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recsat Author

Level 1

9 points

Text message notifications on iOS 9 not recognising contacts

Since upgrading to iOS 9, any text message notifications seem to appear with the number rather than a contact name, but if i open the message app they are listed against the correct contact name.

This means that no custom text notifications are working either as the notification doesn't seem to be able to link the number to the contact record. It seems to work for iMessage, but anything sent as a normal text comes through as a number not the stored contact. I've tried the usual - reboot, switching off dial assist etc, but none of that has made a difference. I've also tried making sure the contact record has the same format as the number showing in the notification (e.g. with +44 in front) but that hasn't helped either. Can anyone help?

iPhone 5s, iOS 9

Posted on Sep 21, 2015 1:17 AM

Top-ranking reply

iamgeni

Level 1

4 points

Posted on Jan 10, 2017 10:34 AM

I tried almost everything mentioned above. Finally, I edited the contact for just one of the phone numbers affected within my iMessages by adding a +1 to the beginning of the number. Went back to my Messages app, and all names had reappeared.

Maybe this will work for someone else? Soooooo frustrating! And weird.

View in context

160 replies

Dec 14, 2015 6:30 AM in response to recsat

I have just upgraded from iPhone 4 to iPhone 6 on EE and now having the same problem that you all have.

The new phone is running iOS 9.2. Some message notifications show the contact name and then a random few are only displaying the number...I am trying to work out the pattern. The ones that are not showing name, but displaying number are using iMessage, but some other iMessage are displaying the contact name!! When you open the message you can see who it is from as their name is there.

This is really annoying! I don't really want to try deleting message threads of the contacts that are affected, especially as it may not fix it.

iain178

Level 1

4 points

Dec 16, 2015 2:33 PM in response to recsat

I paid more than £700 for a phone that doesn't display who texts are from.

Brilliant.

renny07

Level 1

0 points

Dec 22, 2015 12:07 PM in response to iain178

Add me to the ever growing list.

At first it started with just one contact, now it's getting worse and both imessage and SMS (it appears).

HELP!

Dattouk

Level 1

8 points

Dec 29, 2015 9:35 AM in response to recsat

Same problem form me. iPhone 6 on Vodafone. Forced to upgrade to 9.2 from 8.xx to configure Apple TV. Immediately post-upgrade I can't see the contact name of who is texting me. This must be a bug introduced by Apple. It all worked fine three days ago.

David

Dec 30, 2015 9:25 AM in response to recsat

Same problem since IOS 9 upgrade for me. It only affects SMS not iMessages. I have tried all fixes with the exception of deleting messages which I refuse to do. Any workaround attempted has either failed or been impractical so this is clearly a software problem And requires a fix from Apple.

Dec 31, 2015 1:59 AM in response to recsat

I want to add my voice to this chorus of frustration with Apple.

I am also experiencing the issue with 'phone numbers appearing in text message alerts instead of contact names.

The contact name is there when I open the messages app. The problem has been there since the iOS 9 upgrade.

I'm on iOS 9.2 and the problem is still there.

iphone 5, O2 network, UK.

This is a basic mobile phone feature and needs to be resolved by an iOS bug fix.

Everyone I know is switching to Samsung and other android devices.

I'm tempted to do the same when my contract expires in the new year.

robinm

Level 1

8 points

Jan 5, 2016 7:45 AM in response to loopyloudancer

I'm experiencing this problem and I just tried deleting all messages from the affected contacts. It made no difference :-(

Smeg

Level 1

0 points

Jan 7, 2016 12:52 AM in response to recsat

Same problem here (iPhone 6 on EE).

Have Apple even acknowledged the problem?

jamenc

Level 1

9 points

Jan 19, 2016 3:18 PM in response to Markinealing

Apple does know about this issue. I have dealt with a support person and I feel for anyone more dependent on sms/iMessage than other messaging apps like whatsapp and Facebook messenger. I'm disappointed 9.2.1 doesn't solve the problem from the looks of things. With that said there is a work around. It's not easy to perform as it requires you to direct problem contacts to send you messages appropriately to eliminate the issue. Look on this other thread for details - https://discussions.apple.com/thread/7222994?start=30&tstart=0

I do recommend if you are experiencing issue to not just vocalise on the forum. Raise the issue to Apple as a support issue/bug. It's the only way to ensure the bug fix is prioritised. As much noise as this may be in this channel, prioritisation usually happens by more formal channels unless something is causing lots of noise. It seems this isn't causing noise for everyone.

Jan 20, 2016 2:41 AM in response to jamenc

I can confirm that 9.2.1 does not fix this for me. Cheers for the link to the other thread - I'll take a look.

Jan 20, 2016 3:52 AM in response to jamenc

YES!

The restart method jamenc posted on the other thread worked for me on iPhone 6 iOS9.2

Obvs different things seem to be working for different people but its defintely worth giving this a shot.

Jan 20, 2016 3:57 AM in response to madhurjaffrey

That's great news. For clarity, does the person sending the message have to be someone whose contact you are having a problem with?

Jan 20, 2016 3:59 AM in response to madhurjaffrey

Oh, and will this fix it for all senders if I do it with one person?

Jan 20, 2016 4:05 AM in response to gavinions

I havent had time to be scientific with it yet, but i did it with a sender that had the problem. I'm asking other people to send me txts now.......

Jan 20, 2016 4:21 AM in response to madhurjaffrey

OK, here's my experience. I did it with by sending a message from my work phone to my iPhone and...IT FIXED IT. But it was only fixed for that number. I tried with another sender and the problem was still there. So it's a kind of fix, but it needs to be done on a per-number basis it seems.

Text message notifications on iOS 9 not recognising contacts