SMS relay: COUNTRY code issue

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Level 1

12 points

SMS relay: COUNTRY code issue

When receiving SMS (green bubbles) on my Mac, often (though not always) they come in without the country code e.g. 987654321 instead of +244 987654321, the Messages app on Mac doesn't identify them as part of my contacts and I have to go check on my iPhone to see who sent the SMS.

The issue is that if I answer directly from my Mac, for some reason my Mac is adding the country code +44 to that number (e.g. +44 987654321) and I'm ending up sending an International SMS rather than answering to the intended number which would start with country code +244 (+244 987654321) as indeed it is stored in my contacts to start with. I've only noticed recently when people complained they weren't receiving my SMS answer which I claimed to have sent.

Ideally I would like to have a better sync in contacts between Mac and iPhone; ALL my contacts' phone numbers are stored WITH COUNTRY CODE, so there shouldn't be a reason for this type of confusion to be happening.

I've already tried looking for country code options in the messages app in my MacBook Pro in order to find a temporary fix but couldn't find anything. If the numbers were correctly identified by my MacBook Pro Messages App, there would be no need for temporary fixes or country code settings, provided the contacts were correctly stored in the Contacts App with country code, which is my case. Very frustrating.

Is anyone else experiencing this type of issue? HELP!

MacBook Pro Mid-2012 running OS X Yosemite (10.10); iPhone 5S running the latest iOS 8.1, all the latest updates done.

MacBook Pro (13-inch Mid 2012), OS X Yosemite (10.10)

Posted on Nov 13, 2014 11:59 PM

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Answer 1

Best reply

Ralph-Johns-UK

Level 9

76,789 points

Nov 15, 2014 2:02 PM in response to armmangi

Hi,

In Messages click the Details Button in the Messages menu > Preferences > Accounts > iMessages account

You will have to sign in "again" to view the pane.

It should be set to your Country.

+44 is the UK

10:02 pm Saturday; November 15, 2014

 iMac 2.5Ghz i5 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

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Answer 2

armmangi Author

Level 1

12 points

Nov 16, 2014 1:28 PM in response to Ralph-Johns-UK

Dear Ralph,

Thank you very much for your advice; unfortunately it has not solved the issue.

I have followed our instructions to the letter and after signing in "again" I have found my country to be set to Portugal (+351) and not the UK (+44). I immediately assumed that that then must not be the issue, nevertheless

1. I did change to my current and intended location i.e. Angola (+244).

2. Found a thread in my Mac's Messages App which had been identified only as e.g. 987654321 rather than +244 987654321. I replied to that SMS. In the Mac app I could see it only as a reply to 987654321. When checking on my iPhone I could immediately see that SMS was sent to... +44 987654321!

Just to make sure I tried everything, I restarted my Mac's Messages App and tried sending yet another SMS on that 987654321 thread. When checking on my iPhone I could see that SMS too was sent to... +44 987654321.

CONCLUSION: Problem NOT solved.

I appreciate your effort though. Cheers.

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Answer 3

Nov 16, 2014 2:22 PM in response to armmangi

Hi,

Is you Contacts app set to a region near you ?

Mine goes as far to use UK Formatting to names and Addresses and Phone numbers.

10:22 pm Sunday; November 16, 2014

 iMac 2.5Ghz i5 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

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Answer 4

armmangi Author

Level 1

12 points

Nov 18, 2014 6:20 AM in response to Ralph-Johns-UK

Dear Ralph,

Thanks yet again for your efforts and patience.

I opened the preferences on my MacBook Pro's Contacts app and saw the address format to be set to "United States". I've set it to Angola.

Unfortunately the problem persists. It seems to me like it is a Yosemite bug, because I don't have this problem when answering an SMS (green bubbles) using my iPad. Only when using the Macbook Pro.

Further to that I've just finished updating Yosemite moments ago and have tested after the update. The problem persists.

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Answer 5

Nov 18, 2014 12:30 PM in response to armmangi

hi,

This is odd.

Green Messages (SMS) are handed over to the iPhone for sending.

They don't require the Mac to be logged in to the iMessages server.

However the Blue iMessages do require that you are logged in and it seems in your responses that despite the account being Enabled in the Preferences > Accounts it is not sending iMessages.

If you have not got one already set up a text Mac User Account (System Preference > Users and Groups) and then use the Same Apple ID in Messages to set up the same Apple ID.

This will prove it is either the App or the Mac User account you normally use.

8:30 pm Tuesday; November 18, 2014

 iMac 2.5Ghz i5 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

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Answer 6

armmangi Author

Level 1

12 points

Nov 18, 2014 2:48 PM in response to Ralph-Johns-UK

Dear Ralph,

Thanks again for your patience in trying to sort me out here. However, reading your latest message I believe I must have expressed myself in a way that was confusing. To clarify:

Green Messages (SMS) are handed over to the iPhone for sending. OK

They don't require the Mac to be logged in to the iMessages server. OK

However the Blue iMessages do require that you are logged in and it seems in your responses that despite the account being Enabled in the Preferences > Accounts it is not sending iMessages. Wrong, I have no problem whatsoever sending or receiving iMessages in any of my devices. All are logged in using the same account.

If you have not got one already set up a text Mac User Account (System Preference > Users and Groups) and then use the Same Apple ID in Messages to set up the same Apple ID.

This will prove it is either the App or the Mac User account you normally use.

