Text message notifications sometimes fail intermittently when iPhone is in sleep mode

For a long time my text messages have arrived, sometimes with an accompanying sound and on-screen notification on my iPhone, sometimes without. It's been maddeningly unpredictable.


I've kept an eye on the forums over a period of months, and the obvious solutions are offered and have been ineffective for myself and many other users. These include making sure the volume is up, the phone isn't in vibrate mode, Do Not Disturb is off, bedtime hours are off, resetting the phone to factory defaults, etc. etc.


I hope it's not bad form to answer your own question, but I found the culprit in my situation. I'll share it as an answer, below. Hopefully it will be helpful to others! Hint: it involves using your Mac when the message arrives.

Posted on Jan 8, 2021 12:53 PM

Reply
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Jan 8, 2021 1:06 PM

The problem involved my Mac getting in the way of incoming messages. I finally noticed the Message activity display (lower left corner on my Mac screen) displaying whenever I was in messaging. I believe text messages were being handled by the Mac, and my iPhone and Apple Watch were being told "already handled, ignore the message".


The solution is to tell the Mac to back off. On your Mac, open the Messages application, on the menu bar at the top of your screen select Messages > Preferences, then the iMessage tab. Under your Apple ID uncheck the "Enable this account" checkbox. Then close the window.


Congratulations. Your Mac will now stop intercepting messages and your iPhone/AppleWatch will start noticing text messages again, even when you're using your Mac.


I should also clarify that using System Preferences > Notifications > Messages and disabling the "Allow Notifications from Messages" will NOT, repeat NOT help. You must make the change in the Messages app.


Hope this helps!

1 reply
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Jan 8, 2021 1:06 PM in response to LarryBoyColorado

The problem involved my Mac getting in the way of incoming messages. I finally noticed the Message activity display (lower left corner on my Mac screen) displaying whenever I was in messaging. I believe text messages were being handled by the Mac, and my iPhone and Apple Watch were being told "already handled, ignore the message".


The solution is to tell the Mac to back off. On your Mac, open the Messages application, on the menu bar at the top of your screen select Messages > Preferences, then the iMessage tab. Under your Apple ID uncheck the "Enable this account" checkbox. Then close the window.


Congratulations. Your Mac will now stop intercepting messages and your iPhone/AppleWatch will start noticing text messages again, even when you're using your Mac.


I should also clarify that using System Preferences > Notifications > Messages and disabling the "Allow Notifications from Messages" will NOT, repeat NOT help. You must make the change in the Messages app.


Hope this helps!

This thread has been closed by the system or the community team. You may vote for any posts you find helpful, or search the Community for additional answers.

Text message notifications sometimes fail intermittently when iPhone is in sleep mode

Welcome to Apple Support Community
A forum where Apple customers help each other with their products. Get started with your Apple Account.