Is there a way to turn off the streamlining of imessages in ios 12? My ex-wife and our 2 teenage daughters share an apple ID. With the new "benefit" of streamlining in ios 12, all of their messages to and from me are lumped (streamlined) together. I can only send a text to the last one of them that texted me. This is not a benefit, not safe, and not conducive to being able to communicate quickly and easily.
iPhone 8, iOS 12
They need to stop starting an Apple ID and set up Family Sharing.
There may be some data loss, but you can minimize it. If syncing photos with iCloud, ensure Optimization is turned off in Settings/Your Name/iCloud/Photos and/or in Photos/Preferences/iCloud. Then make sure full resolution photos are on the device/computer. When signing out of iCloud, if asked whether you want to retain data, choose yes. Messages conversations will be lost if they are addressed to the ID. See the article below for other places that the old ID should be removed. Also set up Family Sharing to keep access to your apps. Also see Winston Churchill's response in the below discussion
How to transfer all files from one iCloud account to another
Apple ID email address or password - What to do after you change
Family Sharing - Use your own Apple ID for Family Sharing
Family Sharing -What types of content can I share?
Family Sharing - If you don‘t see your family‘s shared content
Family Sharing - Ask to Buy - Get Help
Family Sharing - purchases and payments
Family Sharing - Hide and unhide music, movies, TV shows, audiobooks, and books
Family Sharing – share iCloud Storage
Family Sharing - Share an iCloud storage plan with your family
Family Sharing and Apple ID for your child
Today I called Apple Support to get help with this problem. After running me through all of the stuff we have already tried and finding no solution, I got bumped up to a higher level of support. This guy was just plain rude. He wanted to argue with me over whether this was a "known issue" or not rather than help solve the problem. Then he logged into my phone and directed me through nearly the identical steps as the previous support tech. When none of that worked again he told me that all iPhone users must now have separate Apple IDs. When I told him that I did not want my minor child to have her own Apple ID for supervision purposes, he hung up on me! This was no accident because I had given him my call back number in case we were disconnected. He never called back. Apple is running and hiding from this problem. Samsung is looking more and more attractive.
Your experience sounds much like mine. Years ago, after an update, the music library on my phone was totally whack (yep, that's the technical term). I got elevated and escalated through the support system, but no tech was able to resolve the problem, and no-one ever called me back despite their assurances that they would do so. Each tech took me thru steps that I had navigated on my own, and each tech seemed less patient than the previous. Somehow, it seemed, I was to blame for Apple's poorly designed and inadequately tested upgrade. I've used Apple products for many years, but don't understand why 'upgrades' are so often accompanied by problems.
The current snafu with texts going to the wrong family members is intolerable. All was fine until I upgraded. Now all is no longer fine. What the heck?
There doesn't seem to be an option to leave feedback about iMessage specifically under the iOS applications. Do you have any recommendations for leaving feedback for Apple about this issue?
Leave feedback for the device.
Thank you for the helpful answer. We have fixed the problem. My ex-wife and our daughters have straightened out the family sharing and apple ID issues, so now we can all text each other again.
You are welcome.
Same problem here, just surfaced last night. Family of 5, don't wanna create new Apple ID's for all. Have you solved your issue? What an 'upgrade.'
Yes please update. I can’t text my husbands work phone at all unless he texts me first because all my texts go to his personal. Super annoying!
We did that and it didn’t fix it.
Same issue here. Any updates will be most welcomed, thank you.
You can set up an Apple ID just for messaging? That's new to me. Please elaborate. Thanks!
It's been over a week since we changed AppleIDs in the Messaging app [and nowhere else] and all is still good. No problems whatsoever sending or receiving on both iPhone 7's and XS's all running 12.0.1.
I agree that it is an iOS 12 "issue"--or "feature" if you believe Apple. We have one iPad that didn't get upgraded and it never had any problem with the shared AppleIDs. But we found and are using a "fix" that is acceptable to us rather than mess with Apple Support or wait for another iOS update that may or may not fix our problem. I know many folks are experiencing other problems that aren't related to the shared AppleIDs.
We also found that the XS is "incompatible" with the Belkin Charging Stations that we use for our phones and watches. I think it's a Belkin hardware problem and not something that iOS can fix because our older iPhones still charge OK after updating to iOS 12.0 and 12.0.1.
ios 12 imessage streamlining