My issue concerns exclusively SMS (green bubbles) on Mac OS X Yosemite:

When receiving SMS (NOT iMessages) on my Mac, often they come in without the country code e.g. 987654321 instead of +244 987654321, the Messages app on Mac doesn't identify them as part of my contacts and I have to go check on my iPhone to see who sent the SMS.

The issue is that if I answer directly from my Mac to the thread without country code e.g. 987654321, for some reason my Mac is adding the country code +44 to that number (e.g. +44 987654321) and I'm ending up sending an International SMS rather than answering to the intended number which would start with country code +244 (+244 987654321) as indeed it is stored in my contacts to start with. I've only noticed recently when people complained they weren't receiving my SMS answer which I claimed to have sent.

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Answer 7

Nov 19, 2014 11:40 AM in response to armmangi

Hi,

Sorry about that.

I have tested in the past and the evidence I thought I saw seemed to be that the Country set in the Details pane determined the Added +44 (for me as I am in the UK) rather than a setting anywhere else.

I have checked my Contacts App and my wife's iPhone is listed as just the area code/particular mobile service number and the 6 digits of the number itself.

When I select here name in New Messages and specifically choose the iPhone number it already shows the +44 been added.

However I then Changed it Angola the same as your settings.

It did not change the +44 showing in the drop down for her Name in the "To" spot.

I removed the New Message is was working with and tried again with no change (I will restart the app).

7:40 pm Wednesday; November 19, 2014

 iMac 2.5Ghz i5 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

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Answer 8

Nov 19, 2014 12:13 PM in response to Ralph-Johns-UK

Hi,

Restarted the Messages App and it still shows the +44 despite details still saying Angola.

I tried changing the Contacts App but this also had no effect.

I did think it might be the iPhone that SMS messages are passed to but based on this info it is something on the Mac.

I have also tried changing System Preferences > Language and Region and I still get +44 showing as the lead part of a number that is without the country code in the Contacts app.

The Info about the County Code is stored in com.apple.ids.service.com.apple.madrid.plist

I am checking my computer to make sure I can Write to this .plist properly

8:13 pm Wednesday; November 19, 2014

 iMac 2.5Ghz i5 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

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Answer 9

gomedia

Level 1

0 points

Nov 30, 2014 9:29 PM in response to Ralph-Johns-UK

I'm having this problem of Messages showing mobile numbers in international format rather than contact names.

Please note that the instructions – "In Messages click the Details Button in the Messages menu > Preferences > Accounts > iMessages account" - are no good if you have two factor authentication switched on in the iCloud account.

Don't know if there's another way of setting the Location.

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Answer 10

Dec 1, 2014 11:41 AM in response to gomedia

Hi,

It might be possible to manually Write to the Madrid .plist listed above.

You would have to know the Country code and guess at the number of 0 (zeros) needed to complete the region number

See this section of the .plist in Quick Look

It seems it allows 10 zeros to allow for the local number.

7:41 PM Monday; December 1, 2014

 iMac 2.5Ghz i5 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

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Answer 11

gomedia

Level 1

0 points

Dec 1, 2014 2:08 PM in response to Ralph-Johns-UK

Hi Ralph,

Thanks for the reply. No joy I'm afraid.

Changed Number to +61000000000 (Australian mobiles numbers are one digit shorter than UK ones) and Region to R:AU, but Messages still displays mobile numbers in international format rather than as names from Contacts.

The interesting thing is that after a reboot the .plist is automatically changed back to the +44/GB settings. Makes me think that I need to set this sort of thing somewhere else in the Apple Universe. Will have a dig around.

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Answer 12

Dec 1, 2014 2:15 PM in response to gomedia

Umm,

This does seem odd.

I don't quite get why the UK becomes the default if it is messed up.

10:15 PM Monday; December 1, 2014

 iMac 2.5Ghz i5 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

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Answer 13

gomedia

Level 1

0 points

Dec 1, 2014 2:37 PM in response to Ralph-Johns-UK

The only sure fire way seems to be editing existing contacts (to change the local mobile format to international) or adding new contacts.

If I try to "Add to existing" it doesn't even attempt to replace the local number with the international one in the Contact card.

I guess Messages just can't (or won't) work out that +61 444 555 666 is the same as 0444 555 666.

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Answer 14

Dec 2, 2014 11:38 AM in response to gomedia

Hi,

It is odd as I said as I have plain 0four other digits (as in 07654) for service provider then 6 digits for the number set for most of my Contacts list and something removes the leading 0 and adds the +Country Code.

But there again I am in th +44 Country Code area so I don't know if it is being changed to my country code as I set it somewhere or because it is the default.

I had gathered from earlier testing in Messages that it was the region setting in the Details button part that determined this.

I am not sure where to go with this right now.

7:38 PM Tuesday; December 2, 2014

 iMac 2.5Ghz i5 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

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Answer 15

cvanp11

Level 1

0 points

Dec 15, 2014 8:58 AM in response to Ralph-Johns-UK

I have the same problem with +44 being added. I'm based in the US though.

My guess is that it's because I have my phone and computer set to the UK region, so I can get UK date and time formatting. I'm able to change my computer to the US region and then go into advanced settings to change the date/time formats, but the iPhone doesn't give me that level of control... it's all or nothing.

Definitely a problem on Apple's end though. I don't get why it's trying to infer the country code for an SMS instead of just sending it through the phone and letting the carrier handle it from there...

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