Can't deactivate iMessage after switching phones?

AHHHH After lots of tinkering I've solved the issue! 🙂😀

I really hope this helps everyone!

Okay. Heres what to do:

1. Go to: https://supportprofile.apple.com/MySupportProfile.do
2. Log in if not already logged in.
3. Click on "edit products"
4. Click on the "x" to the right of the product.
5. Click "unregister"

Within seconds of doing this I was able to receive SMS messages from iMessage users!

Hopefully this helps everyone, and Merry Christmas!

I'm having the exact same problem. Its very very annoying. All of my friends use iPhones, with iOS5. And now I cant recieve messages from them.

And my mother is using my old iPhone and she can't send me texts either. It's so stupid.

Oh, I was not confused by the inital post stating it was a bug, users may view it that way, may not be able to find the correct or reliable documentation, etc. I think I was confused by the reports outside the forum about a bug in iMessage since I found the docs in about .023 seconds.

The documentation related to iMessage along with a tech note from Oct 24, 2011 explain how to turn it off. Seems that it is listed there in the additional notes section on what you need to do if you are switching your phone as it relates to iMessage. There are also some details in the setup and documentation about implications, what, iMessage is and any addition considerations when using the service as it relates to your carrier or device.

So that is why I am confused, it is not a bug, you must Turn it off first on your iPhone before transferring your number to device that does not support iMessage. (Seemed strange that an outside tech site published it as a bug, hence why I was confused and concerned.) I am correct in thinking that an Android device would be a device that DOES NOT SUPPORT IMESSAGE. I checked the system requirements for iMessage and it seems Android is in fact not a supported device. So, seems that a user transferring from an iPhone to another device would need to do what is listed in the support document. At that point the device is disconnected and Texting returns to normal SMS/MMS. Many services and devices operate in this manner from my experience. There are many new services that connect to a APP or device. (In fact it is a good practice to review them every month or so.)

This is one of the docs I found from October, 2011- http://support.apple.com/kb/TS2755

Taken from the additional information section...

Additional Information

• If SMS or MMS messages you send are not displayed correctly on other devices, see this article.
• If you receive a message that your mailbox is almost full in the Messages application, ensure that you are using the latest version of iOS. If you continue to receive the prompt, delete some messages. You can delete a conversation by swiping left or right over a conversation and tapping Delete. For other ways to delete a conversation, see the User's Guide.
• If you plan on transferring your SIM card or phone number from an iPhone to a device that does not support iMessage, turn off iMessage in Settings > Messages first. If you do not, other iOS devices may continue to try to send a message using iMessage first, instead only using SMS or MMS.
• If you have recently received or placed a call and cellular data is not available, your iMessage may not send immediately. When prompted, you can choose to send the message as SMS.

I really does not make a difference to me what it is called in the forum. I sometimes get confused by what a user may call it as compared to what a technology reporter may call it. I also understand it is very hard to find the correct answer to an issue, but seems the documentation is here. It took all of .035 seconds for a search engine to find the article and some documentation so that is why I was confused by an published report outside the forum stating it was a bug.

Anyway good to find out the proper way to activate and deactivate iMessage. I only reviewed the pros/cons of iMessage when Apple announced iMessage and wanted to make sure I did not miss something that can be a problem if users change devices. So my confusion was with the outside report, not your initial problem which is ensuring proper deactivation of iMessage and returning to SMS/MMS. I was able to find some documentation which sometimes I agree can be difficult to do.

Best of luck,

Thanks

That is the answer, CNet's reporting on this is very confusing. Many servcies now attach the service to a hardware device or an app that runs on the device. (Twitter, Google Voice, iTunes, Google Dual Auth all be examples.

With certain services such as iMessage, Google's Voice, Google two phase authentication you link the device with the service. Even in Twitter you allow certain Applications which are device specific Access to your account. Users have to and are expected to based on when they sign up for these services to manage the access.

So now would be a good time for any users reading this to review all te authorized devices and applications for various services they use day to day. You may want to visit the vendors or providers site to find out how to do this.

Itunes: http://support.apple.com/kb/ht4627

http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1420

This not being a Google or Andriod fourm you may want to search the Web for answer on how to manage many of the services on that platform, call Google Support, your provider support or there store.

iMessage service has to be managed and if you change devices you need to act accordingly and change device.

CNet reporting it as a bug is strange. You need to manage your accounts, the services and the hardware authorized to access and use services.

