Why is iMessage combining two contacts into one thread. I can only text back the last one that messaged me. This started with iOS 12

Having the exact same experience here. Without question, this issue began when I “upgraded” to iOS12. This issue has been devastating and needs to be resolved ASAP. I depend upon iMessage and can no longer trust/depend on the tool to send messages to the proper person. In the same way, I cannot be sure from whom texts are actually being sent.

This is happening to me too. I’m glad I’m not the only one experiencing this. So far it has done this to me four times since installing iOS 12. Originally on my iPhone 7Plus and now my iPhone XS. The only contacts that it is doing this to me are my mother and father. They have separate apple IDs and separate phone numbers. I can have a thread with my mother and suddenly my father’s thread is gone and if I try to crest a new one it automatically reverts to the thread with my mother. His name or contact info is not on the thread at all. The only fix I have found is to delete the thread, delete both their contacts, then create new contacts for them and open new threads. That works for a couple days and then this again. It’s not that I have anything to hide from them, but it’s annoying and sometimes there’s things were discussing that the other wouldn’t know or care about.

Any ideas for a permanent fix or word from Apple on the matter?

Philly_Phan,

I would love you to point out Apple's specific instructions on use of an Apple ID. First of all, I started sharing an Apple ID well before Family Sharing came out. Saying this is a user's issue is asinine. Family Sharing has many drawbacks over just sharing and Apple ID, especially for families with younger users. I have total control over purchases and I can use Find My iPhone for location tracking. It has helped me locate a lost phone in more than one instance. Also, it seems like the issue is more deep than just moving to Family Sharing because people are experiencing the issue with separate Apple ID's, which you refuse to acknowledge. Please stop your criticism of these users, when they had no issues until the update to iOS 12 and Apple's flawed implementation of unified threads.

This is still an issue for a lot of people. I have not used my Apple ID incorrectly and yet my phone is still merging conversations of people who do. This has made iMessage unreliable for me and NOT the people who are keeping this practice.

Responding to certain individuals who cannot see the potential for this to be a problem is causing many posts to be deleted and therefore unhelpful to the people who are experiencing this issue and negating the impact this is having on users to Apple.

Prior to IOS 12, IOS 11 was capable of listing to user's settings on where and how to send and receive iMessages. Why can't Apple let these settings dictate how messages are delivered or at least provide an opt - out of the merge? Why can't my phone ask me if I want to merge these two messages?

We are experiencing the same problem. Three phones updated to iOS 12 and they are all combining message threads. We've checked all contact info to make sure there is nothing in common and there isn't. We have three phones on the same Apple ID, but this isn't restricted to those numbers. My wife sent her friend a message from my phone to see if it would come through as me or her and it combined my wife's previous conversations into this new thread on my phone. I have tried manually entering my wife's phone number and it shows her name and then when I send the message it reverts to the thread with my daughter and my wife does not receive the message. This is a huge problem!!

Also, likely related, yesterday morning I started receiving messages on my Apple watch between my wife and her coworker- they never showed up on my phone, but I can see the full thread on my watch.

Apple has really dropped the ball on this update. It sounds like this was a bug on earlier releases and they didn't fix it prior to release.

Someone suggested this solution, which seems to be working when I tried it. Give it a try, I forgot his/her name and can't find the posting to give him/her credit for this post.

I have a family of five, and two of our phones experienced this glitch when updating to iOS 12. I call it the "Frankenstein-chat". What happens when the phone is affected by this glitch, it takes all phone numbers and emails that are linked to iMessage on your Apple ID and merges them into one Frankenstein-chat.

In your case, it took the iMessage chat with your daughter and iMessage chat with your husband and made them one. It will only show up under one of their names at a time, so it won't look like a group message. Very deceiving.

To fix this, simply identify this Frankenstein-chat on the main menu of the Messages app (it should display either your daughter's name or your husband's name). Once found, slide the chat from right to left to reveal a Delete button. Delete this faulty chat and then send a message to your daughter and husband's contacts separately as if they're new people. They should be effectively separated by now, assuming that neither of their phones were also affected by this glitch.

