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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 plot42,

    plot42 plot42 Mar 23, 2016 4:09 PM in response to recsat
    Level 1 (4 points)
    iPhone
    Mar 23, 2016 4:09 PM in response to recsat

    HHad the same issue here from the start of iOS 9. I think it's starting to spread to more numbers.

  • by steelneil81,

    steelneil81 steelneil81 Mar 23, 2016 4:38 PM in response to plot42
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Mar 23, 2016 4:38 PM in response to plot42

    CCheck to see if the affected numbers have recently become android users. If so, delete their message history and it fixes the issue

  • by plot42,

    plot42 plot42 Mar 24, 2016 11:10 AM in response to steelneil81
    Level 1 (4 points)
    iPhone
    Mar 24, 2016 11:10 AM in response to steelneil81

    Ugh, yeah I did read that would fix it. I think it ties in with people being android phones although one of them is on an iPhone. Really don't want to delete the messages but it's bugging me big time at the moment.

  • by specialheinrich,

    specialheinrich specialheinrich Mar 27, 2016 11:17 AM in response to recsat
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Mar 27, 2016 11:17 AM in response to recsat

    i take it apple haven't been ar$ed to fix this yet? £600 for a telephone, takes great slow-motion videos of hipsters but can't receive a text message properly. Good work you feckless Tw@ts. Goodby apple, Hello android.

  • by Radamradam,

    Radamradam Radamradam Mar 28, 2016 7:43 AM in response to recsat
    Level 1 (4 points)
    iPhone
    Mar 28, 2016 7:43 AM in response to recsat

    I was having this same issue. After trying all the usual tricks (making sure contact syncing is on, etc, etc) I did this, which worked:

     

    1. Create a new contact on my Mac titled ZZZZ

    2. Verify that it has synced across to all my iOS devices

    3. After it's synced across, delete it

    4. Adjust or delete another contact that was created at least a month ago

    5. Confirm all these changes have synced across to all the devices

    6. Then go back and check if your Message contact names have updated.

     

    This worked for me (even after turning off iCloud syncing and turning it back on didn't help)

  • by Christian Turri,

    Christian Turri Christian Turri Apr 2, 2016 2:27 AM in response to Radamradam
    Level 1 (9 points)
    Apr 2, 2016 2:27 AM in response to Radamradam

    Not the first annoying bug I found and I see Apple ignoring over and over again. Now that there is a billion iOS users it's pretty much impossible to get Apple to listen to any of its users since there are too many of them. I am software developer and I know when most users think they found a bug they usually don't. But this is a bug and it's clearly related to contacts that have message history in SMS and iMessage. Deleting the message history works, but why should I do that? Apple is starting to disappoint me over and over again. Last bug I found took 1 year to fix, despite me going to an Apple store and showing it to them. They have no interest in reporting bugs, the only thing they are trained to do is to replace your device. For a company that claims the best customer satisfaction in the industry that's pretty bad. The real problem is that 100,000 people is is 0.1% of 1 billion. And iOS has got too complex now for anyone to understand it properly or change it without braking it.

  • by Diykimmi,

    Diykimmi Diykimmi Apr 4, 2016 11:10 PM in response to rickyracoon
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Apr 4, 2016 11:10 PM in response to rickyracoon

    I Have had the same problems with phone only numbers showing in messages and not names.  Was having to put the number into my contacts to search the name!

     

    However, as previous peopoke have said, if you turn iMessage on and ring a face time number ( person doesn't even need to answer) turn phone off and on and the names should be there.

  • by iPersonFromSomewhere,

    iPersonFromSomewhere iPersonFromSomewhere Apr 22, 2016 8:43 AM in response to recsat
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Apr 22, 2016 8:43 AM in response to recsat

    Okay, I've experienced this issue and finally found an answer.  This is definitely not applicable to everyone, but for those who experience only a few random contacts showing up in Messages on your iPhone as phone numbers and not names, here is what I suggest:

     

    Check your contact list for any incomplete / duplicate entries (stored alphabetically under "#").

     

    Example:

    I had a contact named "John Smith" in my iCloud contact list.  It displayed as "John Smith" within Messages on my Mac, but Messages on my iPhone only ever displayed as "(555) 555-5555".  I tried everything (resets, reboots, deleting the contact...) - nothing worked.

     

    In disgust (and boredom, I guess), I started scrolling through my entire contact list.  When I finally reached the bottom, I discovered a few contact cards with only phone numbers saved to them.  And sure enough, those were the same numbers showing up in Messages on my iPhone in place of the contact names.  I deleted the "duplicate" entries, and everything displayed as expected.

     

    It seems the Mac defaults to contacts with names, while the iPhone defaults to those with numbers.  I haven't taken the time to figure out why... perhaps the bias is based on which entry was created first, or determined by the device from which the contact originated, or perhaps the iPhone simply defaults to numbers because it's a phone.


