Text Messages being linked on contacts multiple numbers

Why change this? It was useful to be able to separate conversations (threads) between contacts' work & personal numbers. I'm not happy with this new "feature" at all and now cannot figure out which messages were sent to which number.

To go through ALL my contacts with multiple cell phone numbers and separate them as you suggest is extremely time consuming & annoying!

This solution is not helpful for people with multiple contacts with multiple numbers. It is tedious to the max. Why can’t Apple put an option to merge or not? Apple is making things more complicated than simplified. So the only 2 options are separating each & every number hoping it won’t merge or revert to older version with the risk of old and/or new glitches on top of losing data. Either of those options are not helpful. Just change it back or give us the option to merge or not to merge! I called support and they weren’t even aware of this. So I came here....nothing! Just complaints nothing resolved or fixed.

I agree with you on how annoying this problem is. I have 1000+ contacts and I can't go separating them all out. I just got an iPhone 11 two days ago from having a blackberry for years and I actually have to take the iPhone back due to this one design flaw! The simple solution would be for the display name for a texting thread to say "name (phone label)". Eg. "John Smith (Mobile)" or "John Smith (Other)" or "John Smith (Work)". This way, the threads would be separated AND you would know which number you are texting.

Totally agree.

nice how such big changes are made without our feedback or at least a way to disable stupid changes.

I have multiple clients with multiple contacts for each client that I could normally text individually. Now I look like an idiot cause I am sending messages to the wrong person. Totally frustrating. Should not be too hard for apple to give us an option to reject there amazing upgrades🥴

Hello Incar-science,

Welcome to the Apple Support Communities. It sounds like the same contact linked to two numbers has the same thread in Messages. I'll be happy to explain and help.

This is expected to happen under the same contact. In order to separate the two number, it'll be best to create another contact for them.

You can also leave feedback here: Product Feedback - Apple

Have a great day.

Incar-science,

Thanks for the additional information.

• Try naming the contact to something completely different. Sometimes Mail accounts might keep contacts linked if they are named the same even on a different contact card.
• Be sure to start a brand new thread with the new contact.
• After creating the contact, Restart your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch
• If you haven't already, be sure to back up then update the iPhone to iOS 13.1.2 as this can fix most issues by staying updated: Update your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch

If you're still having issues, reach out to the Apple Support team here: Contact Apple Support

Take care.

Me too!! As you are all saying, the new ios or my new iPhone 11 Pro Max combine text messages into a single thread when they are from different mobile numbers on the same contact. Please tell me how to separate! I have thousands of contacts and all of the families are on the same contact, obviously, because my contacts have the same address, notes, home phone, etc. I use these for Christmas cards and many other purposes besides iphone texting. Help!!

maybe you can try and make different contacts for different numbers (example: John Appleseed Home, John Appleseed work)

it’s the only solution I can think of.