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

darrinofmaplewood wrote:

Interesting. I had an entire response removed and I didn't even get an email saying I violated anything. It's just gone.

I was saying that I do not have the option to "report" under the drop down.

I know, I saw it and was replying and I too got the red banner of doom. Hosts may have been editing somewhere else in the thread, I don't think anything you posted violated anything.

But now Demo has correctly pointed out that one needs to be Level 2 before you can report a post (thanks Demo!)

I know. I saw your response. I was trying to respond to you in my 10 minute reply. You have to be level two to see that drop down option.

You may not like my answer here, but I think that the reason your response was edited was because that email address that you posted in your reply, really isn’t meant to be used to report other users. That doesn’t mean that other people haven’t used it for that purpose and I believe you when you said that you used it and you got results, but that doesn’t change the fact that the hosts don’t want other people making a habit of using that email address to report other users’ behavior.

Wow, it’s tough trying to follow everything when the discussion is getting whacked left and right. 😁 I assume that you saw my other post that was removed, because you mentioned the red banner of doom.

Thanks Demo and Rock.

I purposely did not use the email address in my post to make sure it wouldn't be edited. I think you're thinking of JM whose post was edited to remove the email address.

I understand what you're saying though, and it wasn't even me that it happened to, but it's not right that JM's was edited while Lawrence's wasn't. If someone believes they are being unfairly limited in a discussion while others with a higher rating are being favored there should be an avenue of recourse for the lower level guy. To me, the support email is that avenue.

I’m sorry, I did have you confused with JM. I am having a hard time keeping up with who said what.

If someone believes they are being unfairly limited in a discussion while others with a higher rating are being favored there should be an avenue of recourse for the lower level guy. To me, the support email is that avenue.

I can’t argue with reasoning.

Removal of posts is not a matter of status, the hosts have a strict set of rules of engagement which they (try to) apply impartially when a post or thread comes to their attention. However the higher level members tend to have more experience of what should not be posted to avoid triggering a removal.

The other point is that if a post is removed for whatever reason, all replies to it are automatically removed.

What do hosts "get" for their time and effort? They certainly play an important and potentially time-consuming role. They must be compensated in some manner - even if it is nothing more than apple credits of some kind.

This just happened to me too. My business partner and I have been friends for years. When texting while working we text via her iPad about projects etc...The Ipad is tied to her email. After the last update, both text strings were combined. Now all messages come up under her iPad. It like the string we use between our phones never existed. I'm frustrated I feel like I've lost years of messages. Is the anyway to fix this?

I am having the same issue. I used to be able to message my parents iPad and my mom’s iPhone separately now it keeps converging them into the same thread. I deleted both contacts from my phone, put them back in making sure the email is separate from the phone number, and it will work for about 20 minutes and then it will put the Messages back together again.

Yes, I've been having this issue as well. I called Apple support and they claim that we are not using it as intended.

My mom has her own Apple ID under my family sharing. On my phone it is combining messages that I am trying to send to her iPhone and her iPad. Same is true if I'm trying to message her from my ipad to either her iPad or iPhone. What is the point of the Send & Receive feature if it doesn't work??

Apple's solution was to turn off iMessage on the phones but leave it enabled on the iPads and then create two separate contacts to message. Well, we prefer to continue doing it how we've been doing it AND be able to use iMessage.

My mom has her own Apple ID under my family sharing. On my phone it is combining messages that I am trying to send to her iPhone and her iPad. Same is true if I'm trying to message her from my ipad to either her iPad or iPhone.

What is being combined? You're messaging one person who has their own ID on two devices -- it is normal for two or more devices using the same ID to be merged together, depending on how you set things up. Surely you're not expecting two separate threads -- one for your mom's iPhone and a separate thread for her iPad, right?

If that's what you want, then her iPhone needs to be set to only receive iMessages to her phone number (not her Apple ID as an optional point of contact) and her iPad needs to be set to only receive iMessages to her Apple ID (not her phone number as an optional point of contact). She would also need to disable Text Message Forwarding on her iPhone to prevent those messages from being sent to her iPad.

But if I'm misunderstanding your concern, note that this thread was for messages of multiple people being merged into one thread (because they shared an ID). Perhaps if you explain your problem in a different thread you might get some answers (this thread is saturated, and appears to be unrelated to your issue).

Actually, I'm having both issues.

I tried the different points of contact being different for her iPhone (a #) vs her iPad (an email). When I go to send her a message my device will combine the thread and send a message to only one of the devices which is usually whichever device she messaged me from last. Then, I've tried to separate the devices by making a contact for the phone and one for the iPad...all this did was cause iMessage to link the contacts and do the same thing. I managed to fix it once by deleting the message thread and keeping 2 contacts, but then it started doing it again not too long after.

Then, similarly to everyone in this thread. I have my husband's iPad sharing my Apple ID but it's set to only send and receive under a certain e-mail. But, when I message his iPad, the message is sent to my iPad and his. Just now I tried to message my iPad from my iPhone, but when you click send it is showing that it messaged his iPad...however both got the message - like it combined my contact and his contact into a single thread.

I haveThe same problem since I was 12 I try to keep my eye messaging from my phone and my iPad separate them by checking allow and receive at the appropriate addresses yet they are all merged together so if you send my phone iMessage because my iPad is in my iPad to message you as my phone and vice versa I don’t want that to happen anymore

I have 1 Apple ID, 1 iPhone, 1 MacBook pro, for years, my wife uses the iPhone only, her phone is set to only use her phone number to send and receive messages, I message with the MacBook pro only, set to send and receive with the Apple ID.

For years anyone my wife messaged with saw her as Mrs X and maintained 1 thread {conversation }, and anyone I messaged with saw me as Mr D, and maintained 1 thread {conversation }, yes I know the phone number is associated with the Apple ID. And please don't just tell me to get another ID, I need pics from that iPhone to sync with my MacBook. This issue is a real nightmare for the people that are trying to contact us, my kids can't get mom sometimes and can't get dad sometimes. They only see one thread, with a combined message history of both Mrs X and Mr D. And they are linked to whoever they were last messaging with. There is no issue on our end, Nothing is merged.

They claimed to have fixed it with IOS 12.1 update

*****

Help

[Edited by Host]

12.1.1 did not fix the problem.

Family sharing or iCloud photo library do not help my situation. I used my current set up seamlessly for years never ever a problem until IOS 12.

This may be isolated to iPhone 6, and 6S, anyone else having this problem using a 7 or higher?