, regardless of whether you're sending them to another iPhone or not. It will unlink your phone number from iMessaging, and should allow text messages to work properly once you switch to a non-iPhone device. Remember, you have to do this before using your SIM card or number on your new device.
- Another option is to reset your Apple ID password. To do so, visit Apple's website, select "Reset my Password," then text "STOP" to 48369 using your new, non-iPhone device. This will unsubscribe you from your iCloud account and should prevent your messages from getting lost.
- Another solution requires a bit more of a hassle, namely asking your iPhone-using contacts to delete your number and re-enter it. This may reset the iMessaging link between the two phones and allow you to send and receive text messages normally.
- Lastly, you can always call Apple at 0844 209 0611 and ask technical support to manually unsubscribe you from the servers.
Hopefully one of these methods will work and help you receive text messages sent from iPhones to your new, non-iOS device. If you have tried any of the above-listed solutions, drop by our comment section below and let us know if it worked.