I did both of these and then it finally cleared. Method #1 1) Go to https://daw.apple.com/cgi-bin/WebObj...language=US-EN 2) Login 3) Deactivate your old phone 4) Shut off iPhone 5) Restart your droid phone and text someone and see if they can text you back ****If this doesn't work then go to method #2**** 1) Shut down your Android phone 2) Remove sim Card 3) Remove Sim Card from iPhone (you can open sim trya by simply using a paperclip and pushing it in the hole. 4) Put new sim card from your android phone into iPhone 4 or 4S and turn on iPhone 5) Go into settings then scroll down to Messaging 6) Shut off iMessaging and turn on SMS Messaging. 7) Wait 2 min 8) Shut off iPhone 4 or 4S remove sim and put back into Android phone then restart phone. 9) Wahla!!! It should be working ****If you lost your phone you can use someone elses to do Method #2**** Hope this helps..if it works give me feedback...

I was experiencing the same problem. I went through all the channels I found. Explained it to the Apple Store, even showed them the numerous articles on this, and they were stumped. Spoke to Apple Support over the phone, same result. Tried the Support Profile way (the product's profile would not appear in my products list (after seeing the sucessfully registered check), to unregister.

But decided to fiddle around in iTunes and discovered a way that worked for me.

In iTune's Menu bar,

1. Go to Store
2. View My Apple ID. (Type your password in).
3. After the page loads, in the "iTunes in the Cloud" section.
4. Press Mange Devices
5. Remove your phone from the list

After this, my friends were relieved to say it stopped automatically sending their messages to my phone as an iMessage.

Afterwards, just to be on the safe side, i followed these instructions:

WozzaX wrote:

I think I have the full solution but does require you access to an iPhone (old or friends). I used my wifes.

Grab a friends (wife) iphone.

Log them out of iMessage (facetime as well if you want).

I also logged out of my iMessage and Facetime on iMac and iPad just incase.

Log in as you on the iPhone.

Then turn iMessage (and facetime) Off. Leave it for a few minutes then reboot the phone still with it off.

Log into your Apple Account via a website.

Reset your Apple ID Password.

On the iPhone turn on iMessage.

It may look like its activated but it shouldnt cos the password has changed. just go into recievers and sign out and log back in as the original iphone owners account.

Done.

When I logged back in again on iPad and Mac my mobile number was missing. Hurrah.

I am starting to wonder if this problem gets more complicated with owning multiple iDevices, compared to those who only use an iPhone. Maybe the iPhone's iMessage toggle works for strictly iPhone users. But for those who have synced it with their iPads or computers, it evolves into this problem.

Deep down, I feel that Apple executives know of this issue, but do not care to rectify and give customers an easy solution to resolve it. This could be a way to give us **** for switching from their devices.

(Proud owner of the new Samsung Galaxy S4 😎 lol)

Did you wipe all data from your iPhone? There is a known bug that even if you did, the iPhone will still be found and receive your iMessages. Until Apple fixes this, your friends will have to disable iMessage on their iPhones in order to SMS to you.

I've been experimenting with iMessage after reading your post.

This is a serious problem. If you disable iMessage, when others who have iMessage enabled try to text you it just won't get to you. If you switch to a phone that does not have iOS 5, same thing happens. The only way that iOS 5 users can text a phone number that has been associated with an Apple ID for iMessage purposes is to disable iMessage. Of course, if they disable iMessage then they have the problem of people not being able to text them!!

Apple, please fix this!

Found a workaroundfor this--still a pain, but it works:

Any friends that are currently using iMessage must deactivate their iMessage via the settings app, and send you a message via sms. After they have successfully sent a message to you via sms, they are able to re-activate iMessage. From that point on, they are able to send messages to you via sms--don't know how it works, but I can confirm 3 different users so far.

Hope it helps.

I called Apple about this very issue today. Last week I bought a new Android phone and got my old iphone 4 ready to be sold but now can't receive texts from anyone who I used to iMessage with. All their texts try to go through as iMessages which I obviously no longer use.

Apple said they are unable to de-link the number from the iMessage service. They had me run through many options....changing apple ID, reseting my old iphone, turning off imessage....blah, blah. Yet I still cannot receive texts from anyone with an iphone because of this silly iMessage issue. They told me it may take 24 hours fro the system to release its hold on the number. We'll see what happens.

They did say they are aware of the issue and a fix is "probably in the works." So for now, I just won't communicate with anyone that has an iphone through text messaging. Unfortunate situation.

I recently upgraded my iPhone 4 to an iPhone 4s and since then had been unable to receive iMessages. The instructions in this thread to unregister (my old iPhone 4) helped restore iMessage service to my new iPhone 4s.

Surely the answer to this issue is in the address book field a mobile number is posted to? Want to send a message to an iPhone - put the number in the iPhone field. Want to send an SMS to a non-iPhone? Put the number in the mobile field. Is it this simple?