recsat

Q: Text message notifications on iOS 9 not recognising contacts

Since upgrading to iOS 9, any text message notifications seem to appear with the number rather than a contact name, but if i open the message app they are listed against the correct contact name.

 

This means that no custom text notifications are working either as the notification doesn't seem to be able to link the number to the contact record. It seems to work for iMessage, but anything sent as a normal text comes through as a number not the stored contact. I've tried the usual - reboot, switching off dial assist etc, but none of that has made a difference. I've also tried making sure the contact record has the same format as the number showing in the notification (e.g. with +44 in front) but that hasn't helped either.  Can anyone help?

iPhone 5s, iOS 9

Posted on Sep 21, 2015 1:17 AM

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Q: Text message notifications on iOS 9 not recognising contacts

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  • by gavinions,

    gavinions gavinions Oct 23, 2015 10:18 AM in response to recsat
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    Oct 23, 2015 10:18 AM in response to recsat

    So this might be interesting.  I've noticed the numbers that aren't recognised are in this format in the notifications: +XXXXXXXXXXXX whereas on the contact the formatting is forced to look like this +XX XXXX XXXXXX.

     

    I checked this with one of my working contacts by deleting their number from their contact and getting them to send a message. In the notification from that person the format in the notification was +XX XXXX XXXXXX.

     

    So is there a problem with iOS identifying the different ways of displaying the same number based on how it is sent by the network?

     

    Certainly seems odd to me.

  • by dookable,

    dookable dookable Oct 24, 2015 6:57 AM in response to gavinions
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Oct 24, 2015 6:57 AM in response to gavinions

    At least you may of found a pattern, which is more than can be said for the boffins at Apple ..

  • by Danski69,

    Danski69 Danski69 Oct 24, 2015 9:20 AM in response to recsat
    Level 1 (10 points)
    Oct 24, 2015 9:20 AM in response to recsat

    I went in to Carphone Warehouse to have a look at the new Google Nexus phone as I'm so sick of this issue. The guy in there advised that some Android phones were having the same problem with text message notifications! Obviously not connected to the iOS9 issue, but it shows it's not just Apple... A colleague who is an Android devotee also advised that since upgrading the operating system on his Samsung S4 it keeps crashing. It looks as though smartphones are just becoming a bit too smart - hence all the bugs and issues. It does, however, look as though Apple are prioritising the fixes: 9.0.1 and 9.0.2 were clearly patches to deal with issues that prevented phones from working; 9.1 fixes a number of bigger issues too - the grey bar that appeared when sending an audio message (I clicked on it accidentally a couple of times) could only be deleted by turning the phone off and on again, otherwise it permanently blocked what you were trying to type in a text message. This thread has now had over 10,000 views and a lot of comments, so this particular issue is clearly affecting many, many people. Therefore Apple must be aware of it (a lot of us have reported it to them, too) so I hold out faint hope that Apple will get round to fixing it - just as soon as they've fixed all those even bigger bugs...! I suppose we'll see...

  • by TDR1980,

    TDR1980 TDR1980 Oct 26, 2015 2:43 AM in response to recsat
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    Oct 26, 2015 2:43 AM in response to recsat

    i had the very same problem but with one number in specific, the one which texts me the most.

     

    after trying everything found on line, speaking to Apple (less than helpful) and almost completely resetting my phone to factory i thought i'd look at the phone of the contact who's number wasn't showing.

     

    I set their number to 'My info' within mail, messaging and anywhere else i could find it and problem solved !!!

     

    No more missing info. Hope this helps.

  • by Rob Hope,

    Rob Hope Rob Hope Oct 27, 2015 4:10 PM in response to recsat
    Level 1 (5 points)
    iTunes
    Oct 27, 2015 4:10 PM in response to recsat

    So I just took the plunge and upgraded to iOS 9.1. Still had the issue of the contact name not showing on message. The way I fixed it after trying all the other options was to fully delete the message thread. And then when I got a new message from that number it had fixed it. Not an ideal fix as not great to have to delete a whole message thread but Apple have not fixed it so what can you do.

  • by Michael Costello1,

    Michael Costello1 Michael Costello1 Oct 28, 2015 4:16 AM in response to Rob Hope
    Level 1 (44 points)
    Notebooks
    Oct 28, 2015 4:16 AM in response to Rob Hope

    I tried deleting the whole message thread but sadly it made no difference, the contact still only shows as a number when a new message is sent to me!?

