mie.williams
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Q: iMessage not working properly between two iPhones

I've done a lot of searching and I couldn't find a solution for this specific problem, though I have seen it mentioned.

 

My boyfriend and I are having trouble with iMessage. Messages just hang in limbo saying "sending" for a long time, then when finally sent they don't say "Delivered" for a long time after that, even if we are in the conversation. If I try to send him a picture, forget it, it gets stuck to the point where I have to reboot my phone. By "long time" I mean it can sometimes take several minutes even when we are sitting right next to each other and on the same wifi network. I should also add this happens whether on wifi or cell data.

 

We're both pretty sure it's my device because the delay seems to be on my end, but no amount of rebooting, restoring, or resetting network settings on either side has helped. None of the basic troubleshooting steps have worked. I've contacted Apple and they either run the diagnostic and say there is a problem and give me the same steps to perform, or they swear its on my carrier's end (AT&T.) AT&T swears it's on Apple's end, though I have tried steps with them as well including getting a new SIM card.

 

We have tried several things to try to work around it as well, like messaging email to email, number to number, number to email, etc. and have the same problem no matter what, however this is only between these two devices. Messages between my phone and his iPad are instant, from iPad to his phone is instant, with other people it is instant. He has a 6 Plus and I have a 5, though these problems have been happening off and on for several years. It recently has gotten to the point where it takes so long to message each other that we can't have a conversation at all and I often end up just calling him.

 

Has anyone had this kind of issue before and have actually been able to fix it? The small amount of results I get when searching for this kind of thing are unresolved.

 

Thanks in advance

iPhone 5

Posted on Sep 10, 2015 9:17 PM

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mie.williams

Q: iMessage not working properly between two iPhones

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  • by sberman,

    sberman sberman Sep 10, 2015 9:22 PM in response to mie.williams
    Level 8 (41,090 points)
    Sep 10, 2015 9:22 PM in response to mie.williams

    Do you each have a separate Apple ID?  Does his iPad use the same Apple ID as his iPhone (and a different Apple ID than yours)?

     

    Is the symptom the same whether he starts a thread or you start one?

  • by mie.williams,

    mie.williams mie.williams Sep 10, 2015 9:33 PM in response to sberman
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Sep 10, 2015 9:33 PM in response to sberman

    Yes we have two different Apple IDs, and are on completely different AT&T accounts if that matters (since I don't know if it's a carrier thing) we aren't linked in any way/don't share a username or anything. His iPad does use a different Apple ID and we don't have issues between that one and mine or the iPad and his.

     

    And yes it's the same thing regardless of who starts the message or if it's between our numbers or emails or any combination of those

  • by sberman,

    sberman sberman Sep 10, 2015 9:36 PM in response to mie.williams
    Level 8 (41,090 points)
    Sep 10, 2015 9:36 PM in response to mie.williams

    mie.williams wrote:

     

    His iPad does use a different Apple ID ...

    Are you saying his iPad uses a different Apple ID than his iPhone?  That would be an issue.

  • by mie.williams,

    mie.williams mie.williams Sep 10, 2015 9:47 PM in response to sberman
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Sep 10, 2015 9:47 PM in response to sberman

    sorry, I was mistaken, he just said they DO both use the same apple ID they just use different email addresses to send and receive.

     

    also based on sitting next to each other and sending messages to see at what point it's getting slowed down, it seems to be that they send to me quickly but I don't receive them for a long time, and the messages I send take a long time to send. Which to both of us makes it seem like its my device that's the issue

  • by sberman,

    sberman sberman Sep 10, 2015 9:49 PM in response to mie.williams
    Level 8 (41,090 points)
    Sep 10, 2015 9:49 PM in response to mie.williams

    iMessage is tied to a person's Apple ID as described here (under "Use iMessage and FaceTime with Multiple Devices"):

    iOS and OS X: Link your phone number and Apple ID for use with FaceTime and iMessage - Apple Support

     

    Why would he make things complicated using two different identities?  (Rhetorical question  - the answer is none of my business.  But if there is not a good reason, I suggest not doing this.)

     

    He may have this problem with nobody else because they are not using iMessage.  It may well explain why you can send to his iPad (which, of course, means your iPhone does contain some sort of identity data for him as it appears on the iPad) but not his iPhone.

  • by mie.williams,

    mie.williams mie.williams Sep 10, 2015 9:51 PM in response to mie.williams
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Sep 10, 2015 9:51 PM in response to mie.williams

    Sorry, I amended my previous reply. I was wrong, he said he uses the same Apple ID for all of his devices. And he definitely uses iMessage with other people and it works just fine. Like I said before the problem seems to be with my phone, I just don't know what

  • by sberman,

    sberman sberman Sep 10, 2015 10:00 PM in response to mie.williams
    Level 8 (41,090 points)
    Sep 10, 2015 10:00 PM in response to mie.williams

    So your amended reply says "use different email addresses to send and receive."

     

    So I think that means, for example, that his iPad uses an @gmail.com to send and receive while his iPhone uses a @icloud.com address (and possibly a telephone number).

     

    So it still sounds as if your iPhone has to deal with two different identities, only the distinction is not quite as blatant as would be true with two different Apple IDs.

     

    So now I can't point you to an article saying "Don't do that", but changing it is certainly something I would try if this situation happened to me and my spouse.

  • by mie.williams,

    mie.williams mie.williams Sep 10, 2015 10:12 PM in response to sberman
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Sep 10, 2015 10:12 PM in response to sberman

    Okay, I think we've tried this before but we tried it again just now. He changed his email on the iPad to be the same as his phone, the messages are still instant between his iPad and my phone while there's still a long delay between the two phones. Anything he sent me from his iPad I got instantly, anything he typed and sent from his phone took forever, also all of my messages would appear instantly on his iPad but took a long time to come through on his phone. So it's not the differing emails, and he doesn't have an issue with that with anyone else either   I just don't get it

  • by sberman,

    sberman sberman Sep 10, 2015 10:31 PM in response to mie.williams
    Level 8 (41,090 points)
    Sep 10, 2015 10:31 PM in response to mie.williams

    If that happened to my spouse and me, I would suggest clearing as much past history information off all affected devices as possible.  This would include:

     

    • Deleting all previous messages.  (These messages may include history of some other email address, some other recipients [in a group message], etc)
    • Remove as much as possible from Settings > Messages > Send & Receive.  For example, you might try removing everything, having only your telephone numbers there on both iPhones, and then try iMessaging from phone number to phone number.

  • by mie.williams,

    mie.williams mie.williams Sep 10, 2015 10:40 PM in response to sberman
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Sep 10, 2015 10:40 PM in response to sberman

    he has deleted entire conversation threads and I've gone so far as to restore to factory settings and it still has these issues :/

  • by sberman,

    sberman sberman Sep 10, 2015 10:44 PM in response to mie.williams
    Level 8 (41,090 points)
    Sep 10, 2015 10:44 PM in response to mie.williams

    Sorry, I'm out of ideas then.

     

    But the good news is we're only five+ days away from iOS 9.  Maybe that will change things.

     

    Best of luck!

  • by mie.williams,

    mie.williams mie.williams Sep 10, 2015 10:50 PM in response to sberman
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Sep 10, 2015 10:50 PM in response to sberman

    thanks! Hopefully it helps