iMessage apps not working for iOS 13.2.3

Solution: Turning off downtime in screen time worked for me.

I guess all the iMessage apps count in your daily restrictions but aren’t listed in the apps list when choosing categories or “always allowed” apps.

Update: I did restart my iPhone last night but the iMessage apps did not work then.

This morning I set up Apple Pay on my iPad Air 2 since the iMessage apps were working on there, and after sending a payment to a friend, my iMessage apps suddenly began working on my iPhone (all of them).

I don't know if this had any correlation to sending something via my iPad or not. I had suspected it might've been due to dark mode being activated on my phone but activating/deactivating dark mode didn't inhibit my iMessage apps from working or not.

Hello esophagustransplant,

Thank you for using Apple Support Communities!

I understand from your post that some of your iMessage apps are not opening and show grayed out. In a situation like this I recommend quitting the app and restarting your iPhone. These articles will provide you with the steps:

How to force an app to close on your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch - Apple Support

Restart your iPhone - Apple Support

Best Regards.

I have the same issue as OP and force closing, restarting, and re-installing the app doesn't work at all. This problem is not limited to App-Store iMessage apps either, I cannot use Apple Pay or most of the pre-installed applications either. The only apps that do work are: Photos, the App Store itself, Google Maps, and Spotify.

Funny thing is I can still access the apps if I search the app through the app store and then click the "open" button through the app store -- even gamepigeon and all my sticker packs too, but they aren't highlighted as if they're selected through the normal app bar. They're still "open" through the app store, technically.

However, I still cannot access Apple Pay as it isn't on the app store to begin with.

I'm on iOS 13.2.3 on an iPhone 11.