  • by andyfrombath,

    andyfrombath andyfrombath Oct 30, 2015 12:52 AM in response to recsat
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Oct 30, 2015 12:52 AM in response to recsat

    Yep - add me to the list please!

     

    hardly ever trawl the apple forums but this is a particularly strange and annoying issue! Glad to see its affecting lots of people.

     

    Does anyone know of anybody who's upgraded to iOS9 who DOESN'T have this problem??

     

    assume it's just a bit of buggy SW which will get fixed when Apple realise there's a lot of unhappy & frustrated customers! Please add to this thread if you've experienced this problem!

     

    dear techies@apple:

     

    please take note of the number of people here having this issue!!

  • by Maria_M80,

    Maria_M80 Maria_M80 Oct 31, 2015 5:30 AM in response to andyfrombath
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Oct 31, 2015 5:30 AM in response to andyfrombath

    Like everyone on this thread my in and I are having the same issue. We updated to iOS 9.2 in the hope it would  the issue, but no. One of my contacts was fine then suddenly iPhone decided not to recognise the number it's annoying as I have assigned different times to my contacts so I have an idea of who is calling or texting me! I've tried resetting etc all to no avail, I even called Apple Support and they agreed it needs to be in an update to fix. With over 12000 vie you would think they would fix it with iOS 9.2.1?

  • by Sloanster77,

    Sloanster77 Sloanster77 Oct 31, 2015 1:13 PM in response to recsat
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Oct 31, 2015 1:13 PM in response to recsat

    Me too it's kee!

  • by mess2,

    mess2 mess2 Nov 11, 2015 7:37 AM in response to recsat
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Nov 11, 2015 7:37 AM in response to recsat

    I had the same problem as everyone and it's driven me mad. I tried everything including resetting my network settings and going into Apple to speak to their "genius" who couldn't sorted and reported it as an error.

     

    Today I'm quite excited as I think I've cracked it. The contacts I was having problems with had +44 at the start of their number so I changed it to start with 0. This didn't totally sort the problem, what I then did was delete the text message thread from that person and now when they text it is coming through with their name and not number. You have to delete the old text messages from them as well as ensuring the number doesn't start with +44.

     

    It's worked for me so I'd be interested if its worked for anyone else

     

    Feeling quite chuffed with myself.

  • by gavinions,

    gavinions gavinions Nov 12, 2015 8:49 AM in response to mess2
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Nov 12, 2015 8:49 AM in response to mess2

    I'm pleased you found a way to make it work for you.  Sadly deleting my text message threads is out of the question.  When a fix requires me to delete my backed up data I can't really consider it a fix for me, but I am pleased that it worked out for you.

  • by gavinions,

    gavinions gavinions Nov 12, 2015 8:51 AM in response to recsat
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Nov 12, 2015 8:51 AM in response to recsat

    A little point to note while I am here:  One of my contacts toggles between using text messages and iMessage.  They send a lot of group texts including non-iOS users so this is necessary.  I have found that when they send using iMessage the notification identifies them correctly, but when it is a text message it doesn't.

  • by Sloanster77,

    Sloanster77 Sloanster77 Nov 12, 2015 9:16 AM in response to mess2
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Nov 12, 2015 9:16 AM in response to mess2

    Thanks Mess this worked for me!!

  • by Danski69,

    Danski69 Danski69 Nov 12, 2015 1:36 PM in response to recsat
    Level 1 (10 points)
    Nov 12, 2015 1:36 PM in response to recsat

    I have also noticed that one of my contacts shows up as a name when texting me only using iMessage, but when sending a group message (iMessage + SMS) it's just the number that shows up. The only fix I've not tried is deleting the text message threads, but this isn't an option for me either. Over 16,000 views on this particular Apple Support Community thread now - surely a proper fix will be released soon!?!?!?

  • by recsat,

    recsat recsat Dec 5, 2015 12:41 AM in response to recsat
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Dec 5, 2015 12:41 AM in response to recsat

    So it's 2.5 months and 22k views since I raised this and I'm still having this problem. the only thing I haven't tried is deleting the threads of all affected numbers because I need to keep that data. Not a great turnaround time for a bug fix!

    My issue is also only with sms. If any of the affected numbers are able to send as iMessage it's recognised. If they send as sms its not.

    I really hope this is addressed soon!

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