Hi,
If the Mac version is not working properly then it will hav difficulty in linking to an iPhone or other iOS device.
Just to be clear.
I turned Off (unticked the "Enable this Account" box) on all of my Buddy list accounts.
At this point with not Buddy lists (AIM, Jabber, Yahoo and Bonjour) logged in the center section of the General Pane of the Preferences went greyed out.
Window Menu and General Pane together (No "Buddies" in the Menu)
My Window Menu would normally look like this:-
As I have unticked the "Show All Accounts in one List"
Most of the Menu items and the item in that Preferences Pane that refer to "Status" are talking about the Buddy Lists accounts.
The actual iMessages account shows no Status at all.
8:02 pm Thursday; January 16, 2014
iMac 2.5Ghz 5i 2011 (Mavericks 10.9)
G4/1GhzDual MDD (Leopard 10.5.8)
MacBookPro 2Gb (Snow Leopard 10.6.8)
Mac OS X (10.6.8),
Couple of iPhones and an iPad