iMessages Out of Order on Mac

Question

Level 2

210 points

iMessages Out of Order on Mac

This has been a problem I've experienced in some form or another since iMessage was released on the Mac but for some reason, it has gotten much worse recently. The scenario is this, my iMac running El Capitan (10.11.5) is asleep. When I wake it, my iMessages sync back up. The problem is that they often sync out of order. Recently, the problem seems to be that messages that were sent and received within a short period of time from each other often show up in reverse. For example, I might ask someone a question and they reply but on the my iMac, the reply will show up before the question. Part of the problem seems to be that often my messages sync first, then there's a pause and then the other person's messages sync. When this happens, the messages are not in the right order. I would say in the last month this has become a chronic problem.

I've deleted all my iMessages on my Mac and the problem immediately returns as the new threads start building. I scratch my head at this because it's never a problem with my iPhone. Even if my iPhone is turned off or on Airplane mode, when it connects, the messages always sync in the correct order. Why is this so difficult to make happen consistently on the Mac? I would think each message has to have a server time stamp and that time stamp should always be used to order the messages. That's the only way it would work consistently across devices. If that's the case, why can't iMessage on the Mac read that time stamp and sort the messages correctly?

Eric

iMac, OS X El Capitan (10.11.5)

Posted on Jun 28, 2016 1:17 PM

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Answer 1

maawii

Level 1

4 points

Sep 5, 2017 1:41 PM in response to Eric D.

I HAVE THIS PROBLEM AS WELL...APPLE HEAD SCRATCHER AS NO ONE HAS SOLVED AS YET.... MESSAGES TOTALLY OUT OF ORDER OVER PERIOD OF TIME...NOT JUST RECENTS...TOTALLY RANDOM LISTING OF MESSAGES...AND WHEN I GET A NOTIFICATION, THE MOST RECENT MESSAGE IS NOT AT THE TOP OF THE LIST AS APPLE SAYS IT IS SUPPOSE TO DEFAULT TO...SO, YOU HAVE TO SCROLL THROUGH THE MESSAGE LIST LOOKING FOR THE RECENT ITEM...NOT FUN AT ALL...SPENT WAY TOO MUCH TIME TRYING TO GET A FIX. SAW THIS FORUM...LOOKS LIKE MANY OTHERS FRUSTRATED AS WELL.....AND MY OS IS SIERRA...UP TO DATE SOFTWARE... GO FIGURE THEY HAVEN'T FIXED THIS ISSUE.

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Answer 2

James6M

Level 1

42 points

Jun 27, 2017 6:33 PM in response to Eric D.

Pinging this thread, to see if any more attention can be got for the problem, which still continues.

The following screenshot demonstrates that the problem is in the software, not in the timestamping of the messages. It is also not some confusion between the visible times in Messages and the individual message timestamps: all message timestamps (viewed with mouse-over) were consistent with the Messages-visible times most closely above them. (Although note that two SMS's were also reversed in order.)

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Answer 3

Jun 28, 2017 11:28 AM in response to James6M

Hi,

Only the other Posters are likely to read this.

The Hosts (moderators) might if someone alerts them to some issue with the Post.

You will need Feedback - Messages - Apple

However that page is also not updated properly as it does not include Messages 10 (the Updates to the OS box in held in a different list "to do" when there is an update. This is an issue that is about the team that update Apple Help/feedback pages).

Any Engineers will not be reading these pages looking for things that need to be fixed.

There only three of us in this thread and I don't have the issue.

7:28 pm Wednesday; June 28, 2017

 iMac 2.5Ghz i5 2011 (Sierra)
 G4/1GhzDual MDD (Leopard 10.5.8)
 MacBookPro 2Gb (Snow Leopard 10.6.8)
 Mac OS X (10.6.8),
 iPhone 6 iOS 10.x and an iPad (2)

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Answer 4

Joseph_S.

Community Specialist

Jun 29, 2016 9:09 AM in response to Eric D.

Hi Eric D.

Thanks for using Apple Support Communities.

I understand that when you wake your iMac from sleep mode, your iMessages are showing out of order. I use iMessage a lot on my iMac, so I can definitely imagine how important it is we get the messages to display the correct time. I have several things for you to try.

