Text message notifications on iOS 9 not recognising contacts

I've now gone through these steps several times with different contacts and can confirm that they work, but only on a per-contact basis.

1. Send a message to a broken contact asking them to reply
2. Reset your phone using the power and home buttons
3. Wait...
4. You will get a message from the broken contact and the notification will show their number
5. Unlock your phone
6. You should get a new notification with the contact name
7. Repeat the process for every broken contact

This is a slight refinement of the instructions here: Contact name missing from text message since iOS 9 upgrade

Credit where it's due for whoever found that fix. It's a beauty.

The bottom line is that you need to do this for every single broken contact. I have 300+ contacts so it doesn't bear thinking about going through all of them, but I will pick some key, regular contacts and run the fix with them. I'll also report the bug again with this updated info.

Great stuff!

It doesn't affect too many of my regular contacts, so ill prob deal with the others as they pop up.

This is outrageous, right?! I read all these comments and stories from Apple sales reps.... it's all BS. This has got nothing to do with the network operator, nor with the iPhone model. This is purely a software bug and it is such an embarrassing bug apple does seem to look the other way rather than acknowledging it and fixing it. Seriously guys, ***?! They are selling devices which cost $$$$$ and this kind of issue is happening ????? And it's not being addressed? Or if it is being addressed, no-one is communicating it. Resolving this should be at the top (do you hear me, AT THE TOP) of your todo list. A £500+ pound telephone is not capable of showing a stored contact's name when a text is received, this is ridiculous! Please get this fixed ASAP.

Thanks

OMG this worked. Thank you so much.

I have the very same problem with an iPhone 6 running 9.21.1 on EE. Is it a coincidence that around the same time my phone started doing this my Messages app on my Mac (OSX 10.11.1) started doing the same thing - no contact names against messages, so maybe not a phone or IOS issue but an iCloud contacts issue?

That worked! In fact the phone doesn't need a hard reboot, you just need to have the text(s) waiting for delivery whilst your phone is powered fully off. You can do multiple contacts during one reboot.

So text all your friends you're buying the beers down the pub and quickly turn your phone off! :-) Once all the replies pile up asking about which pub, turn your phone back on and celebrate the fix! 😀

This is utter insanity.

50 THOUSAND views of just this thread over FIVE months and still nothing from Apple. Ridiculous. This is so obviously some kind of software glitch, FIX IT ALREADY APPLE, get it together.

Steve Jobs would've torn someone's head clean off their body by now.

Exact same problem. When certain people text, and it only seems to be certain contacts that text me, never had the problem with anyone iMessaging me, their number comes up on the lock screen. However their name appears on my Apple Watch and then when you open the message their name is displayed within the app. Tried numerous things, resets, turn iMessage off and on, deleted the contacts and re-added them, nothing works. It does only seem to be certain text messages that do this, yet there is no science behind which contacts my phone chooses to do this two. Come on Apple sort this out!

This worked for me:

I had installed an app which displayed the name of the person who is calling (despite I did not have his contact saved: An app named TrueCaller). This was interfering with my existing contacts showing up during an incoming call or on the notification.

Removing the app solved all my problems.

I would recommend that you start by disabling permission for all apps which have access to your contacts and later enable them one by one to find the rogue app

Details: iPhone 5s (ios 9.2.1) India

Hope this helps

-Abhijith

This worked for me:

I had installed an app which displayed the name of the person who is calling (despite I did not have his contact saved: An app named TrueCaller). This was interfering with my existing contacts showing up during an incoming call or on the notification.

Removing the app solved all my problems.

I would recommend that you start by disabling permission for all apps which have access to your contacts and later enable them one by one to find the rogue app

Details: iPhone 5s (ios 9.2.1) India

Hope this helps

-Abhijith

Add me as another iOS 9.2.1 user (iPhone 4S, 64gb model) who keeps getting random text messages with no name assigned to them! Immensely frustrating, and the fact that none of the supposed "solutions" actually work, doesn't help matters. (I'm on the EE network in the UK!)

I have to say that 9.2 and 9.2.1 have been the worst ever iOS updates, I've ever experienced! So many problems have now been added to a user's iPhone, that I have quite literally had enough of Apple.

Constantly being told, the problem is NOT the update, but is with you, the user, or with an app that you've downloaded, is a sick joke! Since updating to 9.2.1, my iPhone decided yesterday, that it no longer wants me to be able to make/receive phone calls properly! 😠 😠 😠 I can hear people who call me up, but they can't hear me. If I call them, I can hear them, but they can't hear me.

I've now got to pray that going into my local Apple store later on today, will result in me getting a fixed iPhone. If not, I'm going to be absolutely livid! Apple have really fouled-up on this update! Each one just makes things worse, not better!

I cant honestly believe this issue still persists. It happened when I updated to iOS 9 last August, online support talked me through various steps that resulted in a completely dead phone. I opted for an express replacement which their courier of choice lost (stole?) and it took over two weeks to rectify. I'd resisted updating iOS on the replacmeant for 6 months but wanted to use Apple Pay...same thing happens. DIFFERENT HANDSET so this surely has some connection to my network/Apple ID? I have tried literally everything to no avail and Apple advisors online claim to have never heard of this problem before.

II've got a specific text alert for my hubby. But when he texts me and my phone is locked I see the number, not his name, and I hear the default text tone.

Ive noticed if I've got the phone unlocked and messages open I hear the assigned text tone For him.

ON iOS 9.2 iPhone 6 Plus.

GO on Apple try telling me that's the way I've set my phone up! I don't think so.

ITs clearly a software issue issue and like so many others my eyes are wandering towards and android phone.

APologiies for terrible typing I've got a problem with one eye.

Yip, I have about 5 contacts, (incl my mum) who show up with the number only until I open the message and it links to their name.

Its not the end of the world, and most defo a first world problem, but would still appreciate a fix.

HI against my better judgement I deleted the message thread from my husband, lost some lovely messages but I guess he will send others.

SWitched er the phone off and on. Got him to send a text and the personal text tone assigned played when he texted, not the default as it had been doing.

IF you decide to try deleting the message thread for one of your contacts I hope It works for you.