Q: Major Glitches w/ Messages App
I have a 16GB iPhone 5s, so granted, it is a few years old, but I have been experiencing major glitches with text messages for a few months now. Originally, I had low memory space and for the first time ever, I let the free space get so low that I think it started affecting my message data, and my messages would disappear. However, I now have over 1GB of free space and have been having the same issues since then.
Specifically, I get no notifications when I get a new text message. No red dot on the app, no banner or alert on lock/home screen, no sound or vibration when turned on. Secondly, no blue dot appears next to the message in the app next to the conversation. The new messages just appear in my conversations, so I have to manually check in the conversation to see if there are any new messages. I have had a few instances where people have sent me messages and I did not receive them at all. When sending messages, it will say "sending 1 of (however many messages i've sent)" at the top but will send the messages despite acting like it is still sending. Therefore I cannot see delivered status or read receipts under the messages in a conversation. (see image below)
Additionally, whenever I close out of the app and reopen it, my messages disappear. The conversations will remain and I will see people's names, and the time of the last message sent or received next to their conversation, but the message area will be blank and there will be nothing when I open the conversation. (see image below)
When my phone restarts, everything will be removed completely and my messages app will be completely empty with no conversations or messages at all. I also cannot scroll up to load previous messages. I have also had this issue occur randomly overnight. I will have my phone charging and I will open my messages app in the morning, after leaving it open/in the background before going to bed, and everything will be gone. (see image below)
The odd thing, is when my phone restarts and I receive a message between the time it shut off and before I unlock it for the first time from the lock screen, the message will appear on my lock screen in a regular notification, but then disappear when I unlock and check my messages.
I have tried hard restarting my phone, I have turned iMessage off and on, played with my settings, and nothing is working. I am currently running iOS 9.2.1. I have downloaded the 9.3.2 update, but it won't install because of an error every time I try. I was hoping finally updating would fix the problem but it won't even update. I've tried both over the air and from my computer with no success. The glitches occur with both iMessages and regular text messages.
Is there anything else I can try doing to fix these issues, or do I need to invest in a new phone? While eventually I hope to upgrade and can afford a new phone right now, it's pretty low on my priority list so I am hoping to make the 5s last a while longer. So far I've been able to tolerate the glitches, but they are extremely inconvenient and frustrating. Sorry for the length of this post, I hope I explained my situation thoroughly enough. Thanks for your time and any advice you may have.
iPhone 5s, iOS 9.2.1
Posted on Jun 28, 2016 3:27 PM