Messages frozen and crashes on iOS 17.5.1

I am astonished to find this problem has been on-going for so long and nothing has been fixed. My iPhone 12 began acting up similarly to everyone here last week. Hours accessing support has not fixed anything. When I called today the "senior level" person said they just got notified two days ago that this was a problem and the only thing to be done is keep looking for a software update.

Just want to add my voice to the mix started June 28th soon after updating. Messages app is frozen and then crashes. Can’t access the Messages tab in Settings because then the Settings app freezes and crashes. Can’t reset network settings or reset the entire phone because the reloading screen freezes force resets do nothing. Support on Chat had no idea what to do.

Unfortunately toggling Focus under Settings -> Messages only worked for a day. Dang I have to resort to WhatsApp again. NeXT is backup, delete Messages and all data, wipe/erase the 12 Pro and reinstall the back up. Sooo frustrating!!!

I saw this fix suggested (turning off focus) a few weeks ago, it wasn't a permanent solution for me. It seemed to work for a while, but then went back to the same behaviour described here - message app goes 'blank', takes a super long time to send a text (if at all). But it's hard to tell whether the problem is related or not. I've had this problem well over a month. When did 17.5.1 come out?

My family and I started experiencing similar issues with Messages this weekend. I tried a number of different steps to fix it with no luck. I called support today, and they had me Reset All Settings (which for whatever reason I hadn't already tried), and it seems to have fixed the issues (for now, at least).

Our entire family is having issues with Messages locking up on opening. Many hard resets but still randomly doesn't work. I cannot access the Messages settings in the Settings app either to turn off Focus there, that locks up Settings if I try to go to the Messages setting in there. Using 17.5.1.

Think of it like your IP address. You don't want it to drop you with every network hiccup so they built in a 4 hour delay to the IDS registration system. It's a well-known vulnerability within the infrastructure that registrations can be faulty, but it's really difficult for Apple to a) detect and b) reset individual devices. Like I said, it's a shared layer between messages AND FaceTime AND HomeKit.

Over and out

This is stil happening to me after trying all the tricks listed. I even completely reset my iPhone. It has been a hassle. This is also affecting my business as I rely on text messages. It’s surprising that there is no fix as of yet from Apple. I heard they abandoned an iOS 17.5.2 update.

Having the same issue (on my iPhone 14 pro). iMessage, Facetime, and the phone app all open to a blank screen and then crash. I can't even use other apps sometimes. I have had to force restart my iPhone about 15 times since yesterday because if I don't, my phone freezes, and gets stuck, and does not work. After force restarting it, it maybe works for an hour or two then stops again. My settings app works only until I click on something, and then it stops working. Apple told me to put my phone into recovery mode and select update on a computer, but I am not risking losing anything. I couldn't even call 911 if I had to. This has got to be fixed.

Going on for a month. Apple broke this. Apple needs to fix it. It’s all their native apps. All these BS fixes posted here are not working, it’s apples job to remedy this. Another feature that did t work is airdrop. Anyone else experience that too? Come on apple, when is your fix going to be released!?!

I've had this problem too -- even when I reset to Factory (which temporarily fixes the issue) it resumes within a few days. Apple Store tech did not know how to fix, even after several attempts.

Was having the issue on my iPad. Did all kinds of signing out and back in and finally got it working again, but now the issue is on my iPhone. Never had an issue before 17.5.1. Very annoying.

My wife and I have this issue. It was fine for a few days after a restore but came back on my phone. Not sure about hers. She has an iPhone 11 (SIM card) and I’m using an iPhone 14 Pro (eSIM).

I am also having problems with my screen freezing in Safari on my iPad after 17.5.1. This typically happens when I am doing a search. The only way to fix it is to shut down and restart.

They refused to give me an actual date today and just said they had the same report from others and were looking into it 😡