First, double-check the Date & Time settings on your iMac by following this path: Apple menu > System Preferences > Date & Time
Next, close and quit the Messages app.
And finally, give your iMac a fresh restart. Then, open Messages and test again to see if you get the same result.

Best Regards.

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Answer 5

Eric D. Author

Level 2

210 points

Jun 29, 2016 11:11 AM in response to Joseph_S.

Thanks for your suggestions but this is a deeper issue than the fixes you suggested. All are good general trouble shooting techniques but do not solve this particular problem.

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Answer 6

Joseph_S.

Community Specialist

Jun 29, 2016 11:52 AM in response to Eric D.

Hi Eric D.

Thanks for trying those troubleshooting steps. I have a couple other things for you to try.

1. Use this article to start your computer in safe mode: OS X El Capitan: Start up in safe mode. Safe mode (sometimes called safe boot) is a way to start up your Mac so that it performs certain checks, and prevents some software from automatically loading or opening. This can rule out software running in the background that could be conflicting with the Messages app. Once you are in safe mode, test to see if you get the same result.

2. If possible, you may want to test this out with a different network to see if you get the same result. The time issue you are having may be related to the network you are using.

If you still need assistance after that, please contact our support team directly with the link below:

Contact Apple Support

All the best.

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Answer 7

Jun 29, 2016 1:38 PM in response to Eric D.

Hi,

Whilst the App can start up faster then the computer can re-establish the network is one reason for not getting updates as the Messages app has not actually logged back in to the server so new iMessages and not pushed at it.

As Messages was iChat there are Time Stamps added "locally" as it were that may not match up with the iMessages servers time stamps of individual Messages.

In this Pic I have moused over one of the outgoing iMessages and show it's Individual time.

The Tooltip time refers to the second blue Bubble.

The times that the app seems to add are not always at regular intervals and it can be difficult to judge when they are going to appear. (although changing between an iPhone number and Apple ID will do it or if you can from iMessages to AIM.

I have not been able to tie it down any more than this which makes it still look like fuzzy logic rather than a precise answer.

iMessages on the iPhone was written for the iPhone where as the Account in Messages was shoehorned into iChat and is the sixth account type to be added.

9:38 pm Wednesday; June 29, 2016

 iMac 2.5Ghz i5 2011 (El Capitan)
 G4/1GhzDual MDD (Leopard 10.5.8)
 MacBookPro 2Gb (Snow Leopard 10.6.8)
 Mac OS X (10.6.8),
 iPhone and an iPad (2)

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Answer 8

Eric D. Author

Level 2

210 points

Jul 8, 2016 9:14 AM in response to Ralph-Johns-UK

Ralph,

Thanks for your reply. I have no doubt that code leftover from iChat days is probably to blame. What's confusing is at least for me, the problem has gotten considerably worse in the past month or so. I'm not sure why but what seems to happen is when the computer wakes from sleep and iMessage reestablishes connection to the server. The messages get downloaded in batches and sometimes these batches first download one side of the conversation, then the other. This seems to cause a slight discrepancy in messages that were sent fairly close together and so messages from my side of the conversation seem to get bumped ahead of messages sent from the other party. What's unclear is how far apart the messages have to be for this to happen (10 secs, 30 secs, 1 min, etc). If I had to take a guess, maybe iMessage on the Mac sorts by the minute on the timestamp while on iOS, iMessage sorts by the second or less. This would mean that if two messages were sent with the same minute time stamp, they would display in the order downloaded from the server. Since my side of the conversation seems to download first, message order sometimes gets reversed with those messages sharing the same hour and minute time stamp. Why this seems to be a more noticeable problem recently is what puzzles me unless the code somehow got changed back after it had been fixed a long time ago when this first surfaced as a problem.

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Answer 9

Jul 8, 2016 1:01 PM in response to Eric D.

HI,

I would agree with your assessment that the iPhone version seems to operate differently from the Mac version.

However I am not sure I have anything else to offer.

9:01 pm Friday; July 8, 2016

 iMac 2.5Ghz i5 2011 (El Capitan)
 G4/1GhzDual MDD (Leopard 10.5.8)
 MacBookPro 2Gb (Snow Leopard 10.6.8)
 Mac OS X (10.6.8),
 iPhone and an iPad (2)

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