Blank Picture Messages

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Level 1

11 points

Blank Picture Messages

FIrst, I must say this is the first time I haven't been able to find similar problems with my iPhone in a forum.

I have an iPhone 6 running 8.1.3 although the issue didn't start with any particular update. The issue started, however, on my iPhone 5. I just dealt with it because I thought it would be fixed when I got a new phone. It was not.

The problem is that my picture messages show up blank. Any of the similar issues I've seen just say that they're downloading with the two blue squares. Mine are just blank. An empty blue, green, or gray bubble. When I hit send, the picture slides up like it always has, then vanishes. If the message has text, it only shows the text. You can't even tell there's a picture that goes with it. When somebody sends me a picture, I open Messages, and like when I send a picture, it appears for a split second, then vanishes. All pictures show up in the details screen. None say that they still are downloading.

I've been dealing with this since December. I didn't think it was a big deal, but now it's driving me crazy. Please help.

iPhone 6, iOS 8.1.3

Posted on Feb 8, 2015 7:35 PM

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Answer 1

Best reply

brendan.oman Author

Level 1

11 points

Feb 11, 2015 8:58 AM in response to mario49

Im sorry I didn't clarify this. I can both send and receive picture messages without a problem. They simply do not appear in the conversation. There is just a blank bubble as if you hit the space bar and sent it. I have to go to the details to see them.

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Answer 2

mario49

Community Specialist

Feb 10, 2015 12:16 PM in response to brendan.oman

Hey brendan.oman,

Thanks for the question. If I understand correctly, you are not able to send or receive picture messages. Is this only happening with one contact or all contacts? I would recommend that you read this article, it may be able to help the issue.

If you can't send or receive messages on your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch - Apple Support

Thanks for using Apple Support Communities.

Have a good one,

Mario

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Answer 3

mario49

Community Specialist

Feb 15, 2015 11:06 AM in response to brendan.oman

Due to the nature of your issue or question you may find more information by using another one of Apple's support resources - https://expresslane.apple.com/GetproductgroupList.action

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Answer 4

Mar 14, 2015 7:15 PM in response to brendan.oman

The exact same thing is happening to me on my new iPhone 6. It's 2days old!! Did you figure out how to fix this? Thx so much!

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Answer 5

Mar 19, 2015 10:53 AM in response to brendan.oman

I came across this issue and doing a full device reset/wipe fixed it.

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Answer 6

May 19, 2015 3:50 PM in response to brendan.oman

brendan.oman did you find a solution? I have an iPhone 5C and last weekend when my text messaging completely locked up, I did a factory reset and restored from back up. Now when I receive a picture in a text message, I can briefly see the message and then it is an empty blue bubble. When I go to my iMac or macbook air, I can see the picture. It is so frustrating....and I can't figure out how to fix. It has also messed up my fitbit app...Help!!!

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Answer 7

Jul 24, 2015 11:29 AM in response to brendan.oman

Did anyone every find a solution to this? Same thing began happening to me recently. Did a hard restart, nada. Upgraded to new iOS and still nada. Any suggestions?

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Answer 8

Aug 16, 2015 10:32 AM in response to brendan.oman

Yeah, man! I am having the same issue! They just go to the blank bubble! Same thing with voice recordings as well.

I haven't found the solution yet either.

I don't want to restore my phone, but it's looking like I'm going to have to.

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Answer 9

Aug 26, 2015 8:22 AM in response to MacMan92994

I just got a new iPhone 6 replacement from a broken screen.

The pictures first showed up as a box that said "downloading". After I restarted the phone I got bubbles with a question mark.

I then signed out of Apple ID for iMessages and signed back in and now I see the pictures.

Sign out and back in to iMessage and FaceTime

Go to Settings > Messages > Send & Receive, tap your Apple ID, then tap Sign Out.
Go to Settings > FaceTime, tap your Apple ID, then tap Sign Out.
On your iPhone first, sign back in to iMessage and Facetime.
Sign back in to iMessage and Facetime on your other devices.

Hope that will do it for you too!!!

Andy

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Answer 10

Oct 4, 2016 2:05 PM in response to brendan.oman

I Have an iPhone 6 and have always kept up to date on the latest iOS and carrier setting, I have signed out of iMessage and FaceTime as well as my Apple ID then back in, tried restarting my phone and deleting my group convo. For years I have received picture messages on occasion, usually more than a few times per week that show up as 3 dots as if the sender is still typing when the other 4 members of the chat see the picture, I am the only one I've ever known to have this problem... Please help!

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Answer 11

bs809097

Level 1

4 points

Apr 10, 2017 5:31 PM in response to brendan.oman

the same thing just started happening to me. I've tried updating software, restoring the phone to factory settings, and nothing has worked. Did you find out what worked for you??

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