IOS 12 combining text messages

Family sharing was not always an option. When I got my first iPhone and added my family, Family Sharing was not an option. So we used one account. Family sharing did not come out until IOS 8 in 2014. I have had an iPhone for much longer than 4 years. Since we had never had a problem with it we did not change. Now the damage has been done and we need a fix. Apple knew this was going to be an issue they had to have known or else they would have added this update to the release notes and they conveniently left that little nugget out. So fix it ASAP. Have iMessage look at not only the Apple ID but also the phone number. I guarantee you there are more people out there that used one Apple ID for their family instead of people who had multiple numbers and wanted to combine their chats which is why they said they were doing it. I call BS. If you wanted to stop people from sharing Apple IDs then just communicate that instead of screwing up our phones. I won't let my family upgrade to the new IOS since mine is the only one effected by this mess.

That is fine but from what I have seen getting separate IDs does not fix the issue completely. It may prevent other issues but this needs to be fixed ASAP and then make sure that everyone has their own ID.

None of this is relevant. You are NOT talking to Apple. Go whine somewhere else. Your ranting here is not accomplishing anything.

They did not do this in an effort to get people to stop sharing IDs. They made the changes they did based on the assumption that people are smart enough to follow directions to begin with. Since you, apparently, were not, you will have to deal with the fallout of your decision.

I have had an iPhone since the original iPhone went on sale. Back then, there was no way to have separate Apple ID’s for each family member, so I do not think it’s accurate to say that it has never been supported. That being said, we got our teen aged daughter her own Apple ID a year or so ago, and my messages to her are being combined with my messages to my husband.

sandih711 wrote:

First of all Apple is responsible whether they supported it or not,

No. Since it was not supported by Apple, that precisely means Apple is not responsible for it. You and many other people used Apple IDs in a way Apple did not encourage, actively suggest or support, but in fact discouraged and specifically warned against. Whether they knew it was happening is irrelevant.

Using a device or other item in a manner other than directed and supported by the manufacturer removes any responsibility from the manufacturer. All user agreements start with this declaration.

I'm fairly certain Tv manufacturers know people use Tvs near a bathtub or pool. Does that mean they are responsible for people dying electrocuted because of it? No, knowledge does not imply responsibility. As long as you clearly state that its not supposed to be done, what people do is out of the manufacturer's control and cannot be held against them.

Before Family Sharing, there was no way to directly share a purchase true and as such any attempt to share would have been against the license agreement for said purchase. You shared an Apple ID to very much bypass the license agreement and in fact violate the terms of service of the iTunes store. There was no reason to share an Apple ID other that for you to avoid paying twice for an item which for any other item in the world is the expected behavior.

When you go to the movies, each person needs to pay for their ticket, you don't get to share one because you don't want to pay twice for the same thing.

You alone are responsible for the issues you have now.

Well said! I’m in the exact same boat as you, but we did get our daughter her own Apple ID a year or so ago. It’s been the biggest headache. Now, I can’t be sure if my text messages are going to her or my husband. It’s enough to make me want to switch to a Google phone (after over a decade with an iPhone).

DDChipman wrote:

I have had an iPhone since the original iPhone went on sale. Back then, there was no way to have separate Apple ID’s for each family member

That statement is simply ridiculous. Each person creates and uses their own ID. Why is that such a difficult concept? Sharing an ID has NEVER been supported. As stated above, doing so in an effort to bypass Apple's terms of service, and COPYRIGHT LAW, is not an excuse.

That being said, we got our teen aged daughter her own Apple ID a year or so ago, and my messages to her are being combined with my messages to my husband.

That's because there is still account sharing going on.

Stop trying to pass the blame off to Apple. Your problems are your own fault. Take some responsibility and do what you have to to fix it. This thread has already defined what has to be done. Continuing to argue about it is not going to alter reality.

It is not irrelevant when there was no option to share within your family before IOS 8.0. And by the way, we did try to create the family sharing option when it came out and never could get it to work properly so we just kept things the way they had always been because it worked.

Apple is responsible for making the change to the software with no option to merge or not merge the data. According to Forbes magazine this little upgrade was meant to help people that had multiple phones merge their conversations. So let's say for the sake of argument, someone whom this was intended for had multiple phones numbers 1 for business and 1 for personal. They may have used one Apple ID on the two phones after all the phones belonged to them right? So now their business conversations and personal conversations are combined. How is that a good thing? Sorry before Apple made this change it should have been made clear what they were doing and there should be an way to opt out of merging the conversations. But they conveniently left out this little "upgrade" from the list of things they were changing.

Obviously I upgrade as needed or wouldn't have this issue. My issue is that had I known this was going to be a problem (ie they told anyone what they were doing) we could have fixed it prior to having a problem. They come out with a list of things on the upgrade, this was left off. Had users known this they would have had the opportunity to correct the situation before it happened. From what I understand now the only way to fix it is to delete everything and basically start all over again from scratch. That should not be our only option.

Honestly I don't have any problem setting up the new IDs I just want it to fix what happened without losing my messages or data. And from what I read on here there isn't a way to do it without losing those messages.

And just and FYI, the staff at the Apple store helped me to set up my last purchase using the shared ID. So they can't follow instructions either.

anypats wrote:

Apple employees don’t know everything about their own products. One was quoted in a major publication that wireless charging isn’t good for a phone because it uses its own battery to charge itself.

Oh, my stars!

Okay, I have resurrected a "layperson's" explanation of of the 3 laws of Thermodynamics, courtesy of the Batelle Memorial Institute.

First Law: You can't win

Second Law: You can't break even

Third Law: You can't quit the game

I spent forever on the phone today with Apple Support about this issue. I was assured that a permanent fix is in the works, but for those who do not want to wait, here is the solution they walked me through:

Update your phone to the newest version of iOS 12 (I think it’s iOS 12.0.1)

Turn off any email addresses you are sharing iMessages with

Delete the texting thread of both contacts that are being combined

Test the repair by sending each contact a text

This worked for me, but I was sad to loose my text threads. I was told this problem is not related to sharing an Apple ID, but it is a problem with Family Share. My husband and I share an Apple ID. We got our daughter her own Apple ID about a year ago. The text thread that was being combined was my daughter’s and my husband’s. After a decade of Apple purchases, getting her her own Apple ID and transferring purchases was a huge pain. I spoke to a senior support person. She in no way encouraged me to separate my Apple ID from my husband’s. I hope this helps.

Well, my phone is working perfectly now. Text messages are going to the proper person, and we don’t have to deal with getting separate Apple ID’s (which does not solve the problem anyway). So, I’d say the information I got worked for me. It must be nice to know more than a senior level employee with Apple Support.

The actual stupidity here is that Apple enabled text combining via Apple ID's to force users into registering for more accounts to benefit themselves. family sharing is a great feature but it should be optional. There is already a unique identifier among the phones...its called a phone number. bullying your customers into making a change is the wrong direction, and since the death of steve jobs, that has been their path...MacBooks with only usbC, iPhones without headphone jacks..and now forced combining of your messages. if i have 4 separate phones, i have them for a reason and want the recipient of my messages to know which phone i am sending from (without digging through the info). This is an issue and if not corrected this will be the last iPhone I purchase. I have always loved apple but this is getting ridiculous and they are no longer delivering on the business model's that made them great. i used a friends pixel yesterday and loved it, Apple is no longer cutting edge and no has the simplified elegance they once had. I remember in 2008 switching my girlfriend's grandmother to an iphone and it was amazing how fast she picked it up but now she is calling me about issues all of the time. The way i see it, this is an iOS bug that is being disguised as a feature. Apple might as well change their logo into a gun when they say "think different"