    Whatever the reason, the solution is simple.  Delete the incomplete contact cards, and all is well.


  • by Christian Turri,

    Christian Turri Christian Turri Apr 22, 2016 8:49 AM in response to iPersonFromSomewhere
    Level 1 (9 points)
    Apr 22, 2016 8:49 AM in response to iPersonFromSomewhere

    Hi, I don't believe your analysis to be right. I have the issue from time to time and I have verified I have no contacts under # or no duplicate contacts by scrolling through the whole list. I have also run several apps which deduplicate contacts in case there was an issue like this. I also don't sync contacts with iCloud. It may well be that that was the issue for you but it is certainly not the issue for all. This is a bug and I have no doubt about it.

  • by apotey,

    apotey apotey May 16, 2016 8:53 AM in response to Christian Turri
    Level 1 (4 points)
    iPhone
    May 16, 2016 8:53 AM in response to Christian Turri

    I've had this problem for a while on a 5S and tried various fixes. The oddest thing was that old contacts kept reappearing after a sync with Outlook even though I had previously deleted them.

     

    So that go me thinking about where the contact information was coming from (not using iCloud) and Whatsapp appears to be the answer. Or at least my answer.

     

    When you install this it seems to take a copy of your contacts into the app and after a time (with people changing numbers) it is no longer in sync with your iPhone contacts. So you end up with old phone numbers in Whatsapp conflicting with newer ones in the iPhone directory, confusing your phone so that it defaults to displaying the number only.

     

    My fix was simply to turn off Whatsapp's access to contacts (settings, whatsapp, contacts) and that was it. Fixed.

     

    Have now turned contacts back on and everything is still working...

  • by Keggs81 ,

    Keggs81 Keggs81 May 28, 2016 12:56 PM in response to apotey
    Level 1 (4 points)
    May 28, 2016 12:56 PM in response to apotey

    It definetly seems to be what's app that is causing the problem for me as I only have 2 what's app friends and they are the two that no longer display their names when I get a normal text from them.

     

    Unfortunetly  off the access to contacts has not fixed it for me but I will keep trying!

  • by vastopa,

    vastopa vastopa Jun 18, 2016 2:07 AM in response to recsat
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Jun 18, 2016 2:07 AM in response to recsat

    HI all,

     

    I'm not sure if this will solve everyone's problem but for me the issue was that the messages app would not connect the name to number in the messages if the phone number extension I had in contacts didn't match the one I was messaging.

     

    For example, while I lived in Toronto, I didn't add the +1 extension to numbers such as 416-123-4567 and now that I'm in Germany, when Toronto friends message me, the number comes through with the +1 extension and the phone (since my iOS9 update) wouldn't recognize the number as a contact.

     

    My solution... Every person that I message that doesn't have the name come up, I edit the contact to match the extension and it works right away. Hope this helps.

  • by Brinkster92,

    Brinkster92 Brinkster92 Jul 31, 2016 4:06 AM in response to recsat
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Jul 31, 2016 4:06 AM in response to recsat

    I've had this issue for ages but I finally fou a fix the other day, what you is delete the message thread your  an issue with

  • by JerseyJimbo,

    JerseyJimbo JerseyJimbo Aug 18, 2016 7:09 AM in response to recsat
    Level 1 (4 points)
    iPhone
    Aug 18, 2016 7:09 AM in response to recsat

    I have the same issue. Tried most 'work arounds' but nothing works.

    The problem started when I upgraded my iPhone 6 to iOS 9. I have since changed operator, and upgraded to a 6s. Granted I simply backed up the 6 and restored on the 6s but still, for a £600+ phone this isn't acceptable.

     

    I also had an issue where by when I swapped operator, when a call came in it would change the name of the operator I was on back to that of the old operator. I ran the iOS upgrade at the time hoping it would fix it but it didn't.

     

    Also, since upgrading my iPhone 6 to iOS 9, any videos that were taken in landscape were cropped! Essentially meaning they have all been rendered useless (or the copies on the phone anyway!)

     

    Lots of bugs in the 8 to 9 'upgrade' which still haven't been fixed... Why do we carry on putting up with this?  Oh look - iPhone sales are starting to drop! Doesn't that say something!??!

  • by Redstarfish,

    Redstarfish Redstarfish Sep 12, 2016 10:27 AM in response to recsat
    Level 1 (4 points)
    iPhone
    Sep 12, 2016 10:27 AM in response to recsat

    I had the same issue. Tried all the suggested options, except a back up as I didn't want to lose my data,

    then found this on another forum:

     

    What worked for me was associating a text message to an existing contact.

    - I opened the text message and clicked on "Details" in the upper right corner.

    - Then I clicked on the "info" icon (lower case i with circle around it)

    - Click on "Add to Existing Contact"

    - Choose the contact name to associate this cell number to

     

    It worked!

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