*be sure to save any precious photos or media that you don't want to lose when deleting the old chat in Messages

KiltedTim wrote:

Because the devices have not yet been set up properly.

For each person with a new iCloud account, follow the procedure here, then have them set them up from scratch using their own account.

What to do before you sell, give away, or trade in your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch - Apple Support

That's ridiculous! My family members have tons of information that they can't lose! Apple must fix this or to Android it is!

GoDawgs1994 wrote:

I have a question for the people that suggest everyone has their own apple id. I am fine with this if it works but then as a family we can't use Find My iPhone. For Find My iPhone to work everyone needs to be on the same account. As a parent I like being able to see where my family is. If Apple says that each person should have a separate apple account why do require all users to be on same apple account to use Find My iPhone?

Not true.

Share your location with your family - Apple Support

From everything I've read, this is not a bug. This was advertised by Apple as a new feature so that all devices on a particular Apple ID would be synced for messages. If this new feature is not popular, which is what everyone here is saying, you need to post this feedback to Apple's feedback page. Feedback - iPhone - Apple

I have this issue also and it started after the iOS 12 update. I'm using an iPhone 6+.

I have one message thread where I receive messages from both my daughter and my husband.

When I reply it goes to the last person that sent me a message in that thread and not the other person (so not to be confused for a 'group message').

To get a message to the intended recipient, I create a new message with the correct contact. Once the message is sent, it joins up with the combined message thread.

I've tried a full shut down and restart, but it didn't fix it. We are all on the same Apple account (if that means anything), but there are additional devices and people on the account that don't seem affected, yet.

In case Apple is reading this, since the iOS12 update:

• images and video weren't showing up on Facebook and Instagram. A full shut down and restart fixed it.
• since Westpac updated their app, the logo and app plugin doesn't work in iMessages. A full shut down and restart didn't fix it.
• and the above-mentioned issue of one message thread shared between two contacts (not a group message).

I also have this issue. It occurs with messages (including iMessages) between my mom and dad and myself. They used to have the same Apple ID, they have since gotten two different emails and they have two separate phones and phone numbers. This seemed to start happening with iOS12 as another had pointed out. I was on the public beta, and it happened on that as well. I submitted feedback for it also.

I have deleted the threads on my phone as well as their phones and checked all handoff and iMessage settings to make sure there should be no combining.

I noticed this started once I got the new iPhone last week. Only occurs on my new iPhone and only with the members on my Apple ID. After you text 5-6 times, it combines the messages into someone else in the family and does it with everyone logged into that Apple ID. Very odd. I too find the temporary fix is to delete the conversation. But after a few texts, it starts to combine them again. Doesn’t do this with anyone else not on my Apple ID. I have reported this to Apple as well.

The root cause to our problem is a bug that Apple has introduced in iOS 12 that is merging conversations from SEPERATE phone numbers when they use the same Apple ID - like we have been doing for years.

Everyone, please stop telling us that we are the problem, the bug is the problem. Apple still ALLOWS us to use the same account for multiple people and they have confirmed that they did not INTEND to break this functionality ... hence a bug.

Many of us may split Apple IDs to resolve this BUG but Apple has confirmed that they did not intend for this to happen and we are still ALLOWED to use a single Apple ID for more than one person.

Thanks

Pencil1992. As someone who followed this thread from the very beginning, anxiously awaiting a fix (or even acknowledgement) from Apple, I want to thank you for taking the time to raise this issue. Despite the 2-3 bad apples in this thread who constantly beat down the very real observations of frustrated but very loyal Apple iOS users, this thread for the most part proved that users genuinely want to band together and help each other. Though there were some creative temporary fixes, I for one feel vindicated that we weren’t crazy and that an actual software fix from Apple was, in fact, needed. Seeing our issue among the list of fixes was awesome. Thanks again to Pencil1992 and to Apple.

Because the devices have not yet been set up properly.

For each person with a new iCloud account, follow the procedure here, then have them set them up from scratch using their own account.

What to do before you sell, give away, or trade in your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch - Apple Support