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

I had the same issue with a old thread from iOS 11 between my wife and kids. After updating to iOS 12, all iMessage that's supposed to sent to my wife was sent to my daughter. I fixed the issue by deleting all the thread between the 3 of us on our iPhones.

My iPhone was merging contacts before the upgrade and when I notified Apple they said it was google that was merging my contacts and I had to go into my google contacts and delete the duplicates unified thread.

We are experiencing this problem with our family of four who share the same Apple ID, and I can't even text my husband independently right now, or vice versa. This is our primary way of communicating all the time. Our two kids now see all four family member's messaging history on their phones because it has all merged into one. What's really bizarre is I will put my husband's phone number into the text message and type a test message, I will send it and it will say it went to my daughter who has an entirely different phone number. This is really messed up. This is not good and could cause a member of the family to read something not intended for them. I do hope Apple realizes how serious and problematic this situation is and fixes it asap.

Good news, folks! Despite the "love it or leave it' diatribes, it would seem there is real legitimacy to our concerns. I am reading more and more about this issue (God bless journalism!) and sincerely believe Apple will soon address the new bug/problem/issue/behavior introduced by the IOS12 release and described in detail here in this thread.

http://piunikaweb.com/2018/09/28/some-imessage-users-are-reporting-major-issues- after-ios-12/

https://www.financialexpress.com/industry/technology/new-ios-12-bug-sends-messag es-to-many-chats-unintentionally-report/1333069/

https://www.tomsguide.com/us/ios-12-charging-bug-imessage,news-28206.html

Is Apple working on this? Whether these people share an apple id or not is irrelevant. This is happening to contacts who are unrelated to me. From what I understand they used to share an apple id years ago but have since created and use their own Apple ID's. The fact of the matter is I cannot go into their devices and see how they are hooked up and prior to the IOS 12 update, the system worked as it should! Now, I cannot be sure of whom I am texting. This is Apples fault and they need to address it.

Incorrect. It worked PERFECTLY FINE FOR YEARS, and it worked as advertised until iOS 12. This is a bug, and in no way, through any logic, should the phone be COMBINING texts from unique telephone numbers. Family Share is an option, not the correct solution to what is otherwise an operating error with this iOS release.

This is a huge problem. Apple demands that everyone have their own id, but taking my teenaged daughter off my apple id and putting her on her own apple id did not fix the problem. Her boyfriend's texts still go to both of us and he cannot tell which of us have texted him. This is very inconvenient.

Couldn't agree with you more! I have no control over how other people set up their apple id's. I have verified that these two contact are set to send and receive from their phone numbers. imessage worked perfectly before this "unified" approach. How could this pass all of the beta testing and not be address before the rollout!

I’ve been on the phone with Apple for an hour and a half. Sam card in and out, changing this in changing that. Nothing worked. I escalated to a higher level. They said they have no record of this happening. So frus

Wesley Walls wrote:

Incorrect. It worked PERFECTLY FINE FOR YEARS, and it worked as advertised until iOS 12. This is a bug, and in no way, through any logic, should the phone be COMBINING texts from unique telephone numbers. Family Share is an option, not the correct solution to what is otherwise an operating error with this iOS release.

Tim is 100% correct. You've been ignoring Apple's design for years and you finally got bit. Apple has ALWAYS stated that an Apple ID identifies ONE person and to do otherwise is to invite problems. Kinda like multiple persons sharing the same Social Security number. They might not see problems for years but sooner or later they'll all get bit.

bjhayes wrote:

Having this EXACT same issue since updating to iOS 12.

Each time Apple puts out a new iOS update I cringe. What happened to their quality control?

You've been ignoring Apple's design for years and you finally got bit. Apple has ALWAYS stated that an Apple ID identifies ONE person and to do otherwise is to invite problems. Kinda like multiple persons sharing the same Social Security number. They might not see problems for years but sooner or later they'll all get bit.

Philly_Phan relax. You're missing a point. I don't share my Apple ID with anyone, however; two people I iMessage with do. They are a mother and son who have shared an apple id since they've had them. Since the update I cannot iMessage them properly as my phone merges their threads together. They are currently unaffected by it new update.

I cannot control how other people have their phones set up and nor should I need to worry about it, but I am the one having the problem. I cannot trust who my phone says I'm sending the message too as it only sends to the last one that texted me. I've confirmed the settings and they are both set to send and receive imessage from their phone numbers - not from their apple id's.

Apple should have provided an option or an opt-out of the merge. When more than one person live in a house they don't assign addresses to different bedrooms. Parents should be able to let their children be under they're Apple ID and provide settings (which already exist) to send and receive from the phone number.

Apple can "fix" it. They can put it back the way it was. Does Apple expect me to pressure the mother to get her son his own Apple ID so my iMessage app can work correctly? Why is Apple ignoring the iMessage setting which selects their phone number?

Apple can "fix" it.

Do whatever you wish but don't expect Apple to downgrade its system to support those that ignore proper operating procedure, especially a procedure that has ALWAYS been included in Apple's instructions for use of the iPhone.

Jbhite wrote:

I’ve got this problem too 😐

Obviously there is Apple ID sharing going on. It's kinda like multiple persons sharing a Social Security number. They can go for years without a problem but, sooner or later, they'll get bit. That's why Apple has ALWAYS indicated that Apple IDs should NOT be shared.