Contact names not showing in text messages on lock screen

I don't understand what you are disagreeing with? Haha!

What level of software knowledge do you have to qualify you to say 'but since you said only a selected few then it's not iOS'? (Just to let you know, I work for a telecoms software company, I'm pretty clued up about software design/flaws 🙂)

Again, working in the telecoms sector, I'm well aware of caller ID and who provides it. I know that I 'should' see their names when I get a text as I have them in my contacts, but to point out the obvious, I don't see their names... This is the whole point of starting this discussion...

I have iOS since 2009 too... This has only been an issue over the last version, maybe the one before, can't remember when the issue started as I just assumed with others having the issue that it would be fixed at some point.

My family are using a 5s and an iPhone X, they do not have the issue... It's still an issue with my handset.

A little bit of advice about software, just because you do not experience it, does not mean it isn't a bug... There will be a way to replicate this issue, sometimes a very strange thing to replicate it, which causes an issue in the software. When I say something strange, I mean like let's say there was an update, then few days/weeks later another update, lets say that this was the point where the contact was added and only during this period did it create the issue for these numbers due to some weird bug in the software that has gone unnoticed, this would be a perfect example of where I would experience something that you have not.

So with your wealth of knowledge of software (which you should have, given your employment history), you don’t agree that the issue I am facing is a bug with the software on my phone? Please note I am also on 11.4 as an FYI, as I always upgrade versions as soon as they come out.

So if it is not a bug with the software, it is either a) By design, a feature in which is intended, where there is a setting in which you can decide which contact names are shown when I text message arrives on a locked iPhone screen, or of course no setting and by design Apple have decided to randomly select people and show only certain contact names when a text comes in... or... b) I am a liar, just posting here to say I have a problem when I don’t... or... c) it’s a frickin bug with the software...?

I think it would be reasonable for me to conclude that as long as I am not lying, the contact is saved in my phone correctly (I can confirm this, as when you unlock the phone the correct name shows up in the text message screen header) and that there is no setting to decide if a name shows up in the lock screen (per user setting), then it is clearly an issue with the software design? Even if there is some weird way to fix it, maybe by switching a load of settings off and on again in a certain order, it is still a software bug? Even if some ‘genius’ could fix it some way, this would of course be a bug workaround? If there is some unusual way to fix it that has not arisen from the list of other people I have read with the same problem and the workarounds given to them, then surely as it is repeated between more than one user then it should be investigated as a bug at least?

One other thing to point out from your first reply was caller ID being carrier based, which I didn’t understand it’s relevance? Caller ID is an optional service that has become standard throughout carriers, if they allow/enable it, then the calling number is presented to the recipient. I do not have an issue with receiving the caller ID, the number shows up just fine on my phone, the issue is that nearly every other text I receive shows the contact name I have assigned to that number in my phone, just a couple of numbers stored in my phone do not, only the number shows up in screen (as if the number is not stored in my contact list).

I don’t want to make a round trip of 100 miles to see a ‘genius’ (I hate that name Apple gives its workers by the way, it is so pretentious!) for an inconvenience, I’d rather just put up with the issue.

Why are we arguing over this anyway? Do you even work for apple? Do you have any leverage over whether this gets reported to dev to investigate? If not, I don’t get what you are trying to prove by arguing this is not a bug?

Oh, and I forgot to reference your underlined bit about software bugs discriminating... that is correct, no they do not, but as described in my original response to you, some bugs are caused due to a specific event, which can only be replicated a certain way to then cause the issue... so this does not mean that millions of others (including yourself) would ever experience it, without of course being subjected to this specific process to result in this seemingly rare bug

Yeah, cheers mate, probably worth reading the comments above before posting the most simplest response to a technical issue I have yet to see... If this is the response I have come to expect from Apple support I think a Samsung is the way forward

What caller ID outbreak?? You literally must have got lucky through your whole career as a developer... You can't even understand a simple issue? The telephone number shows on my lock screen, therefore caller ID is enabled yeah? You understand that don't you? So this has nothing to do with caller ID... Right...? Only a select few contacts on my phone do not show the contact name while the screen is in a locked state, but once unlocked the contacts app shows their name as it should. This is in standard phone use where the phone has not just been rebooted, but is a constant issue that can be replicated 100 out of 100 times, I've tested this with a friend, tried all the fixes people have put on the internet and asked him to text me again but it still doesn't work...

I literally think you are either trying to wind me up on purpose or that you are lying about being a developer, because to be unable to accept that there could be a bug in iOS passing details between the contacts database and the lock screen notification is just unfathomable! I'd have hated to be on the same development team as you, you would be the one guy we would all be carrying for sure! You have shown yourself to clearly have no idea what you are on about on this post and unable to understand a simple sentence that I have written above.

I think you will be doing yourself a favour by following your own advice and stopping posting here, purely to stop making yourself look way out of your depth with a simple issue.

Oh, and no, I'm not going to drive 100 miles round trip to try to fix an inconvenience, just to be told that they don't know how to fix it, because they won't. I don't pay the extortionate amount for Apple care and my phone is out of warranty, so I'll just keep my 6s and when it comes to September I'll just weigh up my options with the new phone and what is available on the Android market like I always do, then decide what I want.

At last someone who isn't here to deny there is a problem, and thank you for acknowledging the shortcomings of the guy above who couldn't grasp a simple issue is present.

Thanks for the advice, but I've literally tried everything I can think of, I've followed posts saying to turn off certain settings and back on again, I've done a reboot of the phone, I've edited the contact, got him to send me a message which didn't work, then actually deleted him as a contact altogether and added him again changing the +44 (UK international dial number) to the standard dialling number format in the UK (07*** ******)... even after deleting him totally as a contact and re-adding him it still did not work... I'm starting to wonder if it is something silly like the number sequence of the contacts number that is causing the notification code to not recognise the name, or something like that, as if it was an error with the saving of the details that caused the problem, then surely it would have been resolved by fully editing the user as you have suggested, or certainly by deleting and recreating the user.

OK, this was the sort of helpful reply I was looking for! 🙂

I am limited to some of these tests of course because he is a friend of mine, but not one I want to keep bothering, asking to send me text messages to test this issue if you know what I mean. I'll answer your questions as best as possible.

Yes, specific contacts and it is every time. Yes, the contact name appears at the top of the text window when I open the app, either directly or indirectly from the lock screen.

The contact does not have an iPhone, so I cannot test Facetime, thus he is a contact using SMS.

For the deletion of contact conversation/text history, I would prefer not to delete our conversation history, to the point where I would rather either put up with this (with it not being a massive issue) or wait for a fix, if it ever comes.

I've just set a nickname for him, so I will find out when he next texts me if that changes anything, I', waiting on a text back from him about something, so that will be decisive as to whether the nickname shows on the lock screen.

I asked siri for the contact details from my locked phone just now, she brought back the name and number with no issues.

I have touch ID on, but I will wait for the next message off him before I test that scenario with the phone only showing notifications when unlocked.

Cheers for your suggestions, let's see if I get anywhere with it