After upgrading to ios 6, iMessage stopped working.

Something went wrong while you update your device to iOS 6, I suggest you should do a reset by holding home button and sleep/wake button for 10s, or you can restore your device via iTunes.

Mine worked fine till this afternoon....

Yeah, mjagloro17 doesn't know what he's talking about.

If you look back through this thread, a couple of different things seem to be happening. Several people's problems with imessage seem to start with a reboot, power outage, or something else that causes them to disconnect from a network then reconnect to it. For many, the problem seems to sort itself out with time. Did something like that happen with your network recently?

Sorry ddnt notice pd that. :)

Hmmm iMessage just started working again..& the moment it was back on, I received a few messages on the me.com email account..somehow connected, obviously!..

And down again.....:((this is becoming annoying...

I have read and tried all the suggestions in this thread and unfortunately none have worked for me. Like most everyone here, my iMessage stopped working or didn't work properly after the "up-grade" to 6. I have an iPhone4 and while I have been able to get my iMessage to work with some of my contacts, the iMessage option was off and I had to turn it back on. Here's the real problem and complaint I have: My daughter is studying abroad in Italy with limited access to the internet and no phone service, so we rely on iMessage to communicate. Since the up-date all my messages default to texts, which she can not receive because she had to turn off her data while there and I am not receiving any of her messages. This is infuriating since it is the only way we really have to communicate except for Skype. Has anyone else had this happen with contacts that are abroad and do you have any suggestions? Come on Apple, this is unacceptable; do you really think I want to buy an iPhone 5 if you mess up your software updates this much!

sailing, I think you are misunderstanding how iMessage is supposed to work. iMessage works on an Internet connection, so if one or both parties has data turned off, iMessage will not function and your messages will default to SMS. Turning data off should not block transmission of text (SMS) messages, as they are separate from the data (Internet) connectivity and billing. But turning cellular data off WILL render iMessage useless unless there is a wifi connection available.

Hope that helps.

Thank you. I guess I wasn't clear 😊

Yes I understand that she must have wifi to use her iMessage since she can't use her data plan while there or make phone calls. Since she can not make calls, we rely on the limited Internet she has available to iMessage and Skype. She has been able to iMessage with some other people, but she told them she didn't understand why I was not answering her messages. I never got them and vise versa. I am just very frustrated.

I found out completely by accident last night that by turning on the mobile data function iMessage will start to work again as well. But why should I have to do this? It worked on iOS 5 before with just a wifi connection, so why does it not now? I haven't yet tried to use FaceTime so that will be fun...

Ah. That's very different, then.

Is it only with her that you can't iMessage, or does it affect all your contacts at certain times? I'm wondering if it has something to do with her being abroad or if it's a problem with the new version of iMessage and something happening with your network connection(s).

I think Apple has overhyped iMessage generally. It seems like it isn't ready for prime time. This is only the latest issue... with the first release it worked sporadically, and I'd often receive (and send, apparently) the same message as both iMessage and text message, which was frustrating. The Mac version of iMessage complicates things even further and is a pain unless you keep your Mac on, awake, and connected to the Internet at all times.

Hope you can at least find a workaround until it's fixed. Sounds like Skype may be your best bet for now.

iMessage now "unifies" your phone number and email address to identify you as a user. This is supposed to make using iMessage across different devices (iPhone, iPad, and Mac) easier, but we see how that worked out. In theory, it sounds like that would cause behavior on different Internet connections to be more consistent, but if it knows you as your phone number, it stands to reason that it could identify and connect you faster using a cellular connection.

Thank you very much.

I originally had some issues with a couple of my other contacts that use an iPhone 4 and 4s, but those were resolved. And I know my connection is working and hers must be if she can iMessage with others. I don't understand why she and I are having the problem. The only other factor I can think of is that the other people she has been able to iMessage are using 4s phones, while mine is a 4.

Unfortunately Skype might be our only answer until Apple solves this problem.

Apple seems to have too many bugs with this launch.

I'm having more iMessage issues today. The weird thing is, if I tether from my IPhone 4S to my Ipad via WIFI, everything works fine including iMessage, but if I tether from my Iphone to my Ipad via Bluetooth, then iMessages won't transmit or receive. Anyone else seeing the same behavior?

yes this appears to be related to some sort of software or server bug on apple's part in which if your device loses connection to wifi, imessage won't work when you reconnect nor will apple's email app push/fetch messages.

However, i have found that if you just let it go, both will start working correctly eventually without having to do any troubleshooting steps so long as you don't lose your wifi connection again.