Q: iMessage not syncing/providing continuity between iPhone and MacBook Pro

Hi,

Which app or service are you using to sync names and addresses and other contact details  between the Mac and the iPhone ?

Also closely check that the iPhone > Settings > Messages > Send and Receive shows the iPhone number as Active (it will be greyed out as the user cannot change this but it can be unticked and not active).

If this is the case remove the Apple ID and set Airplane Mode for 2 mins.

On coming back to the settings wait for the number to verify before adding the Apple ID.

8:08 pm      Monday; June 8, 2015

Hi,

They are only automatic when an account in the Contacts app is active.

Open the Contacts app and go to the Preferences Accounts.

If it says iCloud then in System Preferences > iCloud the Contacts item will be ticked.

If it says Google or other then in System Preferences > Internet accounts > (Service) there will be a tick against Contacts to use that to sync.

Whatever it is is needs to be the same on the iPhone.

Ralph

Yes.

8:29 p.m.      Friday; June 12, 2015

Did you solve your problem?

I have this problem, too, between my 2 iPhones, my iPad and my iMac.

The iOS devices (iOS 8.3) sync fine regadless of their sleep/wake state.

The iMac (OS X 10.10.3) only gets messages arriving while awake; messages arriving while asleep are never shown.

Signing in/out of iCloud/iMessage on alle devices doesn't change anything.

Restarting Messages on the iMac or any other device doesn't change anything.

I found two workarounds:

Restarting the iMac syncs all missing messages immediately!

Receiving a new message while the iMac is awake syncs all missing messages immediately!

Sending a new message from an iOS device, not from the iMac itself, syncs all missing messages immediately!

So I guess everything is configured fine, but Messages in Yosemite doesn't refresh properly.

Can I somehow force a message refresh/sync without restarting the iMac or sending a message from an iOS device?

In Mavericks everything was working fine and automatically and in perfect sync; the described behaviour started wit my upgrade to Yosemite some weeks ago.

Thanks,

Michael

Messages – Fix Syncing Between Mac and IOS

Messages – Fix Syncing Between Mac and IOS (2)

Erik,

as I said everything is configured fine and works without any problem as long as my iMac is awake.

Only if my iMac is asleep he is missing messages that only show up if another new message arrives while he is awake again (or the iMac is rebooted).

Concerning your links: Yes, everything is consistent between all devices and I use my apple ID and my email address as caller id.

Worked perfectly in Mavericks and still does in Yosemite as long as the iMac is awake...

Any idea why Messages on Yosemite doesn't refresh before a new message arrives after wake up from sleep?

Thanks,

Michael

Ralph Johns is completely wrong. The Address book app is simply a Contact client that pulls contacts or stores them locally depending if accounts are setup on them.

To answer your question the best way to correct this would be to sign out of Messages.  Go into Keychain Access and search for, then delete any reference of iMessage.  Once you have completed this log out of your account. Log back in, and sign into iMessage.

If this has helped you please click Solved.

Hi,

In theory the Mac should "catch up" on iMessages sent whilst it is asleep as it does disconnect from the network.

As soon as it is reconnected the outstanding iMessages should appear.

If the Mac is Off completely does it catch up on iMessages when it is restarted ?

I.e. is it just sleep or are all disconnects the same.

There is a natural end point to the time a Mac can be off line before iMessages are not sent to the Mac.

It seems it is around 3 days.

8:01 p.m.      Monday; June 15, 2015

Hi,

I can assure you that if the iPhone and Mac are using different Contacts lists then iMessages threads will be separated.

Deleting the IDS: ***-Auth Token  that is the responsible item for making sure the iMessages account can login to the iMessages servers is unlikely to effect the sync issue.

The Account  (iMessages account on the Mac) is either logged in or it isn't.  Forcing it to reconnect might help things if the account was not logging in such as the "Not Registered with iMessage" error alert or the "Not Delivered" one when trying to Send iMessages.

If it does not appear tyo be the Contacts app and you have tried logging in and out of iMessages on both devices I would double check the iPhone > Settings > Messages > Send and Recieve and check the iPhone Number is ticked.

Twice I have had this greyed out item (The user cannot change it) show the number as inactive (unticked).

If this is the case remove the Apple ID.

Then place the iPhone in Airplane Mode for 2 minutes to break with the server.

Go back to Settings > Messages > and enable the App if required.

Wait until the iPhone Number has verified.

Confirm at this point the Number works by iMessaging the Apple ID (Mac effectively).

If this works return the iMessages after setting the Mac to Start Conversations from the Apple ID.

If that works add back the Apple ID.

Reset Start Conversations Form on both devices if required.

Reset Text Forwarding if required.

8:22 p.m.      Monday; June 15, 2015

Hi Ralph,

thanks for your help!

Yes, the problem is that the iMac doesn't catch up as soon as it is reconnected only after sleep.

It refreshes iMessage immediately after a restart - and after a new message arrives while awake.

I signed out and in of/to iMessage/iCloud several times on all devices with no effect.

The phone number is ticked on the iPhones and the account settings for the contacts app are fine.

I did not and will not delete the IDS: ***-Auth Token in Keychain. I don't have any problem to login to iMessage on any device.

Everything works as expected except the iMac "refresh after sleep" issue.

As of today I did not experience the natural end point a Mac can be off line before iMessages are not sent to the Mac.

Forcing the refresh by restarting the iMac or by sending a message to myself from an iOS device while the iMac is awake always led to all missing messages showing up.

I noticed that they have to be stored somewhere in iCloud - because they are even synced to the iMac after they were deleted from all iOS devices.

If I only could force the refresh without restarting or sending a message to myself...

Best regards,

Michael

Hi,

More info.

Basically an iMessages is split at the server end if you have two or more devices linked together.

So...

An iMessages sent to an iPhone Number will go to the iPhone and a "Copy" will be made to deliver to the Mac.

If the Mac is Offline then the iMessages will be held until that device responds - there does appear to be a Time Out limit to this somewhere around 3 - 4 days.

As each device has a unique identified Login to the iMessages server each iMessages is sent uniquely to each device.

Once a device has received the iMessages it is deleted  from the iMessages server (a "Copy" for another device might still be waiting for that device but you can't access it).

You will  notice that in System Preferences > iCloud there is not setting for Messages.

Logging in and Out of iCloud makes no difference.

iMessages uses an Apple ID.  Commonly this is the same as the iCloud one.

It means one server can go down without all the other apps being locked out as well.

On the other hand it means you can use different IDs in iTunes, Game Center, App Store, iMessages, FaceTime.

I started many years ago with iChat and the AIM service and later at iChat 3, GoogleTalk.

I haven't really "converted" my Buddies to iMessages Contacts and I rarely let the computer go to sleep when it is On  (I tend to be here for about 3 hours a day).

For that reason I can't say whether what you are seeing has become the standard, although I doubt it very much.

8:40 p.m.      Tuesday; June 16, 2015

Hi Ralph,

thank you very much for your detailed explanation!

Before Mavericks I used a different Apple ID for iMessage and FaceTime: my iTunes Apple ID (and not my iCloud Apple ID).

Starting with Mavericks I was prompted from iOS 7 that text forwarding only works with my iCloud Apple ID used to login to iMessage and FaceTime.

That's why I changed it on all devices and why I think that iCloud is somehow involved for storing and forwarding the messages to each device.

Today for the first time ever a message I sent from iPhone #1 didn't show up on iPhone #2.

Meanwhile this is expected behaviour on the sleeping iMac - but on iOS devices it was new.

Restarting iPhone #2 after about 1 hour made the message appear immediately...

With Mavericks & iOS 7 I never had these problems.

Everything started with Yosemite & iOS 8...

Perhaps it is somehow related to the mDNSResponder / discoveryd change Apple made with these releases.

They are going to roll that back with OS X 10.10.4 for the Mac and iOS 9 for iPhone/iPad/Apple TV - as far as I know.

We will see if that changes anything in my environment and makes expecially Mac networking as robust as it was in Mavericks.

Thanks,

Michael