Can't deactivate iMessage after switching phones?

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

Has anyone tried relabelling the phone number? I have, and the message delivery system used changed according to the label of the number sent to.

Literroy wrote:

PuririDowns - those labels are purely decorative and have nothing to do with the function of the phone. It's like labelling a number "work" versus "home" - it's only for your benefit, the phone treats them exactly the same.

When the phone number I send to is on the "Mobile" field, then new messages are sent using the SMS delivery system. When that same phone number is re-labelled as "iPhone", the iMasseage delivery system is used. You can tell which delivery system the phone is intending to use by the label in the message box - it reads either "message" or "iMessage". That decision intelligence can only come from the phone itself.

I also experimented with switching off "mobile data" and "WiFi". New messages were sent using SMS.

There is a point of confusion though. Now that I have both iMessage and SMS messages to the same recipient, I have 2 different and separate message streams and can continue to reply to messages in each stream using the different delivery systems.

It seems to me that, in hindsight and coming from experimentation, Apple's logic in designing iMessage is correct but confusing until we know how it works. Apple are very poor at explaining the hows and whys of their services. I would prefer that Apple do not 'dumb down' their services and instead disclose how and why things work for those of us that want to know.

In Apple's product documents, they do make the point very clearly, about what to do when transferring a sim card or phone number to another non-iphone:

"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."

It is wrong that Apple puts the demand for action on the changing user - who would ever think to read some Apple documents when changing phones? The action should come from the senders side - if iMessage fails so many times in a row, then quit sending iMessages until reconfirmed.

It's not the person who changes phones issue, it's the everyone else trying to send iMessages to them.

I like my iPhone and intend to stay with it, but some people feel differently and will change to non-apple devices. Apple devices should be smart enough to figure that out.

I'm having this very same problem.

I ported my number over to my new phone. My new phone is an Android device.

I wanted to use my old iPhone 4 as an iPod.

My wife and many family members have iPhones. I can't get any text messages from them to the new phone. They all go to my deactivated iPhone.

Very bad design flaw.

So, how do we fix it?

I was able to.deactivate imessage

My iphone was never registered. But, after I registered then removed it the problem was fixed.

If someone never registered their phone and no longer had the serial number they would still be out of luck.

Apple definitely needs to come up with a better solution.

Apple, why have you not officially put this on your support page?

This is outrageous; and the lack of action seems like you don't care if people switch to a different non-iOS phone...

andy2na wrote:

Apple, why have you not officially put this on your support page?

andy2na, why have you not read the Terms of Use you agreed to when you joined this forum? If you did, you would know that you are not addressing Apple here - only other iPhone users. Apple does not read or participate here.

I can't receive any IM from my wife's iPhone on my new Android phone. All her IMs are still going to my old iPhone.

I went to : https://supportprofile.apple.com/MySupportProfile.do

and my old iPhone (the one that is still receiving my SMS messages) is NOT listed there anymore. However, it is still receiving all IMs coming in from iPhones.

Any ideas?

Didn't work for me, my old iPhone (which is still receiving IMs from other iPhones) was not listed in the Support Profile.

i'd call it "Apple Hubris"

Follow my instructions up top.

If you have your old phones serial number register it with your account. I then deleted my mobile number. After that I unregistered/deleted the phone from my profile, thus removing it from the look up table.

Good luck.

I tried registering and deregistering but still have the same problem. Was it instant or did it take time for the server to reset?

Log in again.

Is your cell number any where on the page?

On the left somewhere?

Delete it from there if present.