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

shannonfromplainsboro wrote:

Prior to iOS 12 update all phones worked fine for two years with out merging text threads or contacts.

Irrelevant. You were 'lucky' prior to the update. That argument comes up every time there is an iOS update and people start finding out things aren't working the way they were before they updated.

I deactivated iMessages, FaceTime and iCloud... just didn’t erase it... I can try that but I’ll be restoring it from a backup. Because there’s super important info on each phone and tons of it, which can’t be transferred if the phone is erased.

KiltedTim wrote:

captainjacksparrow wrote:

I deactivated iMessages, FaceTime and iCloud... just didn’t erase it... I can try that but I’ll be restoring it from a backup. Because there’s super important info on each phone and tons of it, which can’t be transferred if the phone is erased.

If you restore it from a backup, you're defeating the purpose of erasing it. It will try to reactivate things the way they are now.

What is the information stored in? Transfer it someplace else, then erase the phone. Don't restore from the backup or you're likely to end up right back where you started.

My Dad has a brain injury and my Mom has a very bad memory and both of them store thousands of notes and reminders, plus they have important texts and photos. Things that you can't just transfer across, stuff in apps and such. It's not like we use the phone for fun, which sure if this happened in a beta, then I'd understand wiping the phone and starting over, because you should be using it on a beta device. Like seriously, I don't see the purpose in doing this, making it so that you can only message one number unless the other number messages you. Like say this was used for some purpose, now though, I try to message say my sister, I can't because even though I create a new message and put her number in, it sends to my Mom, because my Mom is the last one to have messaged me. It's locking us to messaging one number, maybe someone has a legit need to have two numbers on one Apple ID, we should be able to do that, otherwise I hope lots of people switch from Apple, because that isn't right and doesn't help people at all... They are here to serve us and supposed to be about privacy, it's not private when you're trying to message one person and can't and goes to someone else!

Like if it comes to having to completely erase our phones, then we'll switch to Android hands down, because there, we'll be starting out blank!

I'm sympathetic to your plight, however, that does not alter the fact that if you want to fix the problem, correctly, you have to basically nuke it from orbit. No one at Apple advised you to set things up with shared accounts. That has never been supported. The fact that you feel you have special circumstances does not mean that Apple is going to redesign their systems to meet your special needs.

You've been told what you have to do to correct the problem. Whether you do so or not is your choice. Whether you switch platforms is your choice. You're currently speeding down the expressway going the wrong direction. Sooner or later, no matter how fast you try to dodge and weave, you're going to smack head on into a semi and you're going to lose data. Possibly all of it.

If the ONLY thing you're worried about is being able to message them privately, then tell them both to turn off iMessage and leave it off. Or YOU turn off iMessage and leave it off.

As I said, though, sooner or later, there are going to be much more serious problems.

I didn’t set it up and originally it was because my parents wanted to be able to receive texts that my sister received, plus they didn’t want her having her own email or account.

There should be an option to turn it off or ask people or warn them of the upcoming catastrophe.

Plus turning iMessages off doesn’t help.

No one here works for Apple. This is a user forum. As for who turned on what, and when, that's irrelevant at this point.

They ignored Apple's documentation regarding the use of Apple IDs and iCloud accounts.

How is anyone supposed to "warn them of the upcoming catastrophe" when there's no way for Apple to determine that the devices signed in with any given ID are not being used by the same person... Are we to the point with technology now that we've reached with coffee.... that we have to have warnings that coffee may be hot, or that you should not attempt to iron your clothes while you're wearing them?

They chose to ignore the instructions in order to find a way to spy on their daughter, very possibly violating the law in doing so by allowing a child to use an online account registered to an adult, putting her at risk and making her vulnerable to monitoring that would have otherwise been illegal.

Sorry. You're not going to get any sympathy from me on this one.

You've been given the answer. How you act on it is up to you, but continuing to whine about how things aren't working right because you can't or don't want to follow directions is a waste of electrons.

Spying or monitoring on a child over 13 isn’t illegal... but we’ll see soon since Apple support didn’t say any such thing when I spoke with them, but instead said that there should be a fix coming out.

You just don't get it. There is not a problem with iOS 12. It is doing exactly what it's supposed to do. It is behaving exactly the way it was designed. In fact, only indicator of a problem here is the way it was behaving for you before updating to iOS 12. I'm sure that was the result of the roundabout way you had tried to do things before.

You don't want help. You want someone to validate your irrational anger at Apple because you think their systems should behave the way you want them to whether you're following the directions or not instead of the way Apple told you they would behave.

Good luck in life. I have a feeling this isn't the only mess you've got yourself into.

"...You just don't get it. There is not a problem with iOS 12. It is doing exactly what it's supposed to do. It is behaving exactly the way it was designed. In fact, only indicator of a problem here is the way it was behaving for you before updating to iOS 12. I'm sure that was the result of the roundabout way you had tried to do things before...."

If that were true (and I have my doubts), Apple would know this would be a major issue for many many people, and would have taken steps to alleviate people's anger and confusion...this isn't some small subset of users.

dirwuf wrote:

"...You just don't get it. There is not a problem with iOS 12. It is doing exactly what it's supposed to do. It is behaving exactly the way it was designed. In fact, only indicator of a problem here is the way it was behaving for you before updating to iOS 12. I'm sure that was the result of the roundabout way you had tried to do things before...."

If that were true (and I have my doubts), Apple would know this would be a major issue for many many people, and would have taken steps to alleviate people's anger and confusion...this isn't some small subset of users.

Apple has said for years that an Apple ID is for individual use only. Why would they assume that people kept ignoring them? And, if they ignored them before, why would Apple expect them to pay attention now?

Multiple phones on the same ID (four family members, four different phone numbers, all using my ID), have worked without issue for 7 years - no problem with iMessage at all. Something has changed as threads are being renamed and messages not going to the correct numbers. so your prior admonition about the issue was wrong. I’m not hassling you but simply restating the same incorrect point is not a solution and will mislead people from demanding the proper assistance from Apple.

This is happening to me as well. We have 4 different Apple IDs organized through Family Sharing. All of us are having issues with sent texts getting sent to the wrong person. If I try to turn off iMessage and send it by sms, it won’t let me send the text at all. Somehow one of my texts went to my sister. Who has a different Apple ID, a different phone provider, lives in a different state and is not family sharing with us. I spent 90mins on the phone with Apple Care and no one there had any clue what was going on either. It got bumped up the the engineer level. Whatever that means.

Adding to this: "iMessage combining two contacts into one thread. I can only text back the last one that messaged me. This started with iOS 12" The two contacts being combined are NOT people I share an Apple ID with. I'm having a problem with my 2 children and I get why that is happening since we share....but why am I seeing the same with 2 people whom I DO NOT SHARE an Apple ID with. I message John and the recipient automatically switches to Jane, since Jane is the last of the two to have messaged me. If John messages me last, and I message Jane, the recipient automatically switches to John. The conversation history between the 3 of us is merged....so frustrating. John and Jane think everything is good and don't see any of this. I'm so happy spent a small fortune on the XS and upgrading to iOS12. I want my iPhone5 back!

Same exact issue here. My wife’s texts to our daughters are merged and cannot be separated. She just updated to iOS 12. I haven’t yet on mine and won’t as this is a big mess. Apple, please send and update to fix ASAP!

I can confidently confirm that when I performed the upgrade to ios12 on both my iPhone 7 and my wife’s iPhone 6, I received the prompt to update carrier settings. I responded in the affirmative.

And by the way, thanks for asking the question in the spirit of troubleshooting.