iPhone to Android iMessage bug fix

You're right it isn't a glitch. It is Apple intentionally being a POS.

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Agreed this is a problem created by Apple and they have no intention of fixing it. It's their way of hoping / trying to encourage people to never leave them. It is not open.

I switched from iPhone 4s to Samsung Galaxy Note 5 a few days ago and found this issue. In short, yes, I can TXT people directly. But all group messages are totally messed up. Really makes me mad that Apple has been ignorant on this issue for YEARS since the beginning of this thread. One of the reasons I left Apple was because of their tight grip on everything. But now I am outcast from many groups of friends who use Apple devices because their phones INSIST on contacting me at a no longer existing location. (iMessage) It is a bug. A flaw.

With group emails... You can EDIT the email addresses as you reply all. And then that fixes things going forward. But with iMessage and SMS, you are not able to change who you write to. It is just a name.

I am curious to hear from others who had this issue in the past. Did you just ignore it? Did the problem fully fix itself after 45 days? Do you currently get all group txt messages? I am only 2 days into having this issue, but what a waste of time and what a mess!!

I'm having the same issue, switched from iPhone to Android. I am deregistered from iMessage but the only group MMS I receive are from people that have deleted all old chains with me in them. Otherwise, I do not receive the replies in a group MMS. Very frustrating.

What I find crazy is this: as an Apple iPhone user, if my iMessages are no longer being received by my contacts because they've switched from an iPhone to *anything else* I KINDA WANT TO KNOW ABOUT IT. A simple "message not sent" would be a really nice way to let me know that something is wrong. But nope...to the iPhone user sending the iMessage it just looks like everything is working just fine. When it's not.

This is what we call bad UX.

I love my iPhone, but this is just dumb.

I am so frustrated. I just bought an Android phone because I wanted to try a new kind of phone. I like Android so far, but I am not getting group messages from my family who all use iphones. This is a real issue because we communicate as a family this way and if I can't get those messages it is a huge issue. I have tried the different fixes listed here, but none of those work. I really want to keep my new phone, but I can't if I am unable to get those messages. I am stunned they can do this and get away with it for years. If anybody has any advice, please post.

ncreader wrote:

I am so frustrated. I just bought an Android phone because I wanted to try a new kind of phone. I like Android so far, but I am not getting group messages from my family who all use iphones. This is a real issue because we communicate as a family this way and if I can't get those messages it is a huge issue. I have tried the different fixes listed here, but none of those work. I really want to keep my new phone, but I can't if I am unable to get those messages. I am stunned they can do this and get away with it for years. If anybody has any advice, please post.

I completely agree, it is stunning that Apple is using that proprietary message system without involvement of cellular carriers that is not only immediate, but also is not available to you anymore since you bought an android. Fix is very simple thou and if you are real family easy to take care off. Everybody in the family have to delete the threads and start new one with you not attached to imessage server. Everybody in the family also wants to make sure they have send as sms turned on in settings - messages. Just for a good measure everybody wants to make sure that they are using your phone number and not apple id to send you messages, or they can come to ipad/ipod/mac that you may still use.

I've been trying to figure this out for some years (yep, it's been over 2 years since I've moved on from an iphone).

I think the reason is the iPhone messaging app - if an iMessage conversation exists that includes a previous iPhone user, it will persist in thinking it can use iMessage to continue the conversation in this fashion.

The only fix is to get iPhone friends to delete the group iMessage conversation and start it again.

The whole this is so very, very frustrating.

Hello FelipeV,

I am not sure if removing my AppleID is the solution to my issue. I don't want to be completely removed from IMessaging, I want to turn it off when overseas when I have no internet capabilities and don't want to use data since it is too expensive. I love my iPhone and don't want to switch to an android either. But I do have an issue and not sure how to fix it...

So, my ATT international plan has text messaging (SMS), I used that, however, my iPhone colleagues did not receive my text messages. I don't understand this as the android users all received my text messages, just like they do in the US when my IMessaging is on. Based on what I am reading, in the future, do I have to tell all my iPhone user colleagues to turn off IMessaging when I leave the country? This seems very convoluted and not what the text messaging is about. Also, how do retrieve the past messages? Or are they gone forever, not received by anyone?

Thanks for your help.

I too had an issue with text communication between iPhone to Android. My husband switched from an iPhone to an Android phone recently. He was receiving texts from other people, however he was not receiving my texts. I quickly reviewed some threads and here is what I tried. Behold...It worked!!!

Firstly, I went to settings > Messages and checked that "Send as SMS" was turned on, which it was. Next, I turned " Send as SMS" off as well as, I turned off iMessage (may not have needed to do this) and sent my husband a text message...he did not respond. At this point I powered my phone down (like a reboot). Lastly, I turned my phone back on and went back to Settings > Messages and turned both iMessage and SMS Texting on again. Finally, I texted my husband again, and almost immediately he responded.

I am far from Apple-savy, but likely, turning off the SMS feature, powering down the phone is what did the trick. Hope this helps anyone having the same problem. Best of luck everyone!

Apple has made a fix for this https://selfsolve.apple.com/deregister-imessage

I see that you think advice given 4 years ago is wrong today. You didn't even consider that something may have changed in the ensuing 4 years. Brilliant.

Don't you know that Apple customers are incredibly logical? Please report the post, just having fun - so nice to leave universe of incredulity.