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

Two contacts merged into one thread

Posted on Sep 18, 2018 8:27 PM

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Posted on Oct 10, 2018 7:49 AM

Possible fix?


Apologies if someone's already pointed this out, but I wanted to pop back into the thread to update on a fix that, for now, seems to be working.


Recap:

1. I have six family phones on my account, each logged in under its own unique Apple ID for quite some time before IOS 12 and the cross-texting issue. The "get your own Apple ID" suggestion was not a solution for me.

2. Only three of the six lines in the family were having an issue.

3. We discovered that, despite the affected three phones displaying a unique Apple ID (Settings>>select Apple ID under the picture on the first screen), when looking at the "Send & Receive" screen in the iMessages app (the screen that allows you to select the phone numbers used by the phone), the three impacted phones were all still displaying the same primary Apple ID (the one on my phone from back in the pre-Family Sharing days when we all shared one Apple ID).

4. The other three non-affected family phones correctly displayed the user's unique Apple ID inside the iMessage app.

5. From the iMessages setting, we logged out the two affected phone and re-logged them in under their correct Apple ID.

6. The problem seems to have resolved itself for now.


So, even if you switch your phones to unique Apple IDs (or already had them set that way before IOS 12), try double-checking:


Settings>>iMessage>>Send & Receive. Make each phone is in fact on its individual Apple ID inside the Messaging app.


Hope this helps.


p.s. When we switched to unique Apple IDs some time ago, none of us individually set the iMessage "Send & Receive" screen. For some reason, two of the six phones didn't switch over (mine never changed as it was the original primary/shared Apple ID).

683 replies

Sep 25, 2018 11:37 AM in response to pencil1992

No, this doesn't care if they have the apple id checked... It has somehow linked all their phone numbers to one Apple ID and I think that Apple ID remembers the phone numbers and thus merges all the messages. However, to go and create all new Apple ID's isn't a solution when people like my family have lots of important information stored in the original Apple ID. Man, just imagine old people who have important doctor information and such that they can't lose. This isn't very user friendly at all and I hope they get a fix to this in the next few days.

Sep 26, 2018 3:57 AM in response to pencil1992

Same thing happening to us as well, i tried having daughter and wife turn off cloud back up for their iPhones and thought it worked for a few hrs, but then it began sending daughters text to wife under a merged thread and deleted daughtears solo thread... it was misidentifying us by which ever had changed their “me” info in contacts last... that seems too be better ...for now

definitely just became a problem with iOS 12... never happened in 7 + years of using same account until update


hope apple fixes this soon

Sep 26, 2018 7:22 PM in response to amymctigue6

I did the same and had a sigh of relief when I finally got 2 separate messages. Then, as soon as Person A responded, it combined the messages again with Person B. It is only a 1 time fix unfortunately - and you'll have to keep deleting each message so separate ones come through. That isn't a viable solution for people who have years of one string with a spouse or BF/GF and dont want to delete - but there's zero way to separate them once they're combined. It really *****, this is the most disappointed I have ever been with Apple.

Sep 27, 2018 10:47 AM in response to pencil1992

This is happening to me as well. My wife and two teenagers shared my Apple ID. I went thru the giant hassle of creating them their own apple ID's and getting their devices all set up w/ Family Sharing. Deleted my Imessage thread that was combining and started new threads w/ them all and this worked for a whopping day and a half. My wife messaged me and it came thru on her thread. I responded no problem. All of a sudden my thread w/ my son was gone...so I went to open a new message to him and it displayed the recent conversation w/ my wife. I don't want to have to delete the threads I have with my family every time I message with them. This has been super inconvenient and very short-sighted on Apple's part.

Sep 27, 2018 4:32 PM in response to KiltedTim

Actually, it’s built into the iMessage settings (and still there) you can set the send/receive numbers for each individual on an account... if they meant for all to be lumped together (and then some thrown out) they wouldn’t let u slick and choose


Also, I have several numbers under my at&t account (phones and iPad) for myself and family... what if att decided they should automatically start calling each other (ie every time I call my wife it forwards to daughter too, then decides to stop calling wife even though I dial her number) just because they are all on the same monthly bill?


Sent from my iPad

Sep 28, 2018 7:57 AM in response to tinker6700

In my scenario:

iPhone 8+ on 12

iPhone 7+ on 12 *** Me, and the only one with the issue

iPhone 8 on 11

iPhone 7 on 11


If I create a message with any of the other phones and Me! (a contact I created with my own number), then I'm able to send messages to individuals, and be sure I know which of the 3 I'm messaging.


I've considered turning off imessage all together on my phone and seeing if that solves the problem until Apple fixes it.


They can't mean to do this or the messages would go to all 3, not one random person out of the three who happened to text me last. This is truly stupid if it's intentional. What a mess.

Sep 28, 2018 5:29 PM in response to pencil1992

It is unfortunate that people have to come into a discussion such as this one and would rather be self-righteous than helpful or understanding. Whether or not Family Sharing is available as an option and has been encouraged by Apple, the fact remains that Apple knows people do still share Apple IDs, this iOS update has created a lot of headaches for a lot of people, and no one seems to have any solutions besides restoring your phone and potentially losing years and years of data. Understandably, most of us don't think that is a feasible solution.

Sep 30, 2018 5:54 AM in response to KiltedTim

If you read my posts on page two, you will see that you are, in fact, in correct. I have my own Apple ID as do each of my parents. Yet for some reason, their threads continue to merge on my phone. Mine aren’t merging on theirs, but theirs on mine only. The only way I can fix this, and this fix is temporary, is to delete their threads and start over each time they merge, which is multiple times per day. So, yeah, iOS 12 is bugging, and it’s not because I don’t know how to use an Apple ID.

Oct 1, 2018 10:30 AM in response to pencil1992

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.

Oct 1, 2018 10:43 AM in response to pencil1992

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

